Liz Wilson, CVT, CPBC with a blue-and-gold macaw. Courtesy Dan Brueckner

Liz Wilson, CVT, CPBC, BIRD TALK magazine’s Parrot Psychology columnist, was recently interviewed on Animal Talk, Naturally! at Blogtalkradio.com. Veterinary naturopaths Dr. Kim Bloomer and Dr. Jeannie Thomason host this show and speak to a variety of experts on how to care for animals. The show was called “Parrot Talk, Naturally!” and discussed how Wilson started working with birds, what it is like living with a wild-caught 60-year-old macaw, parrots and their speaking abilities and much more.

Wilson, who is no stranger to being interviewed, said this one was different. “It was a lot of fun. I’ve never been interviewed by two people before, so it made an interesting three way dialogue. It was also a different type of interview; people usually have a list of questions on hand before it ever starts. This was more like a relaxed chat.”

In one part of the interview, Wilson discusses an article she wrote for BIRD TALK magazine (“To Speak or Not to Speak,” Parrot Psychology, May 2002 issue), about the issue of birds and speaking. She recalled the negative response to the article, which discussed whether or not a bird should be taught to speak.

“People were surprised that I didn’t care that my parrot talks,” Wilson said, “And I made a lot of people angry by one of my phrases I used in my article: ‘After all, children can speak, but that’s not why people start families.’ I had people telling me that was why they had purchased their bird, because it could talk.”

Overall, it was a fun and exciting interview where everyone learned something new. Wilson said that Thomason, who owns an African grey parrot, “was surprised by how much she learned.”

Listen to Liz Wilson’s interview here: