How long do parrots live?

Having found a feathered pet, the owner is responsible for his life and health. Few people know when parrots get old and how many years they can live. We will tell you about the rating of long-lived parrots, about the rules of care that prolong the life of the feathered pet, in this article.

The family of parrots is large and diverse, it unites more than three hundred species of birds. Among them there are large representatives, such as the macaw, reaching up to 100 cm in length, and small parrots no longer than 10 cm. People who lived more than two thousand years ago, even then tamed parrots because of their high intellectual and speech abilities.

In general, it is impossible to give an answer how long parrots live - it is better to consider this issue from the perspective of each species. Unfortunately, the legends that parrots can live for a hundred or more years are wrong. Such long-living parrots are extremely rare, scientists consider this hypothesis a myth, but the life of some individuals from large breeds can be up to 75–85 years.

The list of parrots popular for breeding at home has about twenty different species. The most often kept in the houses of the budgerigar, gray, cockatiel, rosella; less often macaws, cockatoos, lovebirds. Consider what the lifespan of popular species might be.

This is the most frequently bred species of birds in our country and around the world.Caring for them is simple, and the wavy feathered pet will become a favorite and will demonstrate its natural communication skills. Each owner is interested in how long the budgerigar can live. The usual lifespan of this breed at home with proper care is 11-15 years, but long-lived individuals are known that have delighted their owners even up to 20 years.

Budgerigars, like most of the parrots, came to us from Australia, this is their homeland. These birds, living in natural conditions and creating huge flocks in nature, usually live less than their domesticated relatives - only 8-10 years.

Parrots, smaller than a budgerigar, often found in city apartments. Of the six species of lovebirds, the pink-cheeked ones are the most popular. The romantic name "lovebirds" was given to these parrots because of their ability to create strong couples for life.

Lovebirds tamed by humans live 15 years or more.

This vibrant cockatoo parrot with a blush on the cheeks, a tuft and a high level of intelligence can live 18–20 years, maximum - 25–30 years. Let the owners of the cockatiel (the second name of their nymph) not be embarrassed by the fact that this bird is difficult to learn human speech, especially its individual words. This feathered pet has a cheerful disposition, is strongly attached to the owner, and is undemanding to care for.

The bright appearance of the cockatiel is very original: recently bred birds with a silvery, delicate beige, lemon and even pearl color, and the male cockatiel can always be recognized by the black-gray striped tail feathers.

This type of parrot has been gaining popularity recently. Rosellas are characterized by a bright contrasting color; the combination of colors in the plumage of this parrot can be any. Blue-red, red-yellow, yellow-blue colors are often found, the plumage of the rosella on the back resembles scales. They are slightly larger than a budgerigar, have a willful temperament, high imitative abilities, and have a strong beak that can gnaw through wires.

Rosell is referred to as flat-tailed parrots, like wavy, and cockatiels due to the specific shape of the long tail. Despite the long habituation to a person and the process of adaptation to a new home, Rosellas are smart, not capricious in their care, undemanding in their diet, but they do not tolerate cool - below +20 C - air. In captivity in humans, Rosella can live for quite a long time - 16-18 years, often there are centenarians, whose life time reaches 20 years.

A parrot with an outstanding character and a crested head with a powerful nippers beak. The best known are the white cockatoo, but there are several types of pink cockatoo (Inca cockatoo, Moluccan cockatoo), yellow-crested cockatoo and gray cockatoo (Gala).

These large representatives of parrots are considered centenarians among relatives: their life time can last up to half a century. Average rates are 35–40 years, and the maximum life indicators of cockatoos were recorded at the age of 80 years. A cockatoo can reach this age with good care in captivity. In nature, where a cockatoo is trapped by many enemies, dangers and diseases, his age barely reaches the age of 30.

Another large and long-lived species of parrots, which has a mono-species - gray gray. To characterize the ability of a parrot, a gray parrot, it is necessary to add super-sociability and quick-wittedness to the dog's intellect.

You will definitely not get bored with such a pet, but you also need appropriate care for the bird. Then the gray parrot can delight more than one generation of owners, having lived 50–70, and sometimes up to 90 years.

It has the largest size and is a long-liver among parrots.This bright parrot with rich plumage has several subspecies that differ in plumage color and bird size. Macaws do not have differences in plumage by sex, their females have a catchy plumage, like males. Perhaps this is due to the riot of tropical colors of their homeland - South and Latin America.

The high intelligence of the macaw parrot allows it to analyze and memorize a lot, the bird demonstrates excellent imitative abilities, loves to contact humans, the macaw can even ask the owner for food or drink if he wants.

A macaw, tamed by a man, lives within 50-60 years.

The bird, originally from India, is slightly larger than the cockatiel (42–43 cm with a tail), it is distinguished by unpretentiousness and quick wit. The feather color is diverse thanks to the efforts of breeders, but all parrots of this species have a brightly outlined "necklace" around their neck in a contrasting, usually black color.

By imitating a person, this bird can memorize up to two hundred words in its life, the average terms of which are within 20–25 years. Occasionally, with loving and attentive owners, necklace parrots survive up to 40 years old.

The parrot is medium in size, has a light, cheerful, nimble disposition. It is the ideal pet for family friendships and learns to imitate human speech. All of its species have predominantly green plumage and differ in the location and color of spots on the body of the Amazons. Sometimes Amazons surprise their owners with their impudent actions - this is the norm of their character. An Amazon is capable of living next to a person from 15–20 to 50 years old; Amazons who have reached the age of 70 are also known.

It was named so because of the beautiful yellow plumage, which, depending on the species, can be combined with plumage of a different color. It has a positive, affectionate character, is not too picky about care, which is why it is in demand for home maintenance. In addition, the aratings are easy to learn to speak and train, and the bird shows its displeasure with a sharp cry. The life span of a sun parrot in captivity ranges from 15 to 30 years.

Among the numerous species of parrots, cockatoos are rightfully considered centenarians, and in second place are macaws and grays. However, each species has its own record holders, whose number of years of life is documented. These are parrots that have lived in captivity and received the love and care of their owners. The figures for the maximum age up to which parrots of different breeds can live are presented in our rating of centenarians. The birds are located here in descending order of the number of years lived:

1. Molluk cockatoo, whose death was more or less reliably recorded at the age of 92 and a half years;
2. a yellow-crested great cockatoo, whose death occurred, according to some sources, at the age of 73 years, and according to others - at 57 years old;
3. Inca Cockatoo, 77 years old;
4. The green-winged macaw lived for 63 years according to unconfirmed reports;
5. yellow-crested small cockatoo, which did not reach the half-century anniversary of three months;
6. almost the same - 49 years and 7 months - the gray gray lived, this was recorded by a scientific journal and one of the ornithologists;
7. the blue-faced Amazon lived in captivity for 49 years;
8. the life of one of the blue-and-yellow macaws lasted for 46 years;
9. one of the red-browed Amazons died at the age of 45;
10. a scientific publication recorded the life of one of the cockatiels up to 35 years;
11. the Indian necklace parrot lived a record 34 years for its species;
12. Fischer's lovebird, according to some sources, lived to be 18 years old, according to others - 32 years old;
13. the budgerigar has broken all records for its species, having lived to 21 years old, which was confirmed by the veterinarian of the zoo in g.Moscow;
14. The red-faced lovebird died at the age of 18.

The life span of feathered pets is greatly influenced by the surrounding conditions and circumstances. The quality of food and drinking water, cramped or normal conditions in the cage, the manifestation of attention and care of the people around, and the timely prevention of diseases are especially important.

But often accidents end the life of a pet irrevocably. These include:

• flight of a parrot through an open window;
• gnawing by birds of wires and cables that are under electrical voltage;
• bumps on mirrors, unprotected glass, double-glazed windows - you need to curtain windows with tulle or a curtain;
• getting into open pans, containers with liquid;
• contact with cats, dogs, hazardous chemicals, or houseplants.

Taking on the courage and responsibility in the establishment of a parrot, a person is obliged to organize the proper care of his pet. You need to approach the content competently and study the special literature on feeding this or that type of parrot, its habits and preferences. The rules for caring for these birds are reduced to the following general factors.

In food for parrots, as well as in food for humans, it is important to maintain a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins. The owner needs to feed the parrot with grain mixtures, vegetables and fruits, food, containing animal and vegetable proteins, taking into account the type of feathered.

The water should be fresh and clean in the bird's drinker.

Choosing a cage of the correct size is very important for a parrot: the larger it is, the larger its size should be. In cramped conditions, he will not live long. It is also important to clean and tidy up the cage regularly. You should not install an aviary for poultry in the kitchen or near household appliances - this will adversely affect its health. The parrot will be happy with special toys hung in the cage for him, and will not get bored in the absence of the owners.

It is important to observe a certain ambient temperature, humidity and purity. Drafts, direct sun, tobacco smoke or cold air have a negative impact on bird health. The parrot needs to get enough sleep and rest for 10-11 hours, in this he will be helped by a clear mode, regulated by the cage cape. It is necessary to exclude the TV, loud sounds in the room with the bird.

Every day, the parrot needs to be given the opportunity to fly and walk around the house, to communicate with the owners. It has been established reliably that parrots do not live long with uncommunicative owners. Walking, flying, playing improve the mood and have a good effect on the physical form of the bird.

Parrots love to take a bath, swimming right under the tap or in a makeshift pool in their cage. Do not deny your pet this pleasure, so the bird realizes its needs. After water procedures, you need to make sure that there are no open vents, a turned on fan, an air conditioner.

An attentive owner will always notice the depressed mood of his parrot if he is hiding or avoiding food. This is a reason to contact a veterinarian and exclude the appearance of diseases in time. To prevent the health of a feathered pet, you should show the veterinarian 1-2 times a year, and then, perhaps, he will be able to join the ranks of long-lived record holders.

You can find out about the life expectancy, characteristics of the species and the peculiarities of keeping cockatiel parrots in the following video.