The Parrot Laughs

The parrot went wild laughing. His owner had been trying to teach him to laugh and was making progress. But when I came to visit, this parrot went wild.

I would typically burst into laughter in the middle of my conversation with my friend. The parrot would follow suit with his own laughter. This in turn would cause me to roar with even more laughter, which would cause him (the parrot) to roar with even more laughter in response. On and on we went until it seemed that we were both almost completely out of control. It was really something – laughing with a parrot.

Was his laughter real? Was it in response to his own feelings of merriment? I have no idea but he certainly seemed to be having the time of his life. I know I was. And he was clearly very upset when we eventually left the room where he was caged.

I’d never bonded with a bird before but I left feeling close to this parrot. Laughter is a powerful social glue creating lasting connections between people; or in this case between woman and bird.

I’ve since learned that one way to have parrots bond with you is to play with them, and as it is with all of us, laughter is an essential ingredient to play. On the ezine Winged Wisdom, Laura Middleton explains “Parrots love to hear us laugh. A parrot that learns to laugh will sometimes call their owners to play with them by laughing.”