Parrot Parrot

Bird-Safe Homes

We have previously discussed dangers such as nonstick cookware, zinc, junkfood, and hazardous toys and household items. One of the more critical concerns in a bird household is the presence of deadly fumes. Many fumes that would not be hazardous to humans and other pets, such as cats and dogs, can kill a bird in a few minutes. Most of these problem fumes have been discovered the “hard way.” In other words, a person used one of these items then their bird died a few minutes after exposure. In some cases, a necropsy performed by a veterinarian confirmed damage to the lungs. Continue reading »

Should I Own More than One Bird?

sun conure

Sun Conure

Many people know the feeling: you have a wonderful parrot that has become a beloved member of the household. You enjoy visiting pet stores and seeing what birds they have. You coo at the precious baby parrots with their downy backs. You laugh at the just-weaned Amazon parrot who is already saying, “Helloooo!” You start to think, “Another bird would be great!”

Often, this leads to an impulse buy. You trot home with the new bird, assuming one more bird won’t add that much work to your life. But is it as simple as that? There are some issues that should be taken into consideration whenever you think about increasing the number of your flock. Continue reading »

Dangers and Risks of Hand-feeding Baby Birds

Baby African Grey Parrot

Many people have heard the myth: if you want a parrot to truly bond to you, then you should handfeed the bird yourself. Nothing could be further from the truth. More relationships between bird and human are damaged by improper hand-feeding and socialization during the early weeks of a parrot’s life. This damage is less obvious than that seen in cases of outright physical harm. Burned crops, malnutrition, pneumonia due to aspirated food, sour crop, and bacterial infections are just a few of the issues that arise when inexperienced people take on the responsibility of handfeeding a parrot. Continue reading »

Join the Make Animal Cruelty a Felony Campaign

Join the Banner Campaign: Make Animal Torture and Killing a Felony

stop animal cruelty

Add the banner to your page. It repeats 5 times then stops on the final message. You can link back to this page so viewers can get more information and also join the campaign. Continue reading »

Why the Whydah Has Such a Long Tail

Whydah Finch

Whydah Finch

The whydah finch might look like a rather ordinary finch during the nonbreeding season, but when the males get full plumage and are ready to breed, they grow a very long tail. For example, the Paradise Whydah is only about 5 inches in length during nonbreeding times, and reaches 15 inches from head to tip of tail during breeding season. They lose the tail again at the end of the season. When the tail is in full plumage, they will shake it to attract the female.

As you can see in the photo on the left, the tail is quite impressive. These little birds can get along with many other species in an aviary. However, some species of whydah are considered difficult to breed in captivity. In fact, some species will lay their eggs in other birds nesting areas, such as waxbill nests, and let those other birds foster their young. Sounds like a great way to avoid lots of hard work!

The whydah is an African bird. There are a number of species in this group, such as the Paradise, Broad-tailed, Pin-tailed, Shafttail, Fischer’s, Resplendent, and White-Winged whydahs. These birds eat a diet of finch seed, various greens, and in the wild they will eat live insects. It’s important to give them sufficient space in an aviary for that long tail so it doesn’t get damaged.

The Mighty Parrotlet

parrotlet

Parrotlet

The diminutive parrots of the genus Forpus often have a fiesty, courageous nature that belies their small size. The beak is quite large for such a tiny bird, giving them a somewhat unusual appearance. Many people refer to parrotlets as “amazons in a pint-sized body.” They truly do not seem to realize they are about the size of a parakeet. Continue reading »

Happy Hut Injury

A Happy Hut is a small tent-like item that is hung by two quick-links from the top of the cage. Birds sleep in them and sometimes sit on top of the hut. They are made of a soft material. There are number of similar sleeping huts that are marketed under different trade names.

I received a very sad e-mail today from a woman whose African Grey parrot had one of these Happy Huts and went through a terrible ordeal. Here is her story: Continue reading »

When a Bird Escapes: How to Find a Lost Bird

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when a pet bird suddenly takes off, flying into the wild blue yonder, while you watch helplessly from the ground below. The first time this happened to me I became frantic, running around the neighborhood and calling for my one-year-old senegal parrot, Max. Max’s wings were trimmed, but they had come in enough to give him lift. The other contributing factor was that my house sat on a high hill in Los Angeles, so Max could get a considerable distance even without much lift. I could not get down the steep hill on foot, so I had to drive my car down to Sunset Boulevard to start my search. Continue reading »

Wheatgrass: Health Food for Pet Birds

wheatgrass

Wheatgrass can improve the well-being and vitality of your birds

Wheatgrass Can Improve the Health, Vitality, and Fertility of Your Companion and Breeder Birds

Wheatgrass juice revitalizes and energizes humans, and it can do the same for companion birds. While humans must use a special press to extract the juice from wheatgrass, parrots have a built-in juice extractor: their beaks. They squeeze the delicious, nutritious juice from each blade, then discard the indigestible portion. Continue reading »

What Gives Feathers Their Color

Hyacinth Macaw

The color most people think about when they think of parrots is green. Did you know that parrots actually have no green pigment? Although they “appear” to be green, the only pigments are red and yellow, and the only other factors that affect color are melanin and feather structure. Continue reading »

Parrot Gallery

Blue and Gold Macaw Eclectus Gloucester Grey Cheek (Pocket Parrot) triton2 amcinv gallery10 gallery5