The Parrot is the only tame in Ark that asks you to be friendly first.
There is no knockout, no tranquilizer, no food in the hotbar. You wave at a wild Parrot, and it lands on your shoulder. You then have one hour to prove you are worth keeping around — by killing alphas, digging up treasure, and finishing missions while it watches.
This is an Ark: Survival Ascended shoulder pet, and the method is completely unlike standard taming.
Why you want it
The shoulder slot. A tamed Parrot rides on your shoulder, which makes it a companion rather than a mount — and shoulder pets are one of the most visible flexes in the game.
The temperament. A wild Parrot is curious. It flies around aimlessly, but it can be attracted to you via emotes, which is the entire entry point into the tame.
The look. An aerial bird with a wide paint palette across its feather regions, from fire oranges to wyvern purples and blues, so a bred Parrot can carry almost any color scheme you want.
The numbers
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Group | Aerial, Birds |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Temperament | Curious |
| Taming Method | Passive, trust-based |
| Egg | Parrot Egg |
The taming method
Step 1: get its attention
Walk up to a wild Parrot and trigger any emote — a wave is enough.
Wild Parrots fly around aimlessly, but they can be attracted to you via emotes. When it notices you, it flies over and perches on your shoulder, which initiates the taming process.
Step 2: the one-hour timer
The perch starts a 1-hour taming timer. During this window, you must earn the Parrot’s trust by raising its taming affinity bar with specific actions.
The timer is real. If the hour runs out before the bar fills, the attempt is over.
Step 3: earn the trust
There are three reliable ways to raise affinity, and they range from fast to convenient:
Kill alpha-tier creatures. This is the fastest way to gain taming affinity. If an alpha is nearby and you can handle it, do that first — nothing else comes close.
Treasure caches. Pick up “message in a bottle” items found on the beaches. Each one gives you a waypoint. Use a tool to dig up the buried cache before the timer expires, and the cache awards taming progress.
Supply Drops and missions. Completing map missions, or collecting end-of-mission supply crates, also awards taming progress. This is the slowest route but the most reliable if you were going to do the missions anyway.
Practical advice
Check for alphas first. Since killing an alpha is the fastest affinity source, scan your map before you trigger the emote. If an alpha spawn is close, plan the run around it.
Stockpile messages in bottles. Beachcombing for bottles is the safest affinity route, and you can collect them in advance. Keep a stack so you are not hunting for bottles with a timer running.
Do not let it die. While the Parrot is on your shoulder it is exposed to everything you fight. A Parrot that dies mid-tame ends the attempt, so avoid taking unnecessary damage during the hour.
One hour is generous. Between one alpha kill and a couple of caches, the bar fills comfortably. The timer punishes players who trigger the emote and then go do something unrelated for forty minutes.