Now, let's go back to the issue of socialization of baby birds. Birds go through a series of stages of socialization, not just one stage, while being hand-fed. These stages of socialization continue to occur after the bird leaves the bird breeder, goes to a pet store or to the new owner. In fact, various periods of socialization will occur over the next five or six years, until the bird reaches maturity. Although most of the larger parrots can be reproductively viable at under 5 or 6 years of age, most are not really mature until then.
Smaller parrots mature earlier.
The pet owner is emotionally attached to the bird, but he or she may have little or no realization that the young bird has a serious need for guidance as it develops over the coming months and years. The pet owner may have little knowledge of the specific species of bird and its natural characteristics. In fact, the pet owner may have little understanding of birds in general. They want the bird to change a behavior that they do not like, but the behavior is natural to the bird. There seems to be an inclination among many pet bird owners to have a preconceived notion of what the bird should be and do.