Which makes it no surprise that these were the parrots that pirates favored. Macaws were kept by pirates for a variety of reasons, but they were able to keep them for a few reasons.
The real appeal of keeping them, however, had a few sides. They are intelligent animals; they can learn tricks and imitate speech.
They were also, however, status symbols because of their value and rarity. Considering the connection between parrots and pirates seems to be a reality, there is a reason. If these supposed pirates had parrots on their ship, why did they? Considering their ship was their home, the same question can be asked why you have a parrot in your home.
As noted earlier, pirates most likely had parrots on board for the sole reason to have a pet while on a lengthy journey. Think of yourself in their shoes. Would you rather go on long several week-long trips with just you and the people on board, or have all of that and a parrot to have as a pet? Pirates and countless explorers at the time often brought pets to enhance the overall journey.
As briefly mentioned earlier, pirates most likely had parrots from either exotic animal trades or stealing them from other people.
Since parrots are brightly colored and beautiful creatures, pirates were most likely amazed by their unique appearance. Plus, their unique appearance made them unbelievably valuable back in the 17th and 18th centuries. Considering pirates had a general want for anything valuable, they most likely would go out of their way to obtain unique animals like parrots.
Considering pirates were fairly ruthless and not looking for even trades, why would they give up their beautiful parrot? Similar to today, the species of parrots had varied incredibly. Since there are so many different kinds of parrots, not every pirate went out to seek a single kind of parrot.
Considering the vast history behind pirates, it makes sense why there is so much information on the subject. Although the 17th and 18th centuries might seem completely different from today, they still have some relatability. At least with the subject of parrots in mind, people loved parrots back then for the same reason we do today. As noted earlier, the golden age of piracy occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries. Parrots do not eat much compared to cats or monkeys, their food was easy to store and keep on board, and they took up little space.
Parrots are also colorful, intelligent, and entertaining, and they would make great pets during the arduous voyages across the sea. They could also fetch high prices with minimum cost in trade once the pirates got back to shore. There was a massive demand for parrots in Europe during the 18 th and 19 th centuries, and pirates could certainly have made a fair amount of money off parrots as opposed to keeping them as pets.
Although people would pay good money for them back at home, they would be tricky to sell legally, as these bright, noisy, and beautiful birds were far too attention-grabbing to evade being seen with well-known and often hunted criminals like pirates. This may have led pirates to avoid attempting to sell them at all, rather sticking to easily traded items, like gold or jewelry. A few parrots may therefore have ended up as pets on pirate ships. This is all speculation, though, and while it is likely that some pirates kept parrots as pets, it was probably not that common.
Oliver Ollie Jones — A zoologist and freelance writer living in South Australia with his partner Alex, their dog Pepper, and their cat Steve who declined to be pictured. Oliver Ollie Jones - A zoologist and freelance writer living in South Australia with his partner Alex, their dog Pepper, and their cat Steve who declined to be pictured. Ollie, originally from the USA, holds his master's degree in wildlife biology and moved to Australia to pursue his career and passion but has found a new love for working online and writing about animals of all types.
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