Parrot life stages

A Parrot’s Life Stages

It is essential that you know about the life stages of a parrot before owning one, so that you can adequately care for it.

Parrots live long lives. There are even some parrot species that can live as long as humans.

The life of a parrot has various stages. In this article, we’ll tell you all that you need to know about them and how you can handle them.

Parrot life stages

The life stages of a parrot are:

  • Baby parrot
  • Imprinting parrot
  • Fledgling parrot
  • Weaning parrot
  • Juvenile parrot
  • Parrot puberty
  • Adulthood

Baby parrot

At this stage, the parrot is just newly born. It is a tiny, little hatchling. When baby parrots are born, they are naked and blind. If in the wild, the baby parrot is fed with food that is regurgitated by the parents. But as a human breeder, you have to feed the parrot with formula through a syringe in the mouth of the parrot. The content of the baby formula varies from one parrot species to another. But the baby formula has similar substances to what its parents will give it in the wild. 

Imprinting parrot

At the imprinting stage, the parrot is no longer completely blind. It starts to open its eyes and look at its environs. The first moving thing it sees becomes its parents. They get very attached to their parent.

This is an important period for keeping the parrot tame and getting it used to you. You can get parrots at latter stages and tame them, but they will require some training to do so. The attachment won’t as automatic as during the imprinting stage. If you get a domesticated parrot from a breeder, it will likely have gotten used to humans during its imprinting stage.

Fledgling parrot

At this stage, the parrot learns how to fly or begins to learn how to fly. But they will still depend on their parents for food. This is the best time to clip the wings of your parrot. But you should do so after the parrot has learned how to fly. If you clip the wings before the parrot learns to fly, the parrot may never learn to fly at all.

Weaning parrot

A weaning parrot is one that is being weaned off its parent feedings. They can start to eat solid food at this time. You can hire the services of a trained breeder to slowly introduce solid food to your parrot and prevent it from getting starved or malnourished.

Juvenile parrot

At the juvenile stage, a parrot can completely fend for itself. At this stage, it eats solid food entirely and doesn’t take formula anymore. Most parrot sellers sell their parrots at this stage. This is the best time to buy a parrot as it will require less time and attention from you as opposed to the earlier stages. Plus, they will readily accept and trust you at this stage.

By examining the feathers of the parrot, you can tell if it is a juvenile or not. Juvenile birds don’t have the full adult color, and they won’t have it until after some molting seasons.

Parrot puberty

This is the stage where the parrot becomes sexually mature. The behavior exhibited by the parrot at this stage depends on the sex and the species of the parrot. The parrot can exhibit some strange behaviors during the mating season.

The parrot might even fall in love with you and attempt to regurgitate food at you and make love with your hand. The parrot may push its back against you to get you to mate with it. Stroke the vent of the parrot when it does this to discourage it. You will need a lot of patience at this stage, and you will need to keep the parrot active and stimulated. This will help you avoid some of the acting out you may experience at this stage.

Adulthood

At this stage, the parrot has been through a lot of mating seasons. The parrot will settle down into life as a captive parrot as this stage. The parrot will be calm at this stage. But the adult parrot may be less exciting and less willing to try new things and have new adventures. This is reminiscent of adults when they get old.

A parrot has different life stages

The Life Stages Of A Parrot Are Similar to Humans

The life stages of a parrot aren’t that different from the life stages of an adult. It is just like the way a human is born, taken care of by the parents and eating formula, recognizing the parents, learning to walk and starting to eat solid food, growing into puberty and eventually becoming a full adult taking care of themselves.

As a parrot owner, you should be prepared for all these stages and know how you should handle them. Only then can you be fully committed to your parrot and understand why it acts the way it does.

 

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