Parrot "Stands"?

Living in Miami there are numerous places where you come across those "parrot stands" with people offering to let you hold the birds for money. Im not one to knock anyones hustle but have any of you spoken to any of these people? I ask because in downtown theres a place I go by regularly and I see them all the time; Im always tempted to go say hello but get the vibe that at least one of them could care less about the birds and is just there because. Now every place is going to be different, but Im curious what the general experience is. Id love to ask them about their hyacinth and B&G, but I never end up doing it because I feel I will be disappointed when I try to have a conversation and end up having to get hostile because I dont want to pay to take a picture. One of those situations you avoid before letting it even get to that.
Now Im not scared to say something, thats not the issue, its more of a, why even bother situation to me, like bringing up muscle cars to a make up artist, I just dont see it going anywhere. What are your experiences?

I can only speak for one and say you can't judge a book by its cover. There was a local one in my region (no longer though) run by a guy as a fundraiser for his parrot rescue/adoption service. Only read about it and never saw it myself, but I guarantee you any engagement and questions would have been welcome and encouraged. Are they all like that? I don't know. But sample size of 1 says decent ones exist.

I agree you cant judge a book by a cover, and I think I should clairfy I am in no way judging. If that was my source of income I would be upset if someone didnt respect my rules (the guy threatened to take a mutual friends phone for snapping a pic without paying), as after all they are his birds. What I really meant I guess was that Im not sure if I would be so inclined to approach the guy hoping for a good conversation about parrots; I see no reason I wouldnt be friends with the person, it has nothing to do with appearance or anything (Im tattooed and have my ears pierced), just wasnt sure if anyone had similar encounters. Im not sure they would be so receptive to stand and talk about birds and would probably tell me to pay or get lost from what I regularly see passing by there daily, which Im not saying is a bad thing, just not the thing Im looking for, you get what I mean?

I've seen a man in a large San Diego park (near Seaport Village) displaying several large parrots. You can hold them and take pictures for a "donation" in lieu of set pricing. The birds look good, and he is very conversant - seems happy to engage with a fellow avian enthusiast. At the end I always give him some $$.

Take a chance, and you'll quickly learn if the conversation goes in an uncomfortable direction. You always have the ability to disengage and move on - to hopefully a more friendly person.

A side issue, of course, is protecting Loco from potential pathogens. For this reason I don't generally hold strange birds. If I do, dumping the clothes into the washer and a trip to the shower is mandatory before getting near mine!!

I generally dont hold other birds either, especially in a set up like that where who knows who has come in contact with them. Plus they also have an alligator sitting on the bottom and sometimes a snake. I havent said anything so far because most of the time there are little kids trying to touch them and Im sure theyd rather make money than talk to some stranger, but if the opportunity arises and Im in the mood (which is another reason I have passed and not said anything) Ill say hello and feel it out. Interesting to see other peoples experiences and opinions though. I wouldnt mind throwing them a few bucks to support them depending on the reaction and who is at the stand (some of them seem to not be so used to handling birds).
What do you guys think about stands like these having the birds out with no harness or anything? I am sure they are clipped heavily but I know its still not recommended.

It sounds like you should avoid THAT stand as he seems really uptight.

There is a well known guy here who sets up at a local attraction and does this, and I can tell you his birds LOVE him and he loves them! Yet another time I saw a guy doing the same thing with just one bird, a poor Eckie with an over grown beak and tumors that you could see! Apparently the poor bird was a "movie star" and the guy had bought him just for this purpose. He was feeding him all seed, didn't know they came in subspecies, and "didn't know for sure" if he was a boy or girl. Meaning he had done NO RESEARCH. The poor baby was so desperate for love! I tried to buy him, but he wanted $2,000 since he was supposedly a famous bird, and I didn't have the funds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SilverSage said:

It sounds like you should avoid THAT stand as he seems really uptight.

There is a well known guy here who sets up at a local attraction and does this, and I can tell you his birds LOVE him and he loves them! Yet another time I saw a guy doing the same thing with just one bird, a poor Eckie with an over grown beak and tumors that you could see! Apparently the poor bird was a "movie star" and the guy had bought him just for this purpose. He was feeding him all seed, didn't know they came in subspecies, and "didn't know for sure" if he was a boy or girl. Meaning he had done NO RESEARCH. The poor baby was so desperate for love! I tried to buy him, but he wanted $2,000 since he was supposedly a famous bird, and I didn't have the funds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Yeah it seems that way. Ive seen really nice stands too, so I am not condemning the concept, usually at street fair type events where a local rescue sets up, and the people are very nice, open and knowledgeable. I think some of them though just see it as another way to make money and nothing more.
What a shame about that ekkie. For someone to own an ekkie and not be sure if it is a male or female is just a testament to the ignorance that exists and gives pet ownership a bad image, and a prime example of a person who should not own pets or even have kids for that matter. Little does that guy know that his "famous" bird wont be so famous once it dies of diet related causes. Horrible.. did you end up embarassing him by revealing your amazing, unique ability to determine one of the few dimorphic parrots sex?

I didn't, but I DID tell him his famous bird would bite less, live longer, and be much prettier (all good for making money!) if he took him to the vet and switched his diet to fresh food!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The bird display I mentioned seems populated with clipped-wing birds. Don't recall seeing any harnesses. There were a few raptors in the area, but guess they are intimidated by the always large crowds in the area.

SilverSage said:

I didn't, but I DID tell him his famous bird would bite less, live longer, and be much prettier (all good for making money!) if he took him to the vet and switched his diet to fresh food!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I think that may have been the best way to "market it" to him, for the birds sake of course.

Scott said:

The bird display I mentioned seems populated with clipped-wing birds. Don't recall seeing any harnesses. There were a few raptors in the area, but guess they are intimidated by the always large crowds in the area.

Click to expand...

I dont remember ever seeing a stand with harnesses either, I think it must be common practice for this purpose to just have birds with a heavy clip. Though it would be better for the bird, I imagine a bird in a harness wouldnt be as appealing, plus the lead would probably get in the way , on top of the fact that a flighted macaw would probably be a bit less cooperative if it didnt feel like taking another picture.