Paratiel

The Paratiel (Psittacoida astra) is a mid-sized to large bird that is descended from various species of Terran parrot that have been hybridized together over thousands of years. Intelligent and sociable, these birds have enjoyed a recent surge in popularity among starship captains and ranking officers.

Avian Companions

Though rather demanding to keep healthy and happy, a properly kept paratiel makes an excellent pet both planetside and in space. They are very intelligent and highly social animals, and require a lot of mental stimulation and companionship to remain happy and sane. When neglected or put into stressful conditions, they can become aggressive towards nearby humans and destructive both to their immediate surroundings and to themselves. Able to live between fifty and ninety years, paratiels make good life-long companions for their owners. The record for longest living paratiel is held by a Sagittarius Invert called Crazy Jack, who is over 140 years old and still going strong.
Paratiels have a diet of various seeds, which they supplement by occasionally crunching on the fingers of people who annoy them.
Paratiels are comfortable in warm environments, and do well in the temperature and atmospheric pressure ranges that most life support systems are set to. As with most birds, they struggle to adapt to microgravity, but as most modern starships have artificial gravity as standard this is rarely an issue. Should this artificial gravity fail for any reason, paratiels struggle to orientate themselves and begin to panic.
Paratiels are capable of mimicking human speech. It is unknown whether or not they are capable of actually understanding what they are repeating despite numerous studies by linguistic experts. Whether or not they actually understand human speech, paratiels seem to have an unnatural affinity for curse words, and seem to pick up on bad language much more quickly than other words and like to let loose random strings of invectives that would make even the most hardened sailors blush.

Notable Breeds

Skandic Blue

The Skandic Blue paratiel is a difficult bird to keep. This breed has a poorly understood genetic memory for its place of origin, and individuals have a bad habit of frequently pining for the fjords that they have never seen.

— Psittadae Fancier's Society

Maggie

Officially named the Perseid Magpie paratiel, these intelligent birds are more colloquially known as "Maggies" for their strikung black and white plumage.

— Psittadae Fancier's Society

Alpie

Officially named the Alpine Tundra paratiel, these birds are more colloquially known as "Alpies" for their passing resemblance to a snow capped mountain.

— Psittadae Fancier's Society

Sagittarius Invert

This breed of paratiel is often considered to be "a bit special" by their owners. Their brains seem to be wired upside down, and as such they prefer to perch the "wrong way up" in relation to local gravity.

— Psittadae Fancier's Society

Controversies

The keeping of paratiels aboard starships is an ancient tradition that is believed to have its roots in the blue water sailing traditions of old Terra. Many scholars have criticised the historical accuracy of keeping birds as ship's mascots, accusing the more prominent breeders that push the traditions as deliberately treating works of fiction set in a romanticized version of those ancient time periods as factual documentaries.