The world seems to be divided into two types of people: those who like pet birds and those who find them creepy, sad, or unnatural. I always put myself in the latter category, but in recent years I found myself sharing a living space with two parakeets and a cockatiel. This, while not exactly turning me into a bird lover, made me realize that they can be sweet little pets.
So today I thought I’d look at some pet-bird advertising and art, mostly focusing on the smaller varieties such as canaries and parakeets. Click on any image for a larger version. These first three images are from 1953.
Perhaps my early attitude toward pet birds was influenced by my first introduction: a friend’s wife who had seven parrots. These rather large birds made a little too much eye contact for my liking, and every once in a while one of them would let out a blood-curdling scream that shook the entire house. Plus I was always told to be careful around them and that yes, they could in fact take off a finger, though the likelihood was slim.
But as I said, I ended up with a couple of parakeets and a little cockatiel named Zagnut who had a lot of charm and personality. And all of them seemed happy to be alive, even caged, and spent the day singing and playing with each other. Not bad pets all around.
In the 1940s there were many ads promoting birds as pets, including a series from a birdseed company that featured Hollywood celebrities and their feathered friends. These ads are from 1942.
Birds have been kept as pets for as long as people were able to catch and cage them, and some birds seemed naturally inclined toward people and don’t even need the cage. Here is a Currier and Ives print from the turn of the previous century, and a photo of a woman and her pet parrot from 1924.
At first I felt really bad about having birds in a cage. But I became convinced that in a relatively large cage the birds had a good life, free of the predators, extreme temperatures, and daily hunt for food that wild birds contend with.
And even though cockatiels and parakeets are among the varieties that can mimic speech, I could never coax the birds in my house to say anything. I have met several talking birds in my time and of course seen them on TV. Here is art from two 1952 45 RPM records produced to help teach your bird to talk.
My main issue with pet birds is that they’re messy; you need a good vacuum cleaner. They like to throw their food around and you end up with feathers everywhere, even if you keep the newspaper at the bottom of the cage clean.
I no longer have birds in my life. I can’t really say I miss them as you might miss a cat or a dog. And I probably won’t ever have birds again. But my brief experience was enough to convince me that, like all pets, birds can be great little companions and each has a distinct personality. They are certainly more fun than fish!
This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on March 5, 2010
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