Is Fruit Good For Our Birds?

Q: Why do you guys say I shouldn’t give my bird fruit every day? I keep reading that we should feed fruit and vegetables.

-Blake, B., Barstow, CA

I understand your confusion. It is always fruit and vegetables this...fruit and vegetables that. Whenever discussion is about diet and nutrition, it is difficult to find the word “vegetable” when it isn’t paired with the word “fruit”. Even though these words seem inseparably linked together, nutritionally speaking, comparing fruits and veggies is like comparing apples and…okra.

It is really ...

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Understanding What It Means To Have A “Lifetime Commitment” Pet

Blue and gold macaw

Blue and gold macaw

Over the years, I have taken a turn in the way that I deal with people who are interested in getting a parrot. I have always been careful to be honest with them about the work involved, the noise, the mess and the damage they can do to your home but I use to end on a positive note describing the magical experience parrot keeping can be.

I don’t do that anymore. Now ...

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Five Quick Tips for Handling Animals with “Group” Mentality

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Macaw flock at the Island Parrot Sanctuary

 

Evolutionarily speaking, gathering in numbers is advantageous for everyone. Predators don’t know who to munch first unless their prey is noticeable, and thus, the fittest animals survive while the weak and sick get eaten. Parrots, dogs, and horses all find security in their groups, and tend to not like being separated from them.

I work on a farm with 1,500lb horses who all have the capacity to kill me – even though they are all wonderful animals. As ...

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Should You Change Your Parrot’s Name?

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Senegal Parrot “Mavi”

 

Can you change your pet parrot’s name – yes; should you change it – my opinion – no, not under ordinary circumstances.

If you haven’t yet watched the Cornell Lab of Ornithology video entitled “How a Parrot Learns its Name in the Wild,” you should definitely take the time to look it up. There is a growing amount of research into the science of parrots’ names, which is pretty cool.

Personally, I won’t change my birds’ names. Whatever they come with is there ...

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When Do I Re-Home my Bird?

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Cute Caique

The question of when to re-home a bird is an extremely difficult one. It’s not as simple as just giving up the bird to ensure its happiness, because the very act of re-homing will cause the bird emotional trauma.

Here’s how parrots function: When you move them from home to home, they grieve for their people, their flock. It’s not like giving a dog a new home. After a short period of time, a dog will often be overjoyed with attention; they tend ...

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When Wild Birds Move Into Non-Traditional Habitat

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Two of my birds bathing under a sprinkler. (For those who are concerned about water conservation: I use tank water.)

 

One of my flock’s favourite ways to bathe is outside under a sprinkler. I set the sprinkler up on top of their aviaries and let the water fall down on them just like rain would. Everyone except for my macaw happily screams and shouts and plays under it. My eclectus gets as close to the sprinkler as possible as he prefers to ...

 

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