Courtesy sophia.smith.edu

Proper parrot behavior requires proper parrot parenting in the first place.

Statistics vary, but experts believe there are anywhere from 10 to 25 million pet birds living in U.S. households. Parrots are increasing in popularity and, at times, challenging families previously accustomed to the relative ease of raising dogs and cats.

Donna Mann, of Wasilla, Alaska, invites readers into her home by way of her book, Rosie Red Bottom: A Comedian with Feathers. The book shows how Mann and her husband have integrated their parrot, Rosie, into family life.

She shares some of the challenges and concerns of raising parrots, offers simple, down-to-earth solutions, and encourages parrot enthusiasts to approach issues with common sense. An educator and nurse, her animal experience has come from hand-raising, working with, and loving a variety of animals. She has worked at the Alaska Zoo and assisted dog-mushers during the Iditarod.

"You can perform diligent research on any new pet," Mann said. "Regardless of the amount of knowledge you acquire, always remember: each animal has a unique personality and temperament.

There is no textbook animal, situation, or case. Common sense will help you through all the problems you may encounter."

Mann offers the following tips:

Given their unique needs and longevity, acquiring a parrot should never be an impulse purchase. If purchasing a bird from a breeder, or adopting a bird from a rescue organization, open and frequent communication are necessary for a positive experience. List the qualities you would like to have in your bird so that you have it for a reference in your discussions with aviaries or breeders. Understand the unique qualities of the species you are interested in and how they will fit in with your family life.

Parrots are social creatures and need companionship to be healthy and happy. Include your parrot in family activities and also ensure their cage is large and well-stocked with suitable toys. "Rosie is included in all meals, showers, house-cleaning, playtime, rest time, and outside yard work," Mann says. "We talk to her and interact with her when she is with us. At the same time, Rosie will play by herself in and out of her cage. We shift all her toys around once monthly so she never tires of them."

Bathing is important for your parrot; it not only keeps the bird clean, but encourages preening. Perches that attach to bathroom tile with suction cups make shower-time a snap.

Parrots are given a commercial pellet or seed-based diet. Additionally, they need fresh vegetables and fruits, yet must avoid avocado, rhubarb, fruit with pits, and chocolate. Also many houseplants can be toxic to parrots, as is PTFE, the material used in non-stick cookware. The fumes are highly toxic to all kinds of birds. Further information on safe and toxic plants and products can be found online at www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html and should be posted in the parrot-owner's home.

Exercise is very important for any bird. Parrots love to climb, hang upside-down, walk, and flap their wings. Exercise helps relieves boredom and stress, and improves a bird's circulation.

Mann lives with her parrot in Alaska, and gives special consideration to Rosie's need for sunlight. "We set up a pole lamp in her comer with a full-spectrum light bulb. Full-spectrum light is also very beneficial for birds because it helps their bodies convert vitamin 03 for calcium absorption."

Screaming and biting are often given as reasons why parrots end up in rescue situations. Most times, it is the human who does not understand the unique needs of their parrot, and the behaviors they develop to manipulate and cope with their environment. Mann approached managing Rosie's behavior the way many parents endeavor to set their children up for success: "If Rosie is wired or needs to calm down (for our sanity), we use a few different techniques.

"The first is rewarding the calm behavior; providing interesting, problem-solving toys; teaching her a new behavior; or switching around her schedule. It is important to allow Rosie her chaos time; birds are going to be birds. We allow her the time for the very loud craziness. This seems to be common sense; one would do the same for an overactive human baby."

But about that biting: "Sometimes Rosie gets nippy, biting just hard enough to leave a beak imprint on a finger or hand. We don't tolerate this behavior. Also, any smacking or hitting of a bird is abusive and counterproductive. So, we handle our parrot's inappropriate behavior in the same way we do with the children.

When the kids are bad they get time out, so we tried this with Rosie, too. She hates being banished to another room and removed from the family's activities.

Included in Rosie Red Bottom is an extensive Appendix with 150 references and Web sites for readers to grow in their knowledge and appreciation of African grays compiled by Joan E. Phelps, a writer who has two African gray parrots of her own.

Rosie Red Bottom is available from Amazon.com. You can also see photos of Rosie at her blog:www.rosieredbottom.blogspot.com.