If you live in a region where flocks of parrots are flying around, it’s only natural for you to want them to visit your home. Their quirky behaviors, peculiar calls, and exotic features set them apart from ordinary sparrows or pigeons.
Set up parrot feeders to attract them to your home. These feeders are designed to support a parrot’s weight while still allowing it access to the food. Some feeders hold fruits and nuts, which are naturally preferred by parrots over seeds. They also support dishes of shallow water, high birdbaths, and nesting boxes.
Parrots, like most local birds, look for places where they can get easy access to fulfill their needs. Food, something to drink, a place for shelter, and a place to bathe are all their basic needs. Providing as many of these items will soon fill your balcony with flocks of this exotic bird.
Food
Putting out food is an excellent way to entice parrots because no animal will say no to a little bribery. Setting up regular feeders with seeds is a great way to go. These are ideal for not just attracting local birds but as well as migratory wild ones.
Keep in mind that a standard bird feeder will attract a variety of other species. You can avoid this by getting specialized parrot feeders. These come in bigger sizes than regular models and are designed to support the larger parrot species to access food.
However, you can’t just use the usual bird seeds for parrots. Try mixing it up a little. They enjoy a wide range of fruits, nuts, and seeds because of their high protein requirements. Try including these:
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Peanuts, pistachios, almonds, and Brazilian nuts. Don’t give salted or spiced nuts to them because it’s not safe for birds.
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A variety of berries, bananas, apples, nectarines. Any seedless fruit will do. So, try removing seeds from fruits before offering. Here’s a list of various fruits that parrots love eating.
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Green vegetables like broccoli, capsicum, cauliflower, and chilies. Other vegetables are also great for treating wild parrots.
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Perilla seeds, chia seeds, canary seeds, and hemp seeds. You can find mixtures of seeds in local pet stores.
Water
Offering fresh, clean water to quench their thirst will also attract them. Parrots are highly energetic birds that travel up to 48 kilometers every day. Flying for that long can be exhausting, so they seek out safe havens where they can drink water.
So, place a bowl of clean water on your balcony or yard to attract parrots. However, make sure to put it anywhere above the ground to avoid any potential predators.
Shelter
Parrots look for shelters for safety and comfort. Now, you don’t necessarily need to build a birdhouse. Any form of natural shelter will be more than enough. These birds are native to tropical regions, so they are naturally more attracted to large plants and trees.
If you place tropical plants in your yard or balcony, you’ll soon find these colorful birds welcoming themselves at your home. Some plants also keep them safe from predators while producing food. These are the plants you should buy:
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Maypop (passionflower)
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Elephant ears
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Jelly palm
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Hardy banana
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Fig trees
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Hardy ferns
Place To Bathe
The water bowl you place outside will also act like a parrot bath. These birds pounce on any opportunity to bathe and take the edge off after a long day. There are also factors to consider when it comes to parrot bathing.
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Height: Parrots prefer bathing above the ground. So, place your birdbath on top of something like a garden statue or an ornament on the wall.
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Depth: They won’t bathe in deep water. Try choosing a suitable bowl that allows the water to be shallow enough to cover half of their body.
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Shade: the best spot to place your birdbath would be a shaded area. Parrots are not big fans of sunlight. Besides, direct sunlight will heat the water. While hot water may be for you, it certainly is not for parrots or parakeets.
Attracting Parrots To Your Window
Windows are the next best thing if you don’t have a backyard or balcony. The perfect way to lure them to your window is by getting a window bird feeder.
- Tray feeders: These are cheap but simple open trays that offer easy access to food for birds.
- Tray feeders with roofs: These come with an additional cover to shield the bird seeds from snow and dirt and keep them dry.
- Tube feeders: Tube feeders are tubes with small ports that allow birds to stick their little heads into them to get the seeds inside.
- Ball feeder: These are circular cages that can support nuts and also hold delicious fruits that parrots enjoy eating
Pros And Cons Of Having Parrots Visit Your Home
For someone putting so much effort into attracting parrots, you may be too excited to be aware of the downsides along with the advantages.
However, you should consider the pros and cons before rushing into this venture. These friendly creatures will brighten your balcony or yard, share their delightful calls, and be your pets without you having to take care of them. But, parrots can be extremely loud and messy. Other predators that hunt them in the wild will be attracted to them as well.
Advantages
No one’s attracting parrots for paid work. They are vibrant and social bird species. Attracting large flocks of parrots to your balcony or yard is bound to brighten them up. It’s always a treat for your eyes to have these birds hanging about as they bring your dull home to a colorful splash of life.
It’s more than just a delight to listen to their pleasant calls for their flock members.
Besides, not everyone has the leisure time to take care of a pet. So, another major advantage is that there are no strings attached to attracting parrots. You wouldn’t have to take responsibility as a pet owner, nor would you have to worry about their wellbeing.
Disadvantages
Most people aren’t aware of this, but attracting parrots also means attracting a wide range of potential predators. Some wild predators, such as wild feral cats, prey on these birds alone.
Not only will it be harmful to the parrots, but also be a problem for you and the people who live in your house. So, take proper measures to keep wild animals at bay if you don’t want to deal with the mess.
Furthermore, flocks of parrots can quickly become extremely loud. Some may compare the high-pitched calls to a crying baby on a plane. And no one likes a crying baby on a plane. You can expect the birds to yell extra loudly during the mating season.
Unfortunately, not all parrots are friendly, loving creatures. Some breeds, such as the monk parrot, are known for being rowdy and a nuisance to public infrastructure. Bringing these birds around your backyard or balcony could soon yield problems for not just you but others as well.
For these reasons, try asking yourself whether you are too impulsive to attract parrots. Making decisions on a whim isn’t always a good idea.
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