Cussing Parrots?

Why it can be problematic to try and teach your bird “naughty” words

A common question I get at the store is, “Can any of these birds cuss?” Yes, a few of them do, and while hilarious for the general public, we actively try to discourage them from repeating those words. I often try to discourage people from trying to teach their own bird these words as well on a regular basis. But, they don’t know what it means, right? What’s the problem with teaching them something that we might think is funny for them to say?

Think about a bird that screams “Shut the f*** up”. How do you think that bird learned that phrase? It wasn’t with love and kindness, but frustration from the owner more than likely yelling at the bird. It’s not so funny to hear a bird mimicking back those words once you correlate the words to past traumatic experiences the bird may have gone through. Birds are shown to be more likely to pick up and repeat words that have high energy to them, good or bad. So even laughing at them saying “f*** you” makes them much more likely to repeat this phrase that could’ve stemmed from a bad experience.

While yes, it seems harmless to try and teach them “naughty” words, it can be very problematic later down the road. I know we all love our birds, and like to imagine that nothing could ever happen that will cause you to have to make the tough decision to rehome them, but that unfortunately is not the reality of owning birds that are so long lived. Many pet parrots have to be rehomed throughout their lifetime, often multiple times. We all strive to be our bird’s forever home, but realistically that is not likely to be the case. Rescues do a lot of work to take in and rehome these individuals, but if they are repeating “naughty” words, it makes it so much harder to find someone serious to take them in. There is no way to know if their future owners will be okay with them repeating naughty things around children, and it pretty much eliminates the possibility of them being used in educational work such as zoos or outings by rescues or like what we do here.

That is not to say they won’t be loved if they say bad words, but it definitely can make it harder for them to find a loving home willing to work with them. Our goal in raising baby birds is to set them up for success, both with the people who are getting them, as well as informing them of future plans for their baby, if they outlive their owner, or if life unfortunately prevents them from staying with their original family. Being a good bird owner means doing what is ultimately best for your bird, and making good decisions for what their future may hold.