|Let's Celebrate Pet Birds!| T.J. Lafeber D.V.M. Emotion-The Key
to Birds Being Companion Animals How much friendship,
companionship or affection can be expected from pet birds? What
we're really interested in is determining birds' emotional
capacity. Birds demonstrate happiness, fear, aggression,
jealousy, appeasement, defensiveness, nervousness and
loneliness. Most importantly birds can love people. Radiating
from this affection comes the desire to perform, entertain and
relate to their owners. Thus they sing, talk, mimic, dance,
play, do tricks and display. The next time you approach a
frightened, nervous, hostile bird-possibly angry-remember that
the pendulum of emotions swings in both directions. They have
feelings just as strong in the opposite direction. A bird that
shows anger can have just as an intense love. Unpleasant
characteristics can be surpassed by pleasant ones. All of these
emotions can be observed in birds: