There seems to be misunderstanding when it comes to what minimum cage requirements for parrots are intended to be. Often the sizes you’ll find are not for a bird to spend 8 hours alone but that’s how they’re being used and using them this way negatively impacts their health.
Minimum cage requirements for a sleeping cage state that a bird must be able to fully spread their wings in any given direction. This is to avoid feather damage and ensure that the bird isn’t cramped in the space, easily able to stretch, preen and turn around, anything smaller for a sleeping cage and the bird will become distraught. A sleeping cage is meant to be used for just that, sleeping, times when the bird is inactive, any time where the bird is awake and mobile they should be out of the cage in a bird-safe enriching environment, an exception being during travel.
Minimum cage requirements for day cages are the absolute minimum a parrot needs to not immediately experience heightened stress when left alone. Typically the bare minimum numbers you’ll find are intended for a bird who will be left alone for 1-2 hours during the day. These sizes ensure the bird can walk around, spread their wings out to stretch and have enough room for a couple toys without impeding their mobility. All this cage size is for is to ensure that the bird doesn’t become stressed or bored during short periods of alone time, it is not intended to be used for permanent residency. As an example the minimum cage requirements for parrotlets is 18″x18″x24″, in there I could fit some decent perches, 3-4 toys and still have enough space for the bird to stretch and climb around. Below is an image of the bare minimum cage requirements for a parrotlet sitting inside of a cage that is capable of providing adequate enrichment for around 4-6 hours (30″x18″x32″)
Due to the high activity levels of parrots they can not stay in bare minimum spaces for very long without becoming stressed. In the wild they do experience stressors such as predation but over the millions of years these species have lived they have adapted ways to cope with those experiences in their lives. In captivity birds are exposed to stressors that they haven’t adapted coping mechanisms for such as isolation, overcrowding and boredom, due to the lack of coping mechanisms birds frequently present psychological distress and obsessive behaviours as a negative result. This is why many birds will pluck, scream, bite or present nervous ticks in captive environments and these become more prevalent when the housing is incorrect. It’s important to understand that a bird who is adapted to having the whole world as their habitat suddenly moving to have just a measurement of inches does have a poor impact on them, it doesn’t matter if they were born in captivity that minimal breeding does not replace the millions of years of evolution!
If any bird is living in a cage 24/7 they should be in a large flight cage or aviary depending on the species to ensure their health, nothing less. Typically I am home all day so the cage doors are always open and they’re spending the full 12 hours outside of their cages or going in and out to play. The large cage above is a place for my birds to stay for if I’m gone a max of 4-6 hours, the other 6-8 hours they’re awake is spent outside of their cages, getting plenty of exercise, all sorts of toys in their room, human interaction, doing anything less would put them in a stressful situation as they just aren’t adapted to cope with this lifestyle. Understanding that fact means that we need to be providing the largest possible enclosures we can, no amount of space can possibly be considered ‘spoiling’ them. They can not live happy and healthy lives without it, this excess space isn’t an over achievement, it’s a basic necessity!
ifesbob 