These are spot on and anyone considering bringing their first parrot home needs to really read this and think on them, but in all honesty this is parrot ownership in general. It’s not just a GCC thing, it’s pretty much all of them…to one degree or another.
The majority of parrots are pairbond species who spent nearly every waking moment in some form of contact with their mate. They are constantly squabbling and bickering in larger social groups where they use their beaks as a means of enforcing their desires. They are hardwired to be incredibly picky and MESSY eaters who take one bite and fling their food. They are also hardwired to use their voice to communicate to other flock members over distances that may actually be measured by the mile (ie they are LOUD). And they have incredibly rapid digestion so they poop roughly every 20 mins, larger species a little less frequently and smaller species a little more.
Couple that with the fact that their bodies have been designed by evolution to fly miles every day, an act that requires such an incredible expenditure of energy and calories that they are among the most extreme animal athletes. They also have been gifted with a brain that rivals toddler age humans in its capacity for exploration, inquisitiveness and chaos!
Parrots are not for everyone. But for those who do enjoy them the negatives are just something you work around because the positives outweigh them for you. But again, just like with other non domesticated animals, parrots are not pets that just fit seamlessly into an owner’s life. In many cases they are pets that you actually have to mold your life around.
