Why did sailors (and pirates) have parrots?
There is an interesting article here which discusses whether pirates really did have parrots as pets. That rather annoying parrot chanting “Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight” comes to mind when I think about Treasure Island for example. According to this website, Macaws were used by sailors in the old days for sailors who could not speak. They used to train the parrot to speak for them!