The Sun Conure is colorful while the Cockatiel has a special crest.
Various style
Hue people have various purposes when they keep parrots as pets. Le Bo, who owns tens of parrots, said: “I have an interest in seeing the birth of the baby birds. I’m raising Cockatiel (also known to us as Malaysian parrots) hatchlings. This species can sing after the music or mimic many other sounds.”
The Cockatiel is very friendly. They are easy to get familiar with people, especially women and children who have cherishing and tender behavior. “Once they get familiar, Cockatiels are very gentle and close to their keepers. Moreover, they are good at free flying,” he said.
Free fly is a hobby of parrot training that many parrot keepers want to take up. A man called Hai, who spent over a year exploring this hobby, said: “To me, it is a big success to train the pet fly, fly skillfully and understand the commands. It’s pleasant to see the parrot fly high and freely.”
For a bird to fly freely, the bird keeper must give it much training, mainly focusing on three skills, namely, coming, landing and turning. Hai said: “Landing skill is the most important. Once the parrot flies and perches on a high position, we can do nothing but climb up and catch it if it has not been taught with skill of landing. We can blow a whistle or call its name, but remember that we have to be patient because each parrot has its own ability to learn.”
When parrots become mature
There are various styles in parrot-keeping. Many keepers are interested in the feather colors. Another parrot keeper, Lam Kinh Vi, said: “There’s a species called Lovebird, and this is not a random name. Keepers of these birds are fascinated by their feather colors which are rare and unique.”
Attracting many pet keepers
Each species of parrots has its own strengths and weaknesses, ranging from lovely to troublesome characteristics. Bo said: “Most of new pet keepers should start with species friendly and close to keepers such as Sun Conure, Cockatiel and Lovebird. Those parrots with highly territorial instincts, like Red-Breasted (Psittacula Alexandri), are quite aggressive to strangers. However, the strength of this species is the attractive colors and the reasonable price.”
The prices of a parrots suit the budgets of different keepers. The prices of the Budgerigar, the Lorikeet, the Cockatoo, the Blue and Gold Macaw vary from a hundred Vietnamese dong to tens of or even hundreds of million Vietnamese dong.
Therefore, whatever reason for having a parrot as a pet, from having a friendly companion, a colorful pet to admire, to an interesting pet to teach it to speak human language or fly freely, keepers can easily get one of these parrots.
Le Bo’s results and happiness
Keeping parrots as pets can be seen as “a long journey” because some species are hard to get used to the wet and cold winter in Hue. Bo said: “Parrots are easy to catch digestive and respiratory diseases. Once there was a long period of flood and power failure in Hue, I had to wade into the flood water to a higher place to dry the parrot. I did it at my best because the parrot was part of my life – a ‘spiritual child’ and a friend that I dedicated all my effort and enthusiasm to keep.”
For Hai, the colorful parrots become a catalyst for his family bond. His child no longer addicted to the smartphone, but help him take care of the parrot, train it and play it, instead.
Hai showed us the moment the parrot flew following his whistle command: “I and my son often let the parrot fly freely, especially over a large deserted field. It is the happiest moment I cherish among the hard and busy life.”
There are also unintended incidents such as the parrot flies away or gets sick and dies. This leads to a feeling of loss, as keepers often take care of parrots since they are young and consider them as dears and nears.
Bo said: “In addition to a spacious cage or room for the parrot’s mobility to better the skeletal and respiratory systems, the keeper’s care and consideration should be very important.”
He said: “It’s probably due to their happy nature, parrots do not clearly show any symptom of sickness. It is just a blur of ruffled feathers, creepy and anorexic feeling. It seems that they do not want to make their keepers upset.”
Loving and caring are the primary criteria for those who want to become parrot keepers. Hue Association of Parrot Keepers has currently had over 500 members. In the near future, they intend to have a number of gatherings to exchange their experience in keeping parrots and perform the parrot Free fly with other groups and associations.
Story and photos: MAI HUE