Umbrella cockatoos may be quiet sometimes, but they have the capability to produce an ear-splitting scream like a dying, wounded animal.

We can’t expect our parrots to be quiet all the time. Many species are naturally noisy, such as sun conures, amazons or cockatoos. While we can train our birds that excessive screaming isn’t okay, I feel that it’s important to allow them to let off steam sometimes.

Enter the scream session…

Try making time for a sanctioned (and planned!) ...

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Cockatiel.

Each of my birds has been instrumental in teaching me something, be it the importance of certain aspects of their lives, like training, or that persevering does pay off. But Mishka the cockatiel taught me nearly everything I know about birds. It was usually slow going. She was not the best teacher, true, but I was not always a fast-study, either.

I mentioned in my first post, here, that she – who is actually a he, by the way! – came to ...

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Here’s to that wonderful moment when a cage wheel snaps off and you can see another is about to follow the one that just rolled away…

I don’t know who started the trend of putting cheap castor wheels on the bottom of indoor bird cages but I think it’s safe to say that I have called that person every expletive I know (and a few I made up) on more than one occasion. I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in this. The wheels ...

Lori, one of my female Rainbow Lorikeets.

I’m finding this post hard to write. I messed up and got bit, a nasty evil little knick on my middle knuckle. I’m a bleeder. So think half a box of bandaids, which seems ridiculous for such a small cut. Ever tried to type with fingers that won’t bend due to bandaids? I’m giving autocorrect way to many chances to change the meaning of my sentences today.

I live with three lorikeets. Lori and Dori are two female ...

My Blue and Gold Macaw “Fid”, likes to drag grass up to his sleeping platform and roll in it.

Having seen photos in recent blog posts or on the BirdTricks.com Facebook page, a few people have been asking about the foliage in my cages? What exactly is it? What do the birds do with it? What do I do to prepare it before I give it to them?

Adult raven flying in to his nest (hidden in the thicker foliage) in order to feed his chicks.

There are few things that I enjoy more than watching wild birds go about their everyday business. Lately, I have been lucky enough to have a pair of ravens nest within metres of my bedroom window. Ok, sometimes we’ve had our disagreements (any wild bird can attack). Generally though, I’ve been very happy to have them around and have made a point of scaring local ...