Think like a parrot to solve parrot problems, advises English author Rosemary Low.

"THINK LIKE a parrot," Rosemary Low advises readers of her most recent book, Why Does My Parrot...?. “If you only consider the problem from your point of view, you will never solve it.”

Low is an authority on parrot perspective. Since the age of 12, when she brought her first budgie into her previously pet-less home outside London, she has loved, nurtured and sought to understand parrots. In the meantime, she has striven to teach the rest of us how to do the same.

Soft-spoken, thoughtful and deliberate, Low is one of the world’s foremost parrot experts. To date, she has written hundreds of articles and more than 20 books about parrots and parrot care.

She has traveled the world documenting the plight of species in the wild, and she has advocated vigorously against the poaching and selling of wild-caught parrots for the pet trade in Europe.

In 1989, Low and three others founded the World Parrot Trust, an international charity dedicated to “the survival of parrot species in the wild and the welfare of captive birds everywhere.” She continues to edit the WPT’s quarterly magazine, Psittascene.

Underestimated parrots
Low is motivated, she says, by a deep and abiding love for parrots. It is a love that shines through her writing and informs everything she does.

Over the years, it has led her to focus on three main goals: “to widely publish information which will lead to a better standard of care for captive birds, to reduce the demand for wild-caught parrots, and to promote and assist with parrot conservation projects.”

“Originally,” says Low, “parrots were special for me because of their ability to respond to people in an intelligent and affectionate manner. But the more I learned about their behavior, the more I realized the extent of their abilities and how their intelligence and perceptiveness is underestimated.”

Low began her career as a writer for the British magazine, Cage and Aviary Birds. During that time, she and her husband kept and bred a collection of about 50 parrots.

When they divorced, Low got custody of about half the birds and moved with them to the Canary Islands. She stayed for seven years, serving as curator for two of the world’s largest parrot collections: Loro Parque on Tenerife Island, and Los Palmitos Park in Grand Canaria.

In Tenerife, Low lived on the grounds of the park where she worked. Subsequently, in Gran Canaria, she lived and labored in the mountains above Los Palmitos at that park’s parrot breeding center. When Los Palmitos was sold and new owners closed the breeding center, Low returned to England with her flock.

No baby talk
Since then, Low has spent her time writing books, editing Psittascene and producing articles for aviculture magazines in Europe, Australia, South Africa and the U.K. Why Does My Parrot...? was published in October 2000, and a new book, Fabulous Feathers, Remarkable Birds, is scheduled for publication later this year.

Low’s voice is distinctive among parrot books and guides, demonstrating a clear and consistent allegiance to, and empathy for, parrots. People, she seems to feel, can fend for themselves.

A chapter on biting in The Loving Care of Pet Parrots, for example, contains the memorable maxim: “When a parrot bites, it is nearly always the fault of the person handling it.” And a paragraph from Why Does My Parrot...? minces no words on the subject of parrot owners engaging in baby talk: “I do find it irritating when parrot owners refer to themselves as ‘Mummy’ or ‘Daddy,’ in relation to their parrot,” Low writes.

“…A parrot is still a wild animal and it has its dignity. Especially for someone who lives alone, a parrot can be an extremely important companion--but that is no reason to treat it like a child substitute. Unless it can be respected for the remarkable species it, inevitably it will be misunderstood.”

Rabbits and birds
Low lives in Nottinghamshire with 24 parrots and two rabbits, adopted from a rabbit rescue. Three of her birds, including a yellow-fronted Amazon that has been with her for 36 years, live with her in her house. The rest, mostly lories and lorikeets, live in pairs in an outside aviary. Because she travels often for her work, Low must hire people to move in while she’s away and take care of the birds.

“I’m training someone new right now,” she says. “He seems to have a good feeling for them.”

Low recently spent time in Ecuador. In May, she will go to Costa Rica. More and more, she says, she is focusing her efforts on conservation.

“The more I see of parrots in the wild,” she says, “the more it hurts me to see them in captivity. “They are such intelligent creatures. I feel there is an awful lot of mental cruelty involved in shutting them up in a cage. When you see them in the wild, they are so magnificent. A lot of people, when they see them in the wild, come away with the feeling that they should never be in captivity. Especially the cockatoos and the macaws. So many of them have such awful lives in captivity.

Low’s feelings are especially strong on the subject of the importation of wild-caught parrots for sale in Europe. Unlike the U.S., European countries have no prohibition against the practice. And although a large number of birds are captive-bred for the European pet trade, many more wild-caught birds are brought in and sold at rock-bottom prices. They are then often abandoned because of their inappropriateness as pets.

Heartbreaking practice
“It is just heartbreaking,” says Low. “They’re literally dragged out of the forest as adults. They’re terrified. It disgusts me that this is still legal in this country.”

Low has her work cut out for her. But she has chosen her mission, and she holds fast to it. She cannot imagine a life without parrots. Asked what they have given her, she says simply, “Everything.”