You can’t have secrets when you have parrots. Even when you think they can’t hear you or aren’t listening, you have to be careful about what you say. I’ve learned this the hard way more than once.
I was a bridesmaid at a wedding about a year ago. The bride and groom had been living together for a while, so it was one of those situations where they didn’t need household themed ...

Well I have some exciting news. I seem to be the world’s luckiest girl as a friend has just done something absolutely incredible for me. A friend bought me a blue and gold macaw.  I’m finally able to tell people about it as he has just had his microchip done (he doesn’t like needles much!!!)

Many parts of Australia are in natural disaster mode as I write this. Seventy-five percent of New South Wales is underwater due to record-breaking floods. For those unfamiliar with Australia – that’s an area larger than the entire of France. Similarly a substantial part of Victoria, Queensland and South Australia are also flooding. So that’s four states in flood crisis. Meanwhile Western Australia has bushfires. Apparently a couple of ...

I just don’t do hills. I don’t like it when treadmills pretend you’re going up one, I don’t like them when I’m cycling, I avoid them when walking my dog and I’ve even been known to throw a tantrum when (thanks to a slight hill), my feet wound up about 3 cm higher than my head when sleeping in a tent. While 3 cm definitely lands me squarely in the category ...

When I took on Otto (my musk lorikeet), I was expecting major behavioural problems. He was a re-homing case, which is very different from a rescue. He came to me because he didn’t fit in with his family and their lifestyle. He had serious behavioural issues and was inflicting some pretty serious injuries on his humans. They’d dealt with his health issues, they’d bought vet-recommended training courses but he was still completely unreadable ...

My elderly galah, Cocky Boy definitely prefers my mother to me. He loves her so much it is sickening, she can get away with anything. I’m allowed to cuddle him to but he always holds himself a lot more tensely around me. As it turns out, there’s an advantage to that.

 
The other day, I ran my hand down Cocky Boy’s back in a patting motion. He tensed and what I thought was a little brown jumping spider, ran out from under his wing, lunged at my hand then disappeared – all in a split second. It was so fast, ...