It is good to see these hardened prisoners focusing their feelings on nurturing needy parrots rather than turning their anger on others around them.

I am also glad there is a code of conduct which must be adhered to for the prisoners to remain in the program with the parrots.

I teach a lot of emotionally-starved, troubled kids in an urban area. I have 10 parrots and will sometimes bring a couple with me to school. The kids are amazingly good with them. You see a different side to these children when they're holding a parrot. The parrots give them the love and understanding they don't get from their peers and adults.

It's a shame the babies are ultimately being sold as pets afterwards, though: it perpetuates the growing problem of parrots in the pet industry. Parrots do not make good pets for the average pet owner. Too noisy, messy, bitey and long-lived. Are they wild caught parrots (the Greys)? The poaching and smuggling going on in Cameroon & The Congo is decimating the African Grey species.

And it's not a Senegal parrot that the prisoner is talking to, it's an African Grey.

Perhaps the prisoners could be educated about the wild-bird trade and taught how to become advocates so they could teach people how special the parrots are and that they should stay in the trees... now *that* would be a success, and help the parrots in the long run, too and give the prisoners a sense of accomplishing something important long-term. Make the parrots their new "gang"... Like "Rescue Ink" in New York - amazing group of animal rescuing, tattooed bikers: 8/08/24/nyregion/thecity/24pet.html

Hardened criminals need to learn compassion and empathy. I think this is a good start for rehabilitating those prisoners who can and want to be rehabilitated. The fact that they must give up their vices to participate is encouraging. I think this program is a good start in the right direction.

I also agree with CR, they should be educated about the wild-bird trade and how to become advocates. We definitely need to spread the word about the illegal bird trade and how devastating it can be to these precious creatures. Parrots deserve to live their lives in the wild. While I am an owner of an African Grey, hatched and hand raised in the USA, I believe that the "breeding" of these birds should be regulated. Too many babies, not enough homes. As you said CR, the problem is that not all people can handle the responsibility and the noise and mess that comes with owning a parrot. Too many parrots find themselves "homeless". I would like to see a very strictly regulated breeding program for all parrots. There needs to be set limits considering the birds and their welfare, instead of the breeders need to make money.

It's illegal to import wild parrots to the U.S. The grey being fed is a baby, so they evidently are raising captive bred birds. With education, parrots make great pets. People just need to know what they are getting into. Most pet parrots do not bite their owners. Noisy and messy, yes. But they don't have to be walked and their poop carried in little bags like dogs. There are pros and cons to most pets.

Yes: prisoners learning empathy etc is a very important goal, and should be applauded. But at what cost (in this case)? The prisoners will have these birds at most for 5-6 months while they are weaned, and then the birds will be sold to someone and live on for another 50 or so years.

Yes, it is illegal to import wild parrots into the states, but it's not in many other places (and let's face it: drugs are illegal in the states too, and they are still there). The grey is a baby, but there is a great demand for smuggling parrot eggs, too. And in the poaching of parrots, babies are left to fend for themselves, or are so vulnerable they easily die. Yes, this baby could well be captive bred, but I'd bet money its parents weren't.

For more information about the wild parrot trade in Africa, check out Lwiro Primates () or Limbe Wildlife Centre (). Both these organizations were tasked with rehabilitating +/-500 wild-caught parrots on many different occasions, with the assistance of the World Parrot Trust which does amazing work on behalf of parrots worldwide.

Parrots *can* make great pets, but most people tend not to make good parrot owners (yes, there are exceptions). You can walk a dog, pick up after it, go home and sit on the couch with it next to you and it's happy. Give it some fresh water daily and scoop out some dog food or kibble in its bowl and it's fed. You'll have to do this for 15 or so years, until it's gone.

With a parrot, you're dealing with a creature that has the intelligence, energy, and sensitivity of a 2-3 year old toddler, that will live for 50 to 75+ years (for the larger parrots like greys, amazons, macaws). These toddlers will never grow up, pick up after themselves, or move out of the house. They will always need your attention because they are flock creatures, and it's part of their nature to be afraid of being alone (since they are essentially prey in the wild, not predators). To feed them, you need to cook and chop a variety of fresh fruit and veggies a few times a day, buy them nuts and seeds for treats, expensive pellets so that they get all their nutrition, and they will then proceed to throw this food around on your carpet, floor, wall, and anywhere else they can get to ... because they are wild creatures and don't need to worry about tidiness. Pomegranate is especially fun to clean off everything! That red goes everywhere!

You will likely not be able to do much traveling, because while it's easy to find a cat or dog sitter, it's difficult to find someone to trust to your bird, and who has the knowledge to look after one. If you don't provide enough stimulation (a variety of toys and personal interaction) for them, because they are so intelligent they will grow bored and can start to self mutilate (ie pluck feathers). And/or scream... or bite... They like to chew (that's what they do), so your expensive wood paneling, fancy chair, or electrical cords are all fair game to a happy, exploring parrot. Oh, and they fly (unless you clip their wings, of course) , so that poop? It can be found anywhere: your shirt, your floor, your couch... certainly in their cage that you'll have to clean partially once a day and fully once a week.

No, they don't have to be walked, or their poop carried... that's true. But all these other parrot traits will go on for 50+ years (not 15 like a dog), and most people tire of this rather quickly. The average parrot has 3-7 owners in the first 10 years of its life. Many get surrendered to rescues and shelters: these are currently overflowing in the States and Canada (where it's illegal to import wild-caught birds but not to breed them).

This is devastating to a creature so sensitive and intelligent.

And that's why I gently suggest that perhaps the "Correctional Bird Project" might want to consider changing its focus a bit and encompass the "bigger picture", benefiting both the prisoners *and* the birds, instead of just continuing to use the birds as a type of commodity.