Abstract
Co-evolution: The simultaneous evolution of adaptations in two or more populations that interact so closely that each is a strong selective force on the other.
Conservationists are suspicious of aviculturists (bird breeders) who claim their practice of aviculture is a form of conservation. Animal rights groups insist the keeping of birds in captivity and any form of importation for the purpose of breeding them for the "pet trade" is exploitation of wildlife, and that caged birds are an anathema to the humane and enlightened among us.
Bird breeders welcome the challenge of breeding difficult species, at least once, often because of the recognition and credibility it fosters. However, they frequently concentrate on breeding high-priced "status birds" or low cost, mass-produced "entry-level" pet birds for the pet store chains. Some breeders encourage hybrids, but most do not, and there are your breeders whose fascinations with genetics and color mutations amaze us with their selective breeding results. Fortunately, there are also those breeders who see the value on many fronts in specializing in a species of avian life so it does not disappear from aviculture and can act as a bulwark for the species in the wild.
Of course, there are exceptions and refinements that can be made to these generalities I have provided. However, I do not intend to argue any of the above statements or elaborate any further concerning these points, but rather to suggest that aviculture, as it pertains to parrots in particular, may be a natural product, neither bad or good, right or wrong of the evolution of man and certain species of birds which, by accident or design, have come in contact with the human species-the result being co-evolution!
For centuries animals that lived on our farms and/or had access to our homes were by definition domesticated animals, and those in the forests, jungles and hinterlands were wild. If they didn't feed us or protect us, they were wild animals. However, in recent history where humans have gained more leisure time and expendable income, a desire was created for non-human companions. At least, in part, it probably began with people's affection for young animals with those big eyes that are so reminiscent of human babies eliciting attention, tenderness and the need for care. The domestication of animals and birds developed from the unique nurturing behavior of the human species, especially the distaff side of the species-women-and once established, it soon spread across the world, leaving few, if any, cultures unaffected.
We refer to our dogs, cats and farm animals, which are further along this co-evolutionary path than are parrots, as domesticated animals. The birds we raise in captivity are heralded as "domestically bred". Biologically, the process of domestication is a success story without precedent in the history of evolution.
At this juncture, I ask that you re-think our assumptions that domestication is simply the invention of man, an example of man's inevitable subjugation of nature in the march of technological progress. A series of studies has dramatically recast the role of humans in domestication, overthrowing the simple picture of the conqueror and the conquered. Much evidence suggests that far from an example of man's domination, our relationship with animals is a natural occurrence-often initiated by the animals themselves as a strategy for survival and an opportunity to reproduce itself
Over thousands of years, those species which survive have done so as a result of "natural selection." Natural selection, according to Charles Darwin, in the Origin of the Species, is analogous to the type of selection exercised by breeders of cattle, horses, dogs and cats and more recently parrots and other birds. In artificial selection, we humans choose specimens of plants and animals for breeding on the basis of characteristics that we deem to be desirable to us. In natural selection, the environment takes the place of human choice.
Also according to Darwin, inherited variations among individuals, which occur in...