Pet overpopulation has become a "buzz concept" that seems to have spilled over into the bird-keeping arena. Private bird shelters and sanctuaries claim to be overwhelmed with a flood of unwanted pet birds. The claim is that breeders are producing too many birds for the number of good homes that are available. What is really behind this issue?
Birds such as Cockatoos and Macaws are relatively common in shelters for various reasons. People develop very strong emotional bonds with these types of birds, but peoples' lives change, and frequently this means they have to find new homes for their pet birds. Often times, these pet owners fall victim to the romance of giving up their bird to a shelter. They may believe that their bird couldn't possibly be happy in a different pet home. They are experiencing guilt at having to give up their cherished pet so they look for a feel-good solution. Many shelters offer that chance at feeling better about giving up a bird that the pet owner may be very attached to. Somehow, it seems wrong to many pet owners to sell a bird that has been their pet. It is compared to selling one's child. And, simply giving it away to another pet home seems so cold and uncaring.
In my opinion, pet birds going into shelters has nothing to do with overpopulation. It has everything to do with making choices based solely upon emotion and the need to alleviate feelings of guilt.
In some situations, a pet owner may not have made a wise choice about their pet bird purchase to begin with. We all know how easy it is to fall in love with a cuddly, newly weaned macaw or cockatoo. In time, some of these pet owners may also make the choice (sometimes a good choice) to find new homes for their birds. Again, the shelter offers a feel-good solution to their guilt at giving up on a bird that they recognize is very intelligent, but that they failed to provide the proper environment for. Once again, this has nothing to do with overpopulation.
Many in the
shelter/rescue community will hold up the hundreds of birds that are in
shelter/sanctuary as evidence of overpopulation. They report that they get so
many requests to take in more birds that it is more than they can handle. In my
opinion, this is evidence of human nature, not pet bird overpopulation. Some
shelters/sanctuaries understand this emotion and exploit it to shame pet owners
out of their birds. It is apparent to me that some (not all!)
shelter/sanctuary operators have a martyr complex so that the more birds they
scoop up and the more in debt they go, the more they feel like they are saving
the world. Pet bird "overpopulation" in shelters and sanctuaries is nothing more
than a study in the human need to find ways to feel good about oneself.
The fact is that there are plenty of homes for these birds. In reality, older
pet birds still have value. If overpopulation was real, then older pet birds
would be dirt cheap. There are many who are more than happy pay money for a
20-year-old macaw or cockatoo. If there is such an overpopulation problem, how
can a 20-year-old pet bird sell for close to the same price as a newly weaned
baby?
According to a American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) survey, the number of pet birds in the US is around 17 million. Many in the industry consider this number to be artificially low. For instance, they only include household pet birds. The figures don't include birds kept in outdoor aviaries or birds kept by breeders so these statistics certainly do not indicate the total number of captive birds in the U.S. One thing the statistics do indicate is that the number of birds in the U.S. is fairly stable with only minor fluctuations from year to year.
I have extrapolated the APPMA statistics to get an idea of the number of birds that must be bred to maintain a stable population. The data indicate that about 85% of the 17 million birds in the U.S. are Cockatiels, Budgies, Finches, Canaries, Doves or other short-lived species. The other 15% are longer-lived species of medium to large parrots.
Most Budgies, Finches and Canaries never make it anywhere close to 10 years of age. Many Cockatiels do make it to 10 years of age, but probably not a majority. The 15% of the population that is comprised of longer-lived species would not pull up the average life-span much. Since the vast majority are short-lived species, it is reasonable to use 10 years as an average life-span.
Using 10 years as an average life-span, it would require breeders in the U.S. to produce very roughly 1.7 million baby birds annually just to supply the demand for pets. This figure would NOT include the additional birds that would be needed to replace the breeding stock, nor would it include birds that are not destined for the traditional pet bird trade. Additionally, because this calculation is based on figures that are artificially low to begin with, the actual number of baby birds produced annually to maintain a stable pet bird population is very likely to be much higher than 1.7 million.
Some in the pet bird rescue community claim that upwards of 5000 birds per year are turned over to shelters and sanctuaries. This represents considerably less than 1% of the birds that are produced per year. - Hardly an epidemic when the figures are examined.
Is It Worth It?
Are there birds out there that are not taken care of properly? Sure. Is there an epidemic of pet bird overpopulation or poorly cared for birds? No. Of those 1.7 million baby birds destined for the pet trade, the vast majority are happy, healthy and are destined for a life that is better than they would have encountered 10-20 years ago. This is because of the advancements we have made and continue to make because our knowledge of bird husbandry improves as long as aviculture remains strong and active. Avian medicine continues to improve because there are enough pet birds out there to support continuing advances in that field.
People only care about the things they are familiar with. Many people are unaware of the plight of many of the wild populations of parrots. Pet birds help connect the general public to these birds and the issues their wild counterparts face in ways that are not always obvious. The birds that we raise may or may not ever contribute directly to a reintroduction program, but they do contribute immeasurably to people's awareness and compassion for birds in the wild.
There is plenty of demand for pet
birds. The vast majority are well cared for. They raise the public's awareness
of conservation issues affecting wild birds. Maintaining a healthy avicultural
market allows for further advances in the avian husbandry and veterinary fields.
I don't see a reason not to breed birds for pets.