Home » Plants & Animals » Small Hookbills » The Showman Bird

The Showman Bird

© Mary Wilson

Opening up the cage, the parrot emerges. Tail spread, neck feathered raised, the bird struts across the top of the cage. It may vocalize, seeming to absorb every "pretty bird" or "good boy" as if these words validated its behavior.

My Braynon is such a bird.

With company, he acts like a shrinking violet, afraid that if anyone even looks at him he will wither away into parrot-nothingness, but get him alone, and he's a one bird entertainment crew.

I find it fascinating that different species of birds lend themselves to being "showman" birds. Of the small hookbills, parrotlets, lovebirds, and cockatiels lend themselves well to being showy birds. For each species, it's a little something different. Perhaps lovebirds know that they come in every color under the rainbow. Cockatiels are the clowns of the bird world, and parrotlets think they are Amazons in a small package.

So how do you handle a "showman" bird? First, let the bird be him or herself. Birds of this personality type are notorious for wanting to be at the center of attention all the time. If this bird lives in the living room, then conversations must include it, and television specials are put on for its entertainment. Trying to cover up this bird, or otherwise trying to quiet it, will end up in frustrating both bird and owner.

Of course birds shouldn't be allowed to run the household, no matter how much they want to. Instead, exuberant birds need time set aside for them to do what they do best, entertain their humans. Preferably this special time needs to happen daily and can be incorporated into part of the daily routine.

I've found, in living with my "showman" bird, that it takes lots of patience and laughter to get through the day. When Braynon bit my finger because I was talking to a friend on the phone while feeding him, and obviously not paying attention to the most important thing -- him, laugher helped me put down the phone, go grab a band aid, staunch the bleeding, and resume my conversation. Braynon got the satisfaction of hearing his mommy say bad words (not the recommended response when a parrot bites you, for they thrive on the drama), and I was able to talk to my friend.

The same goes for when I visit her house, and her parrotlet, Petey, thinks that he has to voice his opinion about our conversation, never mind that he knows nothing of human males and the travails of the dating game.

Braynon showing-off

The copyright of the article The Showman Bird in Small Hookbills is owned by Mary Wilson. Permission to republish The Showman Bird in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.