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

Name: Of Parrots and People The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species
Price: 4.11 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780670019694

ISBN-10: 0670019690

ISBN-13: 9780670019694

Edition: 2009

Authors: Mira Tweti

List price: $25.95

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Description:

There are an estimated 50 million parrots kept as pets the U.S. alone, their numbers surpassed only by dogs and cats, yet these complex creatures are not your typical domesticated animal, and they remain a mystery to many. Most people dont know that parrots score at the level of 3-to-5 year olds on human intelligence tests. Nor that they can live to 100 years or more. Nor that pound for pound parrots are worth more on the black market than cocaine. Their startling beauty, social sophistication, and uncanny ability to bond with humans have made parrots sought-after pets, but few people realize how fragile and endangered many parrot species have become. In Of Parrots and People, award-winning… journalist and parrot expert, Mira Tweti, reveals the world of a family of birds that is far more complex and advanced than weve acknowledged. Tweti relates stunning scientific findings on the intelligence, personality, and rich lives of parrots that challenge our most widespread and flawed assumptions about non-primates. And she explores the intense and often humorous emotional connections these birds form not just with their flockmates, but with the parronts (as some parrot parents call themselves) who keep them as pets, often pampering them as they do children. Of Parrots and Peoplealso takes on the much larger, serious issues of animal welfare that are the unfortunate consequences of the bird boom of the last few decades. Despite the high demand for them, many parrot species are endangered in the wild from rampant trapping and habitat destruction, while those in captivity are quickly becoming the fastest growing category of unwanted pets, living lives of neglect or abuse. Avian rescuers cant handle the number of birds that need help, and the Humane Society of the U.S. is advocating euthanasia rather than warehousing birds that will outlive their caretakers. Yet unregulated bird breeders continue to put over a million young birds on the market each year from parrot mills across the country. Its an untenable situation of cruelty, especially for such an evolved and intelligent species, and its just one of the many newsworthy topics that make Of Parrots and Peoplejust as hard-hitting as it is soft-hearted. Tweti tirelessly follows the parrot trail around the globe, from the living rooms and pet stores of America, to hotbeds of illegal trade in Mexico. She examines threats of avian flu, and takes a first hand look at encouraging progress in eco-tourism that may be our only way to protect these stunning species from being hunted to extinction. Comprehensive in scope and passionately written, Of Parrots and Peopleis a unique and vivid addition to popular works on animals and their behavior, and an important new voice in the burgeoning environmental and conservation movement.

Book details

List price: $25.95
Copyright year: 2009
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date: 8/14/2008
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Size: 6.50" wide x 9.50" long x 1.25" tall
Weight: 1.276
Language: English



Introduction



Bird Brains



Parrots and Parronts



No Joy: The Crisis of Unwanted Birds



Naturalized Psittacines: America's Avian Immigrants



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



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



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



Smuggling



The Invisible Man



A Brazilian Journey with Global Parrot Conservationist Charles Munn



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



Repercussions, Ramifications, and Solutions


Acknowledgments


Author's Note


Index