John Wiley and Sons Ltd Manual of Parrot Behavior

Psittacines are maintained in captivity as pets, in the home, as breeding birds in avicultures, in zoos and in conservation projects. Because of their intelligence, playfulness and ability in mimicry, psittacines are the most widely kept companion birds. In the wild, these birds are normally social, living with others. In captivity most are kept in a cage without other birds. The advantage of caging psittacines is that they are more likely to become tame and develop their powers of mimicry. The disadvantage, however, is that in this environment, psittacines develop behavior problems that can take many forms, including biting, screeching and self-mutilation. It is estimated that more than half of the cases presented to clinicians in companion psittacine practice are the result of behavioral problems - problems inherent to the caged psittacine.