How Long Do Birds Live? - PetMD

By Laurie Hess, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)

Birds are very popular pets, as they are beautiful, entertaining and often long-lived. The most common family of birds kept as pets are parrots, or hookbills, that include tropical and subtropical birds form the order known as Psittaciformes. Parrots include several different species that originate from all over the world. The most commonly kept pet parrots include macaws, budgerigars (or budgies), cockatoos, cockatiels, Amazon parrots, and various species of parakeet.

Before making the decision to take a pet bird home, it’s important to know how long it will live and how to help keep it happy and healthy throughout its life.

How Long Do Pet Parrots Live?

Macaws are large group of parrots from the rainforests of South and Central America made up of 17 different species, including the familiar blue-and-gold, scarlet and green-wing macaws, and the endangered Hyacinth, red-fronted and blue-throated macaws. The largest of the parrots, wild macaws live on average approximately 60 years, depending on species, while their captive counterparts generally live 35 to 50 years. The oldest pet macaw was reported to have lived 112 years.

Budgerigars, also called budgies or parakeets, originate in the grasslands and woodlands of Australia. These well-known, small, typically yellow, blue, green, and white birds may live 5 to 12 years in captivity but unfortunately often do not make it seven years due to improper care and traumatic accidents.

Cockatoos are medium-to-large sized parrots that come from the rainforests of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. This group includes 21 different species, such as the large white umbrella cockatoo, the salmon-colored Moluccan cockatoo, the slightly smaller sulfur-crested, yellow-crested and citron-crested cockatoos, the vibrant peach, orange, and yellow-colored Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, the striking pink rose-breasted cockatoo, the small Goffin’s and bare-eyed cockatoos, and the rare black palm cockatoo. While these birds have been reported to live over 100 years in captivity, most pet cockatoos live between 40 to 70 years, depending on their care.

Cockatiels, also one of the most common type of pet parrots, are small birds native to Australia. These yellow, gray and white parrots have been inbred to produce a number of different hybrids with varying colors and feather patterns. Pet cockatiels live on average approximately 15 to 25 years in captivity, with the oldest cockatiel reported to be 36 years old.

Amazon parrots are medium-sized parrots from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. These predominantly green birds include several different species that are distinguished by their different colored head feathers, including the common yellow-naped Amazon, the blue-fronted Amazon and the double yellow-headed Amazon. Amazon parrots live an average of 40 to 70 years in captivity, depending on how they’re cared for.

Finally, parakeets are a group of birds that include several small-to-medium sized parrots, all of which have long tail feathers. This group includes the well-known budgerigar or budgie; the monk (or Quaker) parrot that originates from South America and the rose-ringed parakeet from Africa, Asia, and India. The lifespan of parakeets varies by species, with the budgie living, on average, 5 to 12 years in captivity, the monk parakeet living 15 to 20 years and the ring-necked parakeet living 25 to 30 years.