Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species

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Overview

There are an estimated 50 million parrots in the United States today. Their intelligence and extraordinary personalities make them beloved members of the families that bring them into their homes.

In Of Parrots and People, award-winning journalist and long-time parrot owner Mira Tweti reveals the complex world of parrots-their astonishing intellect, often-intimate relationships with humans, and, unfortunately, the calamitous practices of the bird industry. Delving into the ...

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Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species

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More About This Book

Overview

There are an estimated 50 million parrots in the United States today. Their intelligence and extraordinary personalities make them beloved members of the families that bring them into their homes.

In Of Parrots and People, award-winning journalist and long-time parrot owner Mira Tweti reveals the complex world of parrots-their astonishing intellect, often-intimate relationships with humans, and, unfortunately, the calamitous practices of the bird industry. Delving into the secret world of the global parrot trade, Tweti documents the forces driving these remarkable creatures to the brink of extinction. A critical addition to the popular shelf of books about animals and their behavior, Of Parrots and People is a startling wake-up call in the tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Trenchant analysis woven together with colorful personal narratives from expert scientists, conservationists, eccentric pet owners and amateur animal rescuers reveals the deleterious consequences of mankind's penchant for keeping exotic birds. Tweti (Here, There and Everywhere) begins by debunking the myth of the "bird brain," citing the story of Alex, an African grey research parrot who was proven to have the cognitive skills of a toddler, not uncommon for his breed. The author's research illuminates the staggering variety of the thousands of species of parrots and indicts the individuals who breed, sell and smuggle birds to feed consumer demand. ("Parrots are a luxury item, deprived of liberty purely for human amusement. No one needs to keep a parrot.") She discusses the unacknowledged crisis of a species being hunted to extinction despite the frequency with which they are abandoned by pet owners. Tweti's account is factual and passionate-she likens even the prettiest bird cage to "a slave's shackles"-but she makes it clear where the science ends and her opinions begin. Tweti's work is a valuable resource of astonishing thoroughness, richness and accessibility-despite the occasional ideological inconsistency.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Library Journal

Parrots are the most endangered group of birds, mostly owing to humans' desire to keep them as pets and the demands placed on their habitats. Expanding on her award-winning Los Angeles Times Magazine exposé, "Plenty To Squawk About," journalist and avian advocate Tweti has written a comprehensive and compassionate account of the parrot-human relationship. She uncovers the alarming trend of people relinquishing these animals because of their highly intelligent and highly sociable natures, which make them difficult to keep in confinement. She also takes us to Mexico, where black market shops sell endangered parrot species; to the Brazilian outback, where we meet Charles Munn, an unorthodox environmentalist who saves these birds as his life's work; and to São Paolo, where endangered Lear's and Spix's macaws are held in captivity in the hope that they will breed. This eye-opening report, which reads like a gripping adventure tale, is strongly recommended for academic and public libraries.
—Diana Hartle

Kirkus Reviews
Informative account of a bright and complex bird alarmingly mistreated by humans. Parrots have long been popular, writes Tweti, who has profiled the species in media ranging from newspaper articles and documentary films to children's books (Here, There and Everywhere: The Story of Sreeeeeeeet the Lorikeet, 2008). The Greeks ate them as a delicacy, the Egyptians used their images to decorate pharaohs' tombs, wealthy Europeans and Americans have always treasured their companionship. With the affection of a parrot owner, the author describes the beguiling qualities of these little-studied birds, including their beauty, intelligence, ability to talk and the close bonds they can form with people. However, most of Tweti's lively and discursive book focuses on the many ways in which humans neglect or abuse parrots. She notes that people purchasing the birds seldom realize that parrots are unusually demanding wild animals: They squawk, bite and much prefer to live with their kind in the wild. Advocacy groups advise against having them as pets. Many owners prove unable to tolerate the birds; finding no market for older parrots, they pass them on to friends (the average parrot has seven homes in its first ten years) or set them free to fend for themselves. The result has been "a crisis of unwanted parrots" in the United States, with growing numbers of birds winding up in the nation's avian rescue centers. At the same time, some 10,000 breeders, with little training and virtually no regulation, continue to raise parrots (often in cramped factory farms) and sell more than one million of them annually. Interviewing owners, breeders, rescue operators and others, Tweti brings readers deep insidethe worlds of illegal parrot trapping, harvesting and smuggling, including visits with federal agents along the San Diego-Mexico border, where parrots are smuggled into the United States in car taillights. A sad story of lovely wild creatures held captive for our amusement. Agent: Jandy Nelson/Manus & Associates Literary Agency
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780143115755
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 7/28/2009
  • Pages: 352
  • Sales rank: 1,007,665
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Mira Tweti is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and The Village Voice, and has helped pass legislation and launch national awareness about parrot issues. Her exposé for the LA Times Magazine on the U.S. parrot trade won an investigative journalism Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United Sates for significant stories on animal welfare. Tweti is also the author of a parrot- welfare children's book, Here, There and Everywhere, heralded by Dr. Jane Goodall as “a masterpiece.” Tweti lives in Los Angeles with ZaZu, an adopted parrot.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Bird Brains 1

Chapter 2 Parrots and Parronts 23

Chapter 3 No Joy: The Crisis of Unwanted Birds 50

Chapter 4 Naturalized Psittacines: America's Avian Immigrants 79

Chapter 5 From the Wild Life to Captive Breeders: The Legal Parrot Trade in the United States 98

Chapter 6 Death Row and a Death Row Reprieve: The Notorious Scudder's Parrot Depot and the Stellar Cockatoo Rescue 131

Chapter 7 A Bird in a Cage Is Worth Two in the Bush: The Illegal Trapping and Wild Harvesting of Parrots Around the Globe 148

Chapter 8 Smuggling 175

Chapter 9 The Invisible Man 210

Chapter 10 A Brazilian Journey with Global Parrot Conservationist Charles Munn 231

Chapter 11 The Journey Continues to the Rarest Macaws in the World, Lear's and Spix's 274

Chapter 12 Repercussions, Ramifications, and Solutions 292

Acknowledgments 301

Author's Note 305

Index 307

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Sort by: Showing 1 – 5 of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Posted December 10, 2008

    I Also Recommend:

    The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
    Alex and Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
    The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story... with Wings

    Best parrot-related book ever

    Be forewarned. This is not a feel-good book for those people interested in the fun, exciting side of parrots.<BR/><BR/>Instead, it is a well-researched and presented book about all the ways that humans have interacted with and affected parrots over the years, both domestically and in the wild.<BR/><BR/>The author starts off with a chapter about parrot intelligence, followed by a chapter about parrot companions. From there, we travel to purgatory, then straight into hell. We are educated about the dark side of parrot breeding, and why there are so many parrot rescues and sanctuaries. The author goes to Mexico to follow the trail of parrot smuggling into the U.S. and barely manages to keep her composure, despite the horrors she witnesses. She spends a chapter on an undercover agent for U.S. Fish & Wildlife who has dedicated his life to stopping parrot smuggling. The chapter reads like an episode of Law and Order and is equally engrossing. She travels through South America with conservationist Charlie Munn and witnesses the glory of parrots in the wild. We learn about all the ways that human activity is driving parrots to extinction around the world. We even get to go along with her to meet Presley, one of the last remainng Spix's macaws in captivity, with all wild Spix's macaws already extinct. We learn about ecotourism and how it helps to save animals, such as parrots, in the wild.<BR/><BR/>This book should be required reading for anyone who lives with parrots, is contemplating getting a parrot, is interested in conservation, and, well, pretty much everyone. While parrots are the subject of the book, it could just as well be applied to animals in general. There are many stories in this book about reptile smuggling, another hot topic. <BR/><BR/>Ms. Tweti has written a well-researched and informative book which reads more like a crime novel than nonfiction book. Despite the horrors portrayed, the book is very commanding and difficult to put down. I cannot more strongly recommend this book.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 5, 2008

    A Bird owner

    I have birds & I had never read a book by someone else who was touched by these amaizing creatures... till now! I was moved, I laughed & I realized I was not alone with a weird pet in my home! I will treasure this book for as long as I live! Awesome - touching & very sad to see what we humans do to a creature that should be protected by us!

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 14, 2009

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    Posted January 23, 2010

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 29, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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