Parrot Welfare: A Modified Delphi Study to Determine Priority Welfare Issues in Captive Parrots (Psittaciformes).
Creators: name: Chalmers, Rhianne
Publisher: name: University of Lincoln
Year: 2025
Subjects: D328 - Animal welfare

description: Parrots (order Psittaciformes, encompassing 402 known extant species), are commonly held in captivity, primarily as pets in private homes and collections. Despite their popularity, their welfare is often compromised due to limitations imposed by captivity preventing fulfilment of their ecological and ethological needs. Issues such as inadequate nutrition and the manifestation of abnormal behaviours have been raised in the literature but compared to other commonly kept captive species research in this area is lacking. This thesis aimed to establish and prioritize the key welfare issues affecting captive parrots according to experts and sector professionals by employing a modified Delphi approach. In Chapter 1, a preliminary review of the literature was performed to compile a list of welfare issues (n=28) (e.g. inadequate nutrition, wing clipping) affecting parrots in captivity.  Chapter 2 presents the modified Delphi study, in which parrot welfare experts and sector professionals (n=26) were recruited via purposive sampling to participate in an online survey to rank the welfare issues described in Chapter 1. Participants ranked issues according to three criteria: severity, duration and prevalence, utilizing a 6-point Likert scale. Participants had the opportunity to provide commentary on their ranking and were invited to propose additional welfare issues of concern. Issues with a mean score of 4 or above progressed to the second survey round, where participants (n=14) were asked to indicate whether they (a) agreed with the current ranking of the welfare issue (b) disagreed with the current ranking of the welfare issue as it should be higher or (c) disagreed with the current ranking of the welfare issue as it should be lower. The final round of the study consisted of two online workshops where participants (n=7) deliberated on the welfare issues and sought to establish a consensus. Six of the seven final participants agreed with the final lists and rankings, achieving a consensus rate of 86%. Welfare issues perceived to be of most concern across the four priority lists generated by the experts (severity, duration, prevalence, and overall) included nutrition, housing and environment (and their related issues), social isolation, development of normal behaviour, environmental ability to express behaviours and lack of owner knowledge, education and access to proper vet/behaviour support. Chapter 3 builds off the key findings of Chapter 2 to offer several recommendations for the improvement of captive parrot welfare. Notably, it recommends increased attention to four primary research avenues: nutrition, UV requirements, geriatric care, and pain management. I emphasize the urgency of understanding trace nutrient requirements for individual species, UV exposure requirements, geriatric care, and effective pain alleviation methods. I also stress the pivotal role of educational endeavours targeting prospective parrot owners, alongside public awareness campaigns and tailored educational programs for veterinarians to increase the number of practicing avian veterinarians and to increase general companion animal veterinarians' basic knowledge of avian medicine. Finally, I discuss the need to enhance enforcement mechanisms for current animal welfare legislation, suggesting strategic initiatives such as the appointment of dedicated animal welfare officers and the formulation of species-specific husbandry guidelines.