Senegal parrot loves music.

One of the things I often get asked by friends and family is, ‘Doesn’t your bird hate your musical instrument?’ It is, after all, very loud. And it takes my attention away from them.

As a musician, I find that my parrots have come through necessity to relate to my music. I had to find a way to turn my own practise time (which is of vital importance to me) into a fun time for them, too. Otherwise ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Cockatiel.

It is very difficult to write, but as some of you may have read in a previous post, our cockatiel passed away on New Year’s Eve. She dive-bombed a closing door. There was no party, no hubbub, nor anything out of the ordinary. Mishka the cockatiel simply made a bad decision.

It has been a terrible shock to everyone – to me 3,600 miles away and not sure how to process this, and to my partner, who has been left with the aftershock of losing ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

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!) ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

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 ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Green-winged macaw feathers.

My flock started off rather by accident. Despite knowing what a bad idea it was, I ended up going into a pet shop near my university one day before a lesson. I saw two adorable wee canaries and had to have them. My boyfriend, Oliver, reluctantly agreed. How much trouble could two fluffy songbirds bring?

Quite a lot, as it turns out – though indirectly! It was through my belated in-depth research on canaries that I discovered parrots.

I knew right away ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Male Red Wattlebird with a beak full of insects. Notoriously territorial this one just swooped my pet dog and is about to get chased off by a raven.

It’s early spring in Australia. Deciduous trees are starting to turn green again, cherry trees are starting to blossom and cyclists are starting to look like they belong on a reality television program called “Aliens are here among us”. Or at least the smart cyclists do, the not-so-smart ones will be learning the hard way in ...