Jackie - a young female cockatiel with issues

Meet Jackie. A young, very friendly female cockatiel that is different from most companion birds because Jackie has a job. Jackie lives in an aged care facility (nursing home) where she provides “animal therapy” to the human residents who require assisted living care. As you can probably imagine, this little bird has become very important to the residents, as they are unable to have their own pets. Many don’t have regular visitors, so the companionship ...

Chronic egg laying in parrots

A few days ago, I noticed a strong odor coming from the bathroom. No human had recently been in there, so I felt the need to investigate the source. I found a fresh, poorly formed dropping that I could immediately identify as belonging to Theo , my goffins cockatoo, who is potty trained and will go to her cage or into the bathroom to relieve herself.

Theo’s appearance, weight and behavior were all normal, but knowing that there should never be any trace of odor from a ...

A bird laying an egg is the most natural thing in the world.  Still, we humans always seem so surprised when it happens.

Egg production is not the result of mating, as many astonished single bird owners have discovered.  It is the breeding stimuli in the environment that causes a hen to generate an egg.  If you have only one bird, or are certain that your male and female are nothing more than good friends, the egg will be unviable.  Without fertilization, an egg will not produce a chick.  ...

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Blue throated macaws

I had a call on my answering machine when I got home today:  “Hey, ummm, STANLEY just laid an egg. (laughter) One of us is really confused.”  That really made me laugh.  I clearly remember the day that my Henry laid a clutch of two.  Sometimes this is how we find the true gender of our parrots.  It’s that time of year.  The bird talk boards have egg laying posts all over them.  Someone I know just had to have what she called “the mother of all eggs” ...

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