parrots how long do they live

[toffee3]

I am trying to find out about how many years aparrot lives

[pinus]

This is a link to a commercial site which has background music - so don't open it at the office!! http://parrotdise.com/parrots.shtml Parrots kept as pets have a shorter lifespan than those in the wild

[GuavaHalf]

pinus - any idea why pets have a shorter lifespan? Normally captive animals live longer because food is easy to get and there are no predators.

[Eno-missy]

Because they get bored in some cases but more likely than not they do not get the exercise (unlike other domesticated animals which get walks etc.) Also, keepers neglect the fact that the birds need to wash frequently to prevent dust related diseases. Cage permitting, always keep a fresh water bath available for your bird. Parrots can live up to 50 years, but on average around the 20-30 year mark. Cockateils and other smaller birds such as parakeets can live up to 20-25 years but these tend to live to around 15. If at all possible, you should always try to give you're parrot as much out-of-cage time as possible. Try and aim for around 2 hours a day.

[Eno-missy]

Sorry should have mentioned that the larger parrots and cockatoos (as they aren't strictly part of the parrot family!) can live up to 100 years. But I would not recommend you get a bird this demanding if it is you're first.. and if you work!

[wildwood]

Tell us what type of parrot you are thinking of, toffee 3.
A well-looked after captive parrot can easily live twice as long as a wild one.

[pinus]

I was just adding a comment taken from one of the sites I had visited

[New Forester]

Length of life... Average age, or absolute maximum, or usual maximum...? Average age of wild birds (and other animals) will be very low, because most will be eaten or starve in first year. However, once mature, they may live a very long time -- especially parrots and other highly intelligent animals. Generally, captive animals which need a lot of stimulation die young -- elephants, dolphins etc live about half as long as equivalent wild ones. Don't know about parrots. Reliable data for many wild species does not exist -- how do you measure the age of a particular wild parrot in practice, when just seeing one once might be a major challenge? I suspect "facts" that captive birds last much longer may be more to do with the feelings of owners than hard science...

[Knight]

a hell ofa lot longer than us! (over 100 years)