Greenwing macaw

As much as we try to make our birds feel at home, there is no way around the fact that life in our world is unnatural for them. Even the bird that has been raised entirely in captivity might struggle to understand the human environment.

Wild parrots learn about their world from their parents and flock mates who teach them what is safe and what is not. We humans, not being birds, are mostly unable to communicate similar messages to our companions. Often our birds have to learn by trial ...

Male Eclectus Parrot: The “I just unlatched the food bowl door and climbed out but are you going to stop me from escaping?” look.

There seems to be one in most people’s flocks. The evil-minded escape artist. You know the bird. The one that you think is safely resting in their cage but is secretly biding their time waiting for the chance to unlatch their door when you aren’t looking. That’s nothing though. If they get bored with a simple escape, they’ll go and ...

Goffins cockatoo, Theo

Of all of the mistakes we make with our parrots there is one that stands out over the rest. It is something that we often do unconsciously, but sometimes very consciously. Sometimes it happens just because we don’t understand not to do it.

Unfortunately, it is one of the most damaging mistakes we make, and creates problems that are some of the hardest to fix: in a word, it is inconsistency.

It doesn’t sound terribly evil, does it? Actually, though, it is among the worst of all our sins we ...

Q: I live in Florida where the humidity levels are very high. Should I get a dehumidifier so my bird isn’t uncomfortable?

Pam G., Cape Coral, FL 

A:  Contrary to popular belief...

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Fid my Blue and Gold Macaw travels in a large dog crate.

There are few things more terrifying than those few moments before impact when you realise you’re about to be in a very serious car accident and that there is absolutely nothing you can do to avoid it.

Recently, I was stopped at pedestrian lights, waiting for them to change to green when I heard the squeal of tyres behind me. A glance in the rear vision mirror told me that a wannabe truck ...

photo from blog.dingolingo.com

Children today are so very different from the child that I was while growing up. You hear people say that all the time, and it’s true: children are different. Today, being an adult is not a guarantee that you will win an argument with an 8 year old. Children are sophisticated and experienced and they come armed with knowledge.

On one hand, there is sadness to the idea that children no longer exist in a world of make believe and fantasy. Controversy for a child used to be over ...