Bringing home a new pet is always the best thing that can happen in one’s life. Especially when you have kids at home. Howeveer, one query that every pet parent tends to ask is about the lifespan of the pets they plan to keep. How about checking how long do parrots live as pets? This should give you an idea into what to expect when your pet parrot begins to age.
Parrots belong to a category of an incredibly diverse group of species. Your parrot lifespan will largely be dependent on the exact species of parrot that you have bought home. The shorter species of parrots tend to live for 8 to 15 years, while the larger ones will live up to 25 to 50 years. Some parrots can also live up to 140 years if they get favourable living conditions.
How Long do Parrots Live As Pets?
On an average, as long as my personal experience with the parrots goes, parrots can live as pets for 15 to 50 years. The actual lifespan of parrot will depend on the species. Smaller varieties of parrots like budgies, parakeets, and cockatiels live up to 8 to 15 years. The larger ones like macaws and grey parrots have a longer lifespan of up to 50 years. That apart, birds in captivity thend to live longer than those in the wild. Most of the times, parrots outlive their owners.
The average lifespan of a parrots belonging to certain species would include
- Amazon: 40 to 70 years
- Macaw: 35 to 50 years
- Conure: 15 to 20 years
- Cockatoo: 40 to 70 years
- Cockatiel: 15 to 25 years
There are a few other parrot species that are not much popular are known to have the following lifespans –
- Caiques: Up to 30 years
- Lories/Lorikeets: 13-25 years
- African Greys: 50-60+ years
- Eclectus’: 65-85 years
- Senegals: 25-30 years
- Sulphur-crested cockatoo: 25 years
The Average Lifespan of Pet Parrots – Species-wise Life expectancy
Let us check out a few specific species of parrots and check their lifespan. Check out how old can your parrot get –
African Grey
African Grey parrots are the longest living parrort species. They are known to live for around 40 to 60 years. Some of them may even live longer. These parrots are one of the most preferred ones, thanks to their ability to mimic human voice.
Amazon Parrorts
This is a medium sized parrot. It is known to be a great talker. The parrot is native to South America and the Caribbean. They can live for at least 25 years. Some of them may continue to live up to 75 years.
Budgies and Parakeets
These can be the parrot species with least life expectancy. They are expected to live only for five years, but some of them may live for up to 18 years. These parrots are the most preferred ones.
Caiques
It is stocky and short tailed parrot species. This is the species native to Amazon basin. They ae known to live for around 50 years.
Canaries
It belongs to a songbird category. The bird belongs to Macaronesian island. They come in multiple colors that include yellow, orange, brown, white and even red. They are known to live for up to 10 years.
Cockatiels
This species is nativee to Australia. They are quite similar to cocktiees, but smaller in size. They can live for upt o 5 to 18 years.
Cockatoos
Cockatoos is a parrot species that has over 21 different species. The cockatoos can live for upt o 20 to 60 years. These parrots belong to the Austrlain origin.
Conures
This parrot species is known for comical and playful nature. These are known to be very curious. These parrorts can live up to 10 to 30 years.
What do Parrots Need to Live Longer?
There are a few primary needs that a parrot needs for making it live longer. The common factors that can affect parrot life expectancy can include nutrition, balanced diet, mental health and a proper veterinary care. The key to make them happy and stay healthy is to feed them the nutritious food, keep their habitat clean and tidy and make it a habit to provide regular veterinary visits.
Mental stimulation and exercises are what the parrots benefit a lot from. the trick to keep them mental well is to teach them new tricks, give them enough toys to play and check if you can play some brian games with them. Instead of offering them the food on the platter everytime, you can consider making hem forage for food. This can give them a mental stimulation much needed for mental health.
Providing them a large enough cage is yeet anoehr way to keep them happy and content. As you might have observed, parrots flap their wings frequently. This is actually a sort of exercise for them. A large cage will provide them with that option. Moreover, your parrots will also need a little cage-free time. It may be essential to set it free from the cage for sometime.
Some species of parrots is 140 years, but most of the parrots live up to 40 to 80 years. It would typically be dependent on several factors such as the lifestyle, diet and care provided by the pet owners.
The longest living parrot on record is a blue and yellow macaw that lived for 104 years in England. Small varieties of parrots can live for only around 8 to 15 years. Larger species of parrots, like macaws and grey parrots, can live 25–50 years.
What Makes Parrots live so Long?
The primary reason attributed to the longer parrot life expectancy is their larger bbrin size compared to the rest of their body. The increased level of cognitive activity can also help them adjust to the surroundings and perceive any possible threats in the environment.
A few other factors that helps improve the lifespan of the parrotss lies in a few other facts –
Brain size – The larger brain size helps improve their cognitive abilities. They can thus adapt to their environment and live a longer life
Lower oxidative damage – Birds in general have a lower oxidative damage. This helps them stay healthy for longer periods of time.
Slow metabolism – Parrots are known to have slower metabolism. This makes them burn energy at a lower pace. This helps them reduce the free radicals.
The Concluding Thoughts
Well, that was the complete information on how long can parrots live as pets. If you want them to live long and lead a healthy life, you need to make sure that you have a zeal and commitment to make them stay happy. That’s more so if you have a large bird like Macaw parrot. Give them the best that they need and make it livee a content life.
FAQs
What is the lifespan of a pet parrot?
The shorter bird tends to have a shorter lifespan. Smalle parrot species such as budgies, parakeets, and cockatiels, generally have a lifespan of 8 to 15 years. Larger parrots such as macaw parrots or grey parrots can have a longer lifespan of up to 50 years.
Can a parrot live up to 150 years?
Parrots can live for a period of 50 years a s a rule. However, there are instances where the parrots have been known to live for more than 140 years. However, that may be a few excuses and not a general phenomenon. How long do pet parrots live is largely dependent on the environment that they are in.
What makes parrots live so long?
There are several reasons that make parrots live longer. One of the most common reasons is that they have a larger brain size which makes them adapt to the environment. Parrots also have a lower metabolic rate and a lower level of oxidative damage. These are just a few factors that make them live longer. Parrot’s lifespan is dependent on several factors.
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