Husbandry and care of research parrot colonies

Parrots, by virtue of their color, size, monogamy, longevity, and ability t o mimic sounds have been prized as companion animals for centuries and, in temperate latitudes, are considered as archetypal 'exotic' birds. These cha racteristics of parrots present special problems for their care and husband ry. In the course of managing Cockatiel and Orange-winged Amazon colonies a t UC Davis over the past 10 to 14 years, we have encountered several proble ms. Some of these have been solved but we are still searching for entirely satisfactory solutions to others. Most of our problems can be categorized a s being either 'people' problems or 'parrot' problems. As it is unlikely th at our experiences are unique, my intention here is to share what we have l earned in dealing with these problems, in the hope that difficulties others may have in establishing captive research colonies may be reduced.