Parrot Welfare: How to Know if Your Bird Is Thriving
- Roger Valls Martínez
- Oct 23
- 10 min read
Many people who live with parrots wonder if their bird is truly happy, if it has a good quality of life. Often, even with the best intentions, it is difficult to understand the needs of the wild animal in our care, and even more so to know if they are being met. In this post, I want to explore what animal welfare is, how it is interpreted, and which indicators we can consider in psittacines to evaluate, with some rigor, whether our parrot is experiencing good welfare.
What is Animal Welfare?
Over the past few years, concern for the welfare of animals in human care has grown enormously, and likewise, movements against animal cruelty are gaining more followers. And while this is undoubtedly good news, today the most common form of mistreatment is unintentional mistreatment, to which many caregivers, despite having excellent intentions, subject their animals out of pure ignorance.
After all, mistreatment does not necessarily imply deliberate physical abuse, which is the first thing that usually comes to mind. Mistreatment can result from providing an environment that does not meet the conditions necessary for the animal’s welfare, and in fact, such situations are common even among the most committed caregivers, especially when we are dealing with wild animals, such as psittacines.
Therefore, one of our greatest concerns when caring for a parrot should be to evaluate the level of welfare the animal is experiencing. To do this, we must rely on indicators and methodologies that are scientifically based and objective, so that they do not depend on our personal assessments, which in many cases may be influenced by all kinds of biases.
The first step, then, is to introduce the concept of animal welfare, which, according to Broom (1986), can be defined as:
"The mental state of an individual in relation to its attempts to cope with its environment."
It is important to understand this definition, as it fundamentally determines how the concept of animal welfare has been interpreted by experts from the late 20th century onwards.
The Five Domains of Animal Welfare
While traditionally, in order to interpret and assess the welfare of an animal or a group of animals, the model of the “Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare” developed by the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) in the 1970s was used, today the model of the “Five Domains of Animal Welfare,” proposed by Mellor and Reid (1994) and updated in 2020 (Mellor et al.), has started to gain prominence as a replacement.
The Five Domains model defines, first, four basic domains that group the different physical or functional factors generating the stimuli perceived by the animal:
Nutrition: type, quantity, quality, and variety of diet, availability and quality of water.
Environment: the framework and structures that make up the habitat, materials, temperature, humidity.
Health: presence or absence of disease, injuries, body condition, pain, or other health issues.
Behavior: expression of foraging, exploratory, social behaviors, inactivity, and rest.
According to this model, throughout its life, a parrot experiences a series of events classified into one of the four physical/functional domains. Each of these experiences is then processed and interpreted by the fifth domain, the Mental, which generates a series of sensations and emotions that may be positive or negative depending on the event and the individual’s perception. It is precisely the short, medium and long-term condition of the mental domain that determines its level of welfare, according to Broom’s definition.
For example, if we offer our parrot too little food, by the end of the day it will experience hunger, a negative sensation that contributes to lowering its welfare, especially if repeated day after day. The same occurs with any other negative sensation: many parrots suffer from excessive attachment to their caregivers, and when separation anxiety is intense and repeated daily, we can be sure that their welfare level is below acceptable.
Thus, if we want to measure our parrot’s welfare, we must be aware that it depends exclusively on how the individual perceives its environment and interacts with it. The tendency to simplify or generalize regarding the requirements of these animals is a completely mistaken approach to welfare. Such assumptions presume that there is an ideal environment and care routine that satisfies all or most psittacines equally, focusing on the environment rather than the individual when assessing welfare. Or, tell me, aren’t statements like “your parrot’s cage should include these items arranged this way,” or “you should feed your parrot this food X times per week,” or “parrots need 15 minutes of training per day” familiar to you?
In reality, the environment, care, and management that are ideal for one animal may be completely inappropriate for another with apparently similar characteristics. Imprinting, habits, learned behaviors, as well as physical, mental, and social capacities, are some of the factors that determine the needs that must actually be met for each individual to ensure a high level of welfare.
Introducing a parrot, regardless of species, into a large aviary with others of its own species may seem like an ideal scenario. However, if it is a human-imprinted individual that has lived its entire life as a companion in a cage at home, the situation will be catastrophic, as it is not prepared to face such an environment. This is why, although the environment is something caregivers can act upon, when evaluating animal welfare, we cannot rely on indicators focusing on the environment (environmental indicators) but on indicators centered on the individual.
Although there are other types of welfare indicators—such as physiological or the aforementioned environmental indicators—the ones most accurately used by caregivers in professional contexts, and therefore the ones I consider most useful in the domestic sphere as well, are behavioral and physical indicators.
Measuring Welfare Through Behavior
An animal’s behavior encompasses all the actions it performs in response to perceived stimuli and aims to adapt as effectively as possible to its environment. Since animal welfare corresponds to its mental state in relation to attempts to adapt to the environment, studying its behavior allows us to understand to what extent it is succeeding in doing so and, therefore, to evaluate its welfare level to some degree.
For example, one of the simplest behavioral indicators to identify is abnormal behaviors, i.e., those that do not correspond to behaviors expressed by wild conspecifics, whether in form, context, duration, intensity, or frequency. Clearly, the behavioral pattern of a captive parrot will never exactly replicate that of wild individuals of the same species, but it should allow the bird to meet its motivations appropriately and in accordance with its nature. If this does not happen, the animal expresses maladaptive behaviors such as hyper-aggression, feather plucking, or abnormal vocal patterns, in a failed attempt to adapt to its environment.
When this situation and the resulting stress are prolonged over time, the animal’s behavior may become more permanently altered in what we call dysfunctional abnormal behaviors, which, in addition to being maladaptive, are expressed without purpose, reflection, or foresight, such as stereotyped movements.As caregivers—ideally with the help of a behavior and rehabilitation professional—we can identify and determine this type of behavior to understand its origins and whether it indicates welfare deficiencies in the parrot. Behaviors such as feather plucking are clearly a sign of poor welfare, so in such cases, all efforts must be made to understand the causes of discomfort in the individual to remedy them. Additionally, understanding parrots as wild animals, it is necessary to provide an environment that allows them to behave accordingly.
In fact, another commonly used methodology to assess the welfare level of wild animals under human care is to compare their daily time-budget with that of their free-living counterparts. The time-budget, also called activity budget, is the proportion of daily time an animal spends on different activities or behavioral categories, such as locomotion, feeding, resting, self-maintenance, etc. Roughly speaking, the more similarities we see between a captive parrot’s daily activity distribution and that of wild parrots, the higher we can consider its welfare level.
Basic behavioral categories for parrots are as follows:
Social: strictly social behaviors, such as mutual preening (allopreening), regurgitation feeding (allofeeding), contact vocalizations, physical contact, intimidation, attack, submission.
Feeding: locating, extracting, and manipulating food, consuming food and/or water.
Movement: walking, climbing, jumping, flying.
Maintenance: bathing, preening.
Manipulation: interacting with elements of the environment without feeding or reproductive purpose.
Reproduction: courtship, copulation, nesting.
Inactivity: sleep or rest.
While rigorously quantifying the time an animal spends on each activity can be complex and may require a professional, anyone with a video camera can begin analyzing their parrot’s behavior. The figure below shows reference values for how a hypothetical average parrot might distribute its time in the wild, though these must be interpreted cautiously and may not directly correspond to captive conditions.
In addition to the time-budget, other ways exist to evaluate a parrot’s welfare. Its posture, facial expressions, and especially their deterioration over time can also provide clear signs of poor welfare if interpreted by a trained eye. However, for someone inexperienced in observing and interpreting the body language of these very different animals, monitoring quality of life through these subtle cues can be challenging.
Certain positions clearly indicate general discomfort, such as lethargy (little or no movement, eyes closed, low attention to environmental stimuli), puffing up (feathers fluffed into a ball), and drooping wings and tail. When we observe these signals, it is essential to consult a veterinarian promptly. If we notice abnormal movements or gestures during locomotion, either while walking or flying, we must identify the cause, as it could be an injury affecting the bird’s quality of life. Similarly, its resting position can provide clues about its condition. A hunched or crouched parrot, not exhibiting the upright posture typical of psittacines, may be in pain or discomfort while perched.
If the parrot stands very upright, with wings held away from the body and panting heavily, it is trying to maximize heat dissipation through respiration and body surfaces.In these cases, its welfare—and health—may be compromised by excessive environmental temperature, which must be monitored carefully, especially above 35 °C.
In any case, monitoring posture and facial expression provides valuable information about the parrot’s current sensations and perceptions, allowing better understanding of its welfare both short- and long-term.
Physical Indicators of Parrot Welfare
If behavior reflects how the animal interacts with its environment—and this determines welfare—physical condition shows the effect of that interaction on the body and also provides information on quality of life.
Any deficiency in welfare will affect the parrot’s physical appearance or condition. Moreover, such anomalies caused by poor welfare can lead to future pain, discomfort, or difficulty adapting to its environment, creating a feedback loop that further reduces quality of life. In other words, the poorer the parrot’s quality of life, the worse its physical condition, which further hinders its welfare. It is a vicious cycle.
Therefore, a parrot’s physical condition not only serves as an indicator of welfare but also allows us to predict potential future problems and prevent them. Among the most important physical indicators are feather condition and body condition.
Feathers are not merely aesthetic; they protect the bird from environmental factors, allow thermoregulation, and are essential for flight. Any alteration—lack of density in key areas, broken feathers, or general poor appearance—may indicate welfare issues, such as feather plucking, infectious diseases (e.g., circovirus or polyomavirus), or environmental deficiencies such as poor diet or low humidity.
Body condition reflects overall physical health. Evaluating weight and musculature allows identification of significant deviations from ideal condition, signaling potential health issues, poor daily habits, or dietary deficiencies. Regular monitoring (weekly to monthly) provides objective, quantifiable data on the bird’s physical condition, directly affecting welfare.
As you can see, there are several physical parameters we can monitor daily very easily in our parrots. Analyzed together with behavioral indicators, these physical measures provide a representative picture of the welfare of the psittacines in our care.
In short, to know if our parrot is living a life worth living, we must look beyond the obvious. Providing a spacious environment or a proper diet is not enough; we must observe how the animal perceives and interacts with its environment through its behavior and physical condition as key indicators. I understand that implementing this at home can be difficult, as it requires technical knowledge and a good amount of time. If you are interested and want me, as a professional in animal care, behavior, and rehabilitation, to guide you in applying welfare assessment methodology tailored to you and your animals, you can contact me here and we can discuss your case.
Otherwise, I hope this topic has been interesting and practical, and that you can apply it if you have parrots—or any other animals—in your care. Thank you very much for reading, leave your notes or questions in the comments so we can discuss, and as always, see you next time!
Roger Valls Martínez
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Broom, D. M. (1986). Indicators of poor welfare. British Veterinary Journal, 142(6), 524–526.
Mellor, D. J., & Reid, C. S. W. (1994). Concepts of animal well-being and predicting the impact of procedures on experimental animals.
Mellor, D. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Littlewood, K. E., McLean, A. N., McGreevy, P. D., Jones, B., & Wilkins, C. (2020). The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human–Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals, 10(10), 1870.
Reid, C. (2008). Exploration-avoidance and an anthropogenic toxin (lead Pb) in a wild parrot (Kea: Nestor notabilis) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Canterbury]. University of Canterbury Research Repository.
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