text: why are pirates often shown with parrots as companions and often on their shoulders?   pirates lived pretty harsh lives while at sea. many sailors (not just pirates) kept pets. birds (which were intelligent, at vermin like weevils and could be rendered flightless pretty easily by trimming a wing) made good ship-board pets. dogs required too much food (almost as much as a hand's ration), and cats are too solitary to be considered any individual's pet ... although many a pirate vessel did have a ship's cat to help keep the rats down. monkeys were pretty popular, as well, since they could take pretty good care of themselves in heavy seas. short answer, though, is that sailors kept pets because they needed pets. and they let them ride on their shoulder because parrots really like that. arrr.