What is a psittacine?

Psittacines (si-tə-sīnz), more commonly referred to as parrots, are an order of bird comprising nearly 400 species in 3 unique superfamilies.[1]

What is welfare?

Welfare is the measure of an individual organism’s homeostatic relationship with its environment.


our mission

The Pursuit of Optimum Welfare

The Psittacine Welfare Institute seeks to improve collective parrot welfare by advancing husbandry and behavior management techniques through evidence-based science.


Co-existence in a changing world…[2][3]

Environments

Welfare assessments will change across varying environments, unique circumstances, and individual animals. The science of welfare cannot be generalized to all 400 species of undomesticated psittacine, and is best analyzed on an individual (n=1) basis.

Captive Welfare

Parrots living in integrated environments under the absolute control and management of humans.

Wild Welfare

Parrots living in wild environments influenced by human management.

Companion

Parrots co-existing with a human family unit in their home.

Collection

Parrots living under an organization’s long-term care with the intention to retain them.

Rescue

Parrots living under an organization’s temporary care with the intention of release.


A Progressive Welfare Model

Opportunities to Self-Maintain

In order to evaluate the homeostatic relationship between an animal and its environment, we must look at these six welfare elements, which are broken into two subcategories and have seven corresponding evaluating factors.[4][5][6]

Metabolic Needs

Operant Needs

Factors to Evaluate

1

Quantity

Is the animal receiving the optimum amount of this need?

2

Quality

Is the animal receiving the optimum category of this need?

3

Variety

Is the animal receiving the optimum diversity of this need?

4

Complexity

Is the animal receiving the optimum difficulty of this need?

5

Authority

Is the animal receiving the optimum level of choice and control?

6

Efficacy

Are the animal’s outcomes showing optimum engagement?

Welfare Assessment

Download the latest version of the Psittacine Welfare Assessment here