Parrots are among the most cognitively complex birds kept as pets, yet their needs are routinely unmet in captivity, leading to widespread psychological suffering.
Most captive parrots suffer from chronic understimulation. Alone in small cages for most of the day, intelligent species like African greys and macaws develop anxiety, depression, and self-destructive feather plucking. Screaming, biting, and aggression are usually welfare distress signals, not character flaws. Parrots are fundamentally inappropriate pets for most households.