Parrots given up during lockdown ‘because they are too noisy at home’

There has been a large increase in people giving up their pet parrots for adoption during the lockdown because they are too noisy, according to a new report.

The birds have become a victim of the restrictions because owners working from home apparently find them distracting.

Claire Longworth, from charity Birdline, which rescues unwanted birds, told the Sunday Times: “It is a bit problematic if you are trying to do a Zoom call or an audio conference and there is a parrot in the background squawking.”

The organisation, which took in an extra 36 parrots from March and September compared to last year, has been forced to send some of them to other charities because they cannot cope.

Parrots are also being lost and “set free” by owners.

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Another problem that has emerged is parrots getting too attached to male or female owners and not being able to be rehomed with someone of a different sex.

Sulphur-crested cockatoo Ozzie has apparently been returned to charity Problem Parrots “many times due to his hate for women” and has allegedly attacked women on several occasions.

Parrot expert Greg Glendell said the birds which are bred as pets are normally removed from their parents before they see them and this “appears to have the effect that they then imprint sexually and socially on people”.

A lack of men willing to take in older rescue birds has meant many are not rehomed.

In lockdown kittens and puppies have proved more popular with the number of adoptions for these animals increasing.