If you want a pet that will live almost as long as you and can even talk to you, a parrot could be the way to go.

The only potential downside is that parrots can be hard to handle.  The National Aviary and the Parrot Education and Adoption Center have teamed up to offer a series of workshops on parrot care and behavior to help prospective owners.

“Parrots can scream, bite, destroy property, and pick their feathers out,” said  Parrot Education and Adoption Center Executive Director Scott R. Reichert in a press release. “These issues are often caused by an uninformed pet owner who has inadvertently reinforced undesirable behavior and can usually be improved with proper education of the owner and conditioning of the bird.”

Each workshop will be two hours long, and both are required to adopt a parrot from PEAC.  The first workshop covers basic care, training and behaviors, and the second covers enrichment.  Attendees will be able to make items for their birds to use and play with during the enrichment workshop.

The workshop dates and descriptions are as follows:

Parrot Basic Care and Behavior Workshops
January 15, March 12, May 14, July 23, September 24, November 12
10 a.m. – 12 noon
Fee: $25 / $20 for National Aviary and PEAC members
In this workshop, participants looking for a better relationship with their pet parrot will learn how to interact with and train their parrot in a positive way. The class will cover common behavior issues in the home and cover information on healthy diets and basic care practices. Participants will leave with information and resources that provide insight into the basics of positive reinforcement training and steps to take for a healthier parrot. Workshop will include live training demonstrations with the National Aviary’s parrots. Participants are asked to leave their bird at home.

Parrot Enrichment Workshop
February 12, April 9, June 4, August 13, October 22, December 10
10 a.m. – 12 noon
Fee: $25 / $20 National Aviary and PEAC Members
Enrichment encompasses activities that encourage natural behaviors that enrich and improve the quality of life for captive animals. Enrichment can provide a wide variety of benefits to pet birds, including fewer undesirable behaviors and more opportunities for meaningful interaction between owner and bird. In this workshop, we will discuss different kinds of enrichment and techniques that you can use with your own birds. Included in the workshop is the opportunity to make an enrichment item to take home. Participants will be given a binder of information and training resources to take home.

For more information visit www.pitpeac.org and www.aviary.org.