Today I saw this guy. He was walking out of the bank as I walked in, and he had a PARROT on his shoulder! My brain thought "Kinda like a pirate." And then my brain thought "But why would a pirate have a parrot on his shoulder?" (It's not an obviously useful pet, and training an animal to do anything takes time and patience, what would a parrot eat out in the middle of the ocean?)

Word's Worth and A Pirate's Life both have interesting info on the parrot/pirate relationship. A few tidbits (for those who have become curious by my random forray into pirate-dom!)

The more exotic the animal, the more in demand and the more valuable the animal would be. A talking bird would fetch a few doubloons in the Royal Courts of Europe, as would New World Monkeys. We also know that if something was of value, then pirates would plunder it. We also know that some pirates were known for their garish costumes. Whatever was good enough for the royal courts was also good enough for the well-to-do Pirate. To own an exotic animal would have been a status symbol. A parrot's social behavior has always made it a good pet. They seem to instinctively accept humans as one of their flock which makes touching and holding the bird possible. They may learn to imitate human voices. Their ability to learn tricks and behavior which is not typical for the wild bird have also made them popular with humans.