Toco Toucans

I live in Austin, TX.  Since the onset of June, the temperatures have been over 100 degrees nearly continuously.  Three quarters of the year here is spent in A/C, and less than 1/4 of the year requires the use of heating.  My favorite times are those rare days when neither the heat nor the A/C is necessary, the windows are open, and the fresh air is blowing in on a balmy breeze.  If I am ever going to play hooky from work, it will be on one of these ...

Budgies

Multiple Bird Syndrome (MBS).  If this were an actual term, wikipedia would define it as:  A deep psychological yearning to get just one more, and just one more  after that.  This condition is generally brought on by overexposure to cute pictures and stories about your friends multiple birds.  The only known cure is the threat of divorce by your spouse or intervention by the Dept of Health.

MBS is a term used by many on the bird talk boards.  I suffer terribly from it.  Whenever anyone posts a picture of their ...

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Blue throated macaw, Camelot macaws

Wild birds learn everything that isn’t hard-wired into them from their parents. Everything from what is safe to eat to how to bathe to what to be afraid of is learned by watching.

Many of our companion parrots have been captive bred and have not had the advantage of having a feathered mom or dad teaching them the ins and outs of being a bird.  It makes perfect sense that our parrots learn from one another.

When I first got Theo (goffins cockatoo), she was sedentary.  She didn’t ...

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Hyacinth Macaw & Camelot macaw

The very best advice anyone is going to give you is to know your bird and understand its body language. Know what calms them, know what excites them, know what motivates them.  Know what tone of voice they respond best to, and know which actions (or inactions) indicate aggression.  Know their favorite foods.

Know when they’re tired or that they are over stimulated from too much play.  This knowledge is the very best tool in helping you to control their behaviors, assessing their health and preparing their ...

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Blue Fronted Amazon Parrot

If you have parrots and potted plants in your house, you have probably watched in awe at the speed with which your feathered backhoe can empty the contents of the plant pot onto your carpet.  You likely have a ground foraging species like the cockatoo, cockatiel, budgie or african grey to name a few.  Digging is a natural behavior for a ground forager and if he’s found his way into your secret garden, you will  have to pretty clever in your attempts to keep him ...

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