Do Parrots Feel Jealous?

Parrots are one type of pet that is very emotional and compassionate, especially toward their owners and cage mates, or anything they feel attached to it, such as their own cage. Having a pet parrot can make the owner go crazy, especially when they don’t know how to deal with the bird’s emotional bursts that could happen from time to time.

So, Do Parrots Feel Jealous?

Yes, parrots can feel jealous. Jealousy in parrots is a very dominant feeling that is likely to pop up whenever something they don’t like happens. Parrots actually have a wide range of emotions just like any human being, and they will express them however they want, and this includes jealousy.

So, don’t get surprised if the bird acts angry or aggressive toward you, you may have done something that made them feel jealous, yes jealous.

And in this article, we will dive into everything related to this topic, and we will know how parrots act when they’re jealous, how to deal with a jealous pet parrot, and many more. So let’s get into this.

Is Jealousy a Normal Feeling With Parrots?

Yes, when the parrot feels jealous, it’s totally normal for them. Just like any human being, parrots also have feelings, and actually, their feelings are quite similar to us people. They can feel anger, love, hatred, and, of course, jealousy. The emotional system of parrots will stand out compared to other pets like dogs and cats. It’s really developed.

This feeling is not limited to pet parrots only, but also to wild parrots as well. They can feel jealous and express this feeling. Wild parrots feel jealous, mostly because of something their partners did.

But in captivity, there are a lot of reasons that will make the pet parrot feel jealous, and this includes the owners as the biggest reason for parrots to feel this way.

Yes, owners in most cases are the reason behind the jealousy of the pet parrot. Don’t get this as something bad happening to parrots in captivity. No, it’s just because the parrots are so picky, especially when they bond and love their owners.

Anything the owner does with other pets or family members will induce jealousy in the parrot, and again if the parrot is bonded with the owners, it’s more likely for the bird to feel the jealousy.

How to Know if Your Parrot is jealous

Well, there are a few signs your parrot is jealous. However, I want to you ask yourself a few questions before assuming that this sign or that is because of jealousy. Do You have another pet, you live alone or with family members, and is your parrot a lonely bird, does he live alone in his cage or does he have a cage mate, do you have a bond with your bird, and how long have the bird lived with you.

These questions are sometimes helpful to know if the sign your parrot is showing is because of jealousy or something else. Let’s look at these signs:

Rejecting Treats

The one is hilarious, and it shows the intelligence of your parrot when you’re trying to give his favorite treat and he ignores or he takes it from you and then immediately drops it as a sign of anger. This one is the strongest sign that your parrot is jealous.

And when you see this happen, you need to think about what were you doing while the bird watching you. It’s normally something you did a few minutes ago, not hours, not days, only a few minutes.

This is because parrots don’t hold grudges to the extent that they remember you ignored them a few hours or days ago.

It’s important to remember if you want to deal with a jealous parrot.

Loud Vocalization

The vocalization of a jealous parrot is loud. The bird may scream, talk, and do anything to attract your attention. And this sign commonly occurs at the same time you are doing the thing that makes your parrot jealous.

So, you may notice that your parrot is vocalizing more than usual when you feed your baby or any other pet, or when you are playing with one of them.

This sign is about timing. When your parrot screams while you are busy with someone else, then it’s probably a sign of jealousy.

Spreading Their Tails

In a jealous parrot, you can notice that his tail is widely spread.

Aggresiveness

A jealous parrot can get very aggressive and may charge an attack toward your or his mate or whoever made him feel this way. This sign can happen when it’s time for breeding, and when you come close to the cage or to the breeding mate. The parrot may attack you just out of jealousy.

It can also happen when at the time you are doing what makes the bird jealous, so the bird may attack you.

Sometimes the bird won’t get the chance to attack, but his body posture can tell you that the bird is waiting for you to come closer.

Sometimes that parrot will act just to scare the person or the pet that makes him jealous, and you can know that your parrot is trying to intimidate the other person when he walks around him fast as if he was trying to observe and see if that person is trying to come closer to his favorite person. So, he might launch a biting attack if that happens.

Ignoring The Owner

When the bird is jealous and mad at you, he may act like he doesn’t want to be around you. He may fly away to the other side of the room, and he might bite to push you away.

So, it’s important to put the jealous parrot back inside the cage, either by you or any other person, this way you can prevent the parrot from escaping.

How to Deal With Jealous Parrot

You don’t need to do a lot if your bird is jealous, it is easy to please your pet, it’s just about what was the reason they feel this way and doing the opposite. Did you play with another pet, Ok you can take the other pet away from the parrot’s sight and focus your attention on him.

Talking to your parrot while inside the cage is also a good idea. Remember not to open to your cage because he may fly around just to get away from you.

You can use distractions like toys and treats. Spending time with the parrot is the best thing.

If the bird is jealous because you spend or feed another pet or family member, you can start introducing them together. If the parrot feels jealous because of another family member, it’s going to be easy to make them get along.

But it will be harder for beginners to introduce parrots to other pets like cats and dogs. I have written an article about how to introduce a parrot to a cat and make them get along. It has all the information you need. It’s also the information you need to work with if you have a dog rather than a cat.

Remember that parrots do feel jealous. They may feel jealous because of another pet or family member. They also may feel jealous because of you playing or taking something they love, toys or a cage, for example. So jealousy is not limited to pets and family members.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, parrots are very emotional pets, and intelligent as well. This mix can cause these birds to feel jealous, besides their dependency on their owners.

Besides that, this feeling can differ from parrot to parrot. You may find that one of your parrots is less likely to get jealous, while the other one is more likely to feel jealous just because you’re feeding the other one with your hand. However, you don’t need to be worried.

It’s actually funny to have a jealous parrot and watch how he will act toward you. Some owners may think this bad and it’s like they are abusing their pet, but no, not exactly. Parrots can be very picky and it is impossible for the owners to do whatever their birds want. Tell you parrot its life, baby, LOL.

And yes, that’s about it. Hope You found this article informative and easy to digest. Sharing is very appreciated, thank you for reading…

Sadeq

Hello, my name is sadeq and I am obsessed about parrot And I am here to share everything about raising pet parrots and how to be good owners to your bird.