How do we tell the difference between spoiling a pet, and giving a good quality of life?

There are two main components for a captive bird’s quality of life:

1. The basics: Food, water, a decently-sized cage, fresh toys, suitable perches, and a clean, safe environment
2. Unconditional love: Your understanding, patience, dedication, and empathy

If you’re wondering whether a bird is spoiled, ask if what he has or is being given is really necessary in his life?

Providing a parrot the basics isn’t so basic at all in the eyes of many non-bird people. ...

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Celestial Parrotlet in his emergency travel cage.

I’m one of those people who doesn’t take much time away from my flock unless I can help it. If they can go with me, they do. If not, I tend not to go at all. At one point in my life, I had even said that I would never travel, would never take a holiday – but when you have birds, ‘would never’ are dangerous words. Keeping ...

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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 ...

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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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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?

Recent visitors to my house – separated from my flock by a glass wall.

Well it hasn’t been quiet at my house lately because we’ve had some visitors staying with us while their human left the country. Three extra birds don’t sound like much in theory but noise wise – it adds up.