Musk Lorikeet: Otto is the first to bite if he senses something is wrong…

My house has been a wonderful place to live lately. No one living here has been inundated with work. No family member has had to go into hospital. I haven’t been upset because someone ran into my car in a parking lot and didn’t leave a note. I haven’t blown up any essential electrical appliances like a computer hard drive. My recently acquired expensive replacement high-pressure water cleaner that is ...

Birds are unusually perceptive. As prey animals, they have to be. They are constantly on the lookout for predators.

Birds remain safest in a flock setting because there are many eyes on the sky and ground in a vigilant watch. If a single bird becomes alarmed for any reason, ALL birds will take to the air in fear.  Interestingly, this frenzied behavior sometimes occurs without a single alarm call being issued. The tension is FELT as clearly as any alarm call can be heard and is enough to set things into motion.

If we put that same perceptive species of animal into ...

Stress bars are lines that run crosswise through a feather shaft illustrating that inadequate diet, high stress or illness (and subsequent medicating) was present during the time that the feather was being formed. They are areas of poor development that create flawed or weakened segments which make the feather vulnerable to breakage.

Stress bars are similar to what a geologist discovers as he studies the layers of the earth. Each layer tells a story about the conditions at the time the layer was forming. A geologist can tell if ...

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With the holidays behind us, I can finally find the time to breathe. The chaos of the Christmas season is always very stressful for me and sometimes I can be a little less than festive this time of year.

Jamie and I have been working closely lately on a project...

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The cold weather here in the northern hemisphere will soon be upon us. This means that time spent in the aviaries and trips outdoors with the family will be limited for our birds. This also means that they will be getting less of the healthy benefits derived from...

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I was made aware of the disastrous flood situation being suffered by so many in Australia by reader and concerned citizen, Mel Vincent.  She asked me to post on the subject of evacuation for those...

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