• Parrots cannot typically catch human colds.Parrot image by Snezana Skundric from Fotolia.com
  
  

Viral Infections

• Most colds are caused by viral infections. These viral infections are usually species-specific, although there are some cases where cross-species contamination can occur. For the most part, however, most of the head colds that a person gets are not going to be transmitted to other species.
  
  

Weakened Immune System

• When a person has a head cold, his immune system is weakened, and there are certain diseases that can be transmitted from a parrot to a human. The most common one is psittacosis, and that can occur at any age. The infected person has symptoms that appear flu-like, and are caused by exposure to bird droppings which have dried, disturbed and possibly inhaled.
  
  

Bottom Line

• The bottom line is that although your parrot is likely to be perfectly safe being handled when a person has a head cold, it would probably be best to wait until the cold has passed, just to play it safe.