Overall Explanation of Parrot Tales

If you are looking for unique entertainment or edutainment, you have come to the right web site. Parrot Tales offers unique programs centered around our beautiful and highly intelligent trained parrots. Yes we offer professional parrot shows that come to your event.

Great Costuming & Storylines: Our bird shows are not like 95% plus of the parrot shows that you have seen in the past. Most likely, other bird/parrot shows watched had a trainer come out, greet the audience and show a series of tricks (known in the ‘trade’ as “behaviors”).
--Example: “Now we will see if Coco can wave. For trick number two Paco will sing you a song.” etc. etc.

Our presentations are different in the following ways:

The behaviors (tricks) the parrots do are skillfully woven into the story line that is unfolding before you.

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Parrots & Pirates:

• In our sailor/pirate show, the story line is that the parrots are members of the crew, working and living on a square rigger sailing ship of the late 1600 to early 1700s.
○ This is the part of history often referred to as the “Period of Exploration”.
○ A period characterized by great discovers by daring naval personalities.
○ The time of “wooden ships and iron men.”
○ This, also, is the heyday of the American Pirate. This includes such notable characters as
-Blackbeard (Edward Teach)
-Calico Jack Rackham (who’s flag Disney used for the flag of the Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl)
-Ann Bonney & Mary Reed (two famous women pirates who are remembered as brave members of Calico Jack’s crew)
-Captain Kid
-Captain Henry Morgan. (Yes, the character the rum was named after. Also one of the few pirates who was able to “retire”.)
-The list goes on and on.
To find out more about this persona & see photos-CLICK HERE

Exploring the Rainforest:

• In our various parrot rainforest shows the parrots are members of our research team living and working high up in the canopy layer of a South American rainforest.
• The audience is given a glimpse of what it might be like to actually live up off the ground in the dense leafy layer of an old growth forest
• To find out more about this persona & see photos-CLICK HERE

Hawaiian/Polynesian:

• In this presentation the audience journeys with us to Kauai, the western most of the ‘big five’ islands of Hawaii.
• Kauai, while physically small compared to the Amazon Basin, is one of the great rainforests of the world.
• With annual rainfall over 400 inches per year, this Hawaiian Island is a magnificent representation of a tropical rainforest. It is also, the only tropical rainforest in the 50 United States.
• To find out more about this persona & see photos-CLICK HERE

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Wonderfully Trained Parrots: Parrot Tales’ presentations are not a ‘show and tell’ affairs as you may have seen with reptile shows and many other animal shows. Here the birds are professional performers who delight in captivating the audience with their behaviors (tricks), humor, as well as their personalities.

Whatever persona/theme you pick, the audience quickly discovers that each of these parrots is a unique individual. Normally, the audience finds themselves being drawn toward on macaw or another due to their individual personalities.

Each parrot truly does have their own personality and “way of doing things”.

Most people, who have not studied animal behavior, are surprised at how intelligent these birds are. They are not just taught to repeat a series of steps to do a trick. Rather they truly learn how to accomplish a task. The audience is able to see them think their way through the tasks they are given during each show.

It would be extremely difficult not to appreciate the incredible beauty of these magnificent birds without seeing them ‘live and up close’. It’s amazing, these parrots never have a ‘bad hair day’.

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The human part of this show is Marcus. (Some might call him the “handler” but this is a totally inadequate way of describing the relationship between these magnificent parrots and the humans that they work and live with.) The parrots, generally, call him Papa and this is a fairly accurate description of the relationship between human and birds at Parrot Tales.

Marcus does not check these birds out each day from some type of kennel. Rather they are members of the family. They live with us. They have their own bedroom, complete with TV, VCR player, DVD player, air conditioner, air filtration system and window to the front yard. They are truly children, not unlike yours, except that ours never grow up (kind of like Peter Pan) and never leave home (kind of like Marcus’ cousin).

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Magic: Everyone loves magic (not the mysticism type, but the “watch while I pull a rabbit out of my hat” type.) While Marcus has always been interested in magic, frankly, he has never been very good at it. To make up for this ‘shortcoming’ one of the Macaws is our magician and Marcus is relegated to the roll of the assistant. [Audience involvement and very funny].

Comedy: While the subjects that we address are serious (education, saving the rainforest, conservation, care of animals, etc.) Our goal is to carefully mix entertainment and education. (Also, we don’t want to take ourselves too seriously.) Throughout the presentations there is audience appropriate humor.

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Audience Involvement: In our parrot shows, we are continually interacting with the audience. They are a vital part of the show. We are asking questions and throwing out prizes to the audience (at appropriate venues). The reaction and energy of the audience ‘fuels’ the parrots energy level.

Portable Stage: Parrot Tales brings in a large portable stage. When folded to its transport size of 2 feet wide X 3 feet 1 inches long X 3 feet 6 inches high it looks like a steamer trunk. It opens to over 6 feet wide. The performance deck is 3 feet 6 inches from the ground (so the audience can clearly see what the parrots are doing). There are two mast that rise up from the performance deck.
     The stage allows us to present an uncluttered show. Props are conveniently held out of sight. When needed the props are brought up where the audience can see them. They are used and then returned back to the stage. This allows the audience to remain focused on what is being presented to them at the moment.

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Professional Sound System: We bring a professional sound to our presentations (except for some small venues where it would be ‘overkill’).
This is not a boom box with a cheap microphone attached.
This system is designed for touring professionals. It has cordless microphones and a CD player so that music can be played appropriate to the show’s theme.

Family Entertainment: Parrot Tales is proud that our presentations are appropriate for the entire family to watch. We do not use “blue” or “adult only” material in our shows.
     We adjust each show to the mean (average) of our audience. The language and ‘audience level’ of a show for preschoolers is different than the same theme show would be for university alumni.