There are an estimated 50 million parrots kept as pets the U.S. alone, their numbers surpassed only by dogs and cats, yet these complex creatures are not your typical domesticated animal, and they remain a mystery to many. Most people don’t know that parrots score at the level of 3-to-5 year olds on human intelligence tests. Nor that they can live to 100 years or more. Nor that pound for pound parrots are worth more on the black market than cocaine. Their startling beauty, social sophistication, and uncanny ability to bond with humans have made parrots sought-after pets, but few people realize how fragile and endangered many parrot species have become.

In Of Parrots and People, award-winning journalist and parrot expert, Mira Tweti, reveals the world of a family of birds that is far more complex and advanced than we’ve acknowledged. Tweti relates stunning scientific findings on the intelligence, personality, and rich lives of parrots that challenge our most widespread and flawed assumptions about non-primates. And she explores the intense and often humorous emotional connections these birds form not just with their flockmates, but with the “parronts” (as some “parrot parents” call themselves) who keep them as pets, often pampering them as they do children.

Of Parrots and People also takes on the much larger, serious issues of animal welfare that are the unfortunate consequences of the “bird boom” of the last few decades. Despite the high demand for them, many parrot species are endangered in the wild from rampant trapping and habitat destruction, while those in captivity are quickly becoming the fastest growing category of unwanted pets, living lives of neglect or abuse. Avian rescuers can’t handle the number of birds that need help, and the Humane Society of the U.S. is advocating euthanasia rather than warehousing birds that will outlive their caretakers. Yet unregulated bird breeders continue to put over a million young birds on the market each year from parrot mills across the country. It’s an untenable situation of cruelty, especially for such an evolved and intelligent species, and it’s just one of the many newsworthy topics that make Of Parrots and People just as hard-hitting as it is soft-hearted. Tweti tirelessly follows the parrot trail around the globe, from the living rooms and pet stores of America, to hotbeds of illegal trade in Mexico. She examines threats of avian flu, and takes a first hand look at encouraging progress in eco-tourism that may be our only way to protect these stunning species from being hunted to extinction.

Comprehensive in scope and passionately written, Of Parrots and People is a unique and vivid addition to popular works on animals and their behavior, and an important new voice in the burgeoning environmental and conservation movement.

“Parrots can not only learn to talk but understand the meaning of many words for they are highly intelligent. Some are clad in glorious plumage. Not surprising that they have long been sought after as pets or research subjects and Mira Tweti shares engaging stories about individual parrots and their dedicated owners. But she also tells of the multitude of parrots suffering in captivity, and how the pet trade has brought many species to the brink of extinction in the wild. Informative, compassionate and very entertaining, Of Parrots and People is a book for animal lovers everywhere.”
--Jane Goodall Ph.D., DBE , Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

“Mira Tweti's beautifully argued and meticulously researched book is, without question, the most important book published on the state of our relationship with parrots. It is required reading for anyone interested in animal welfare, environmental issues, and changing society's relationship to the natural world and the creatures in it.”
--Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO, The Human Society of the United States

“This book conveys the immeasurable joy of parrots as companion animals, but also serves as a warning to those who may underestimate the emotional demands of these brainy birds. Mira Tweti provides an engagingly written, passionate plea to take the parrot-human relationship very seriously.”
-- Frans de Waal, Ph.D., author of Our Inner Ape

“Of Parrots and People is a winner on numerous fronts. Extremely well researched and easy to read, Mira Tweti’s book offers a comprehensive view of what it's like to be a parrot in a human-dominated world. Blending solid scientific research with compelling personal stories, this fascinating book offers yet more reasons why we must increase our compassionate footprint now, not later when it may be more convenient to do so. The next time someone tells me I'm a birdbrain, I'll wink, smile, and walk away having felt that I've been royally complimented. I'll share this book widely - it is that good.”
-- Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado; author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

“Of Parrots and People is a long, loud, heartrending squawk for the rights of the captive parrot: a vibrantly social higher intelligence usually condemned for life to solitary confinement. Its only crime: having brains and beauty in equal measure. This is a book to change hearts and minds, a long-overdue call to enlightenment to anyone who ever called a parrot ‘just a bird.’”
-- Julie Zickefoose, naturalist, artist and author of Letters from Eden

“Tweti weaves a wonderful tale of people and parrots that will make you laugh, weep and applaud the wonderful wit and devilry of parrots."
-- Joanna Burger, author of The Parrot Who Owns Me

Mira Tweti is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and The Village Voice, and has helped pass legislation and launch national awareness about parrot issues. Her exposé for the LA Times Magazine on the U.S. parrot trade won an investigative journalism Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United Sates for significant stories on animal welfare. Tweti is also the author of a parrot- welfare children’s book, Here, There and Everywhere, heralded by Dr. Jane Goodall as “a masterpiece.” Tweti lives in Los Angeles with ZaZu, an adopted parrot.

Imprint: Viking Adult
Distributor: Penguin Group USA, Inc
Publication Date: 08-14-2008
Pages: 368
Measurements: 9.58in X 6.40in X 1.18in X 1.27lb