Her comments come amid reports that some parrot owners have abandoned their pets at rescue centres or bird sanctuaries, while others have been off-loaded at pet shops.
And she has revealed how one local vet was shocked when the owner of a healthy umbrella cockatoo wanted to have the bird put down — he refused and the bird has now been passed on to a parrot rescue facility.
Rosemary, one of the country's leading experts on parrots, blames the sudden outbreak of unwanted birds on a 'totally unwarranted' fear of bird flu.
"People need to remember that bird flu has yet to be confirmed in the UK," she told Chad. "And until the H5N1 virus mutates to infect humans, the risk from pets is nil.
"Even if it does mutate, the risk from pet birds in the home would still be almost non-existent. Birds would have to be in contact with others carrying the disease to be infected. Birds with healthy immune systems in hygienic surroundings are unlikely to be infected."
And she has hit out at the owners who have dumped their pets at animal rescue centres, saying pet birds cannot be successfully rehomed in such centres.
"A hand-reared parrot that has known nothing but human companionship suddenly finds itself outdoors in a hopefully adequate space with other large parrots of which it might be terrified," she said. "It would be totally bewildered, stressed and very, very sad without frequent human contact.
"The average pet parrot that has had much attention from people and has known nothing else but life in a human dwelling house will suffer stress and torment in a new outdoor situation. Unfortunately, rescue centres simply do no have the staff to interact with tame parrots."
Rosemary has appealed to any bird owner who has to rehome their parrot for genuine reasons to contact the local Notts Parrot Club to see if someone is able to adopt the pet.
"Organisers sometimes know of suitable and genuine people who can adopt a parrot," she said. "It is extremely difficult to find genuine people who can look after a 'second hand' cockatoo or macaw over the long term — but such people do exist, although they are few in number."
The panic over bird flu has also been blamed for a noticeable reduction in wild bird food sales.
Added Rosemary: "Local pet shops have experienced substantial declines which indicates that people are ceasing to feed the birds in their garden just when our avian visitors need it most.
"These birds pose absolutely no danger to anyone."
- The Notts Parrot Club can be contacted on Mansfield 846430. The club holds its next meeting on Monday (27th) at Shirebrook Village Hall at 7.30pm. The guest speaker is wildlife photographer Paul Hobson who will show slides on the birds of south-west Africa. Anyone interested can go along and admission is £1.