Parrots are born to chew. From the smallest parakeet to the largest macaw, they will gnaw anything they can get their beaks on. Door and window frames, window sills, baseboards, drywall, cabinet doors, drapes, blinds, upholstery, funiture, clothes, wires, ropes, plastic objects, anything short of solid metal is fair-game for the curious beak of an unattended parrot. A macaw can reduce the legs on a solid mahogany coffee table to splinters is just a couple of hours. You would be surprised at how fast a bird can learn to unfasten the latch on their cage, and parrots who have done so when unattended, have been known to totally trash the contents of a house or apartment in just a few hours.  This link to one of my favorite sites illustrates the point.   Bad, Bad Frances

The need to chew is a large part of the reason for the high monthly cost of replacement toys. A medium to large sized parrot can easily destroy a $20 toy in a day or two.  Better toys though, then the  heirloom furniture handed down to you by your great grandmother.

There are only two ways to prevent this type of damage. The bird most be securely latched in a cage, or it must be supervised at all times. At right are two pictures of our own dear Captain chowing down on the shades in our livingroom. He was in easy eyesight of the kitchen where I was preparing supper for the birds. I had turned my back for only a few minutes, but it was ample time for him to destroy an expensive blind.