Rose Breasted Cockatoo

Your best chance at a healthy and successful diet for your parrot is in the variety of foods you put in her bowl. By rotating the different foods available in the different food groups such as vegetables, fruits and grains, you increase the chances of hitting upon just the right combination, at the right time, for your individual bird.
In the wild, some birds will dine on the same food source for weeks until it is used up, or gone out of season. They then move on to ...

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Photo by www. picturesofcats.org

Bird lovers tend to be animal lovers in general, so it makes sense that we would have other pets.  However, dogs and cats, as well as other animals, can pose a great threat to your parrot.
Many or my pets have grown up in the company of birds. In several cases, the birds were there first and the cats entered a household that was already geared towards birds.  This helped to set the stage for what was expected of my cats, but in no way alleviated any dangers.  A cat is ...

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Cockatoos are weird. I’m sorry, but they are. It is this fact that makes them such a challenge, so interesting and my favorite species of bird. I understand what mine like and dislike. I know to avoid what makes them nervous or over-excited. I get it that they are high strung sometimes and that their moods can turn on a dime. One minute I can be a valued flock member; the next I’m at the top of their ten most wanted list.

Over the years I have tried to compile a mental list of ...

Blue throated macaw

Take a good look at your parrot. You will notice he has wings. You will see that they, and most of the rest of his body, is covered with feathers of varying length and size. If you were to look inside his body, you would find hollow bones and a unique respiratory system and muscular structure.  All of these things contribute to a single outstanding ability: FLIGHT!
Birds are meant to fly, and I encourage you to let them do that. Flight is what differentiates birds ...

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Umbrella Cockatoo, Goffin Cockatoo

We wear many hats as bird owners: we’re cooks, toy makers, housekeepers and behavioral analysts.  I once read: “Yur day job iz how ya ern muney, yur reel job iz to spend it on yur handsum burd”  by author Mango McCaw. If your parrot had to go out and find work (oh, the indignity!), what would he do?
I think this is what best suits my birds:

Goffin Cockatoo

Theo, goffins cockatoo, 24
I used to think of Theo ...

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Blue and gold macaw, Scarlet macaws

There are any number of things wafting through the air in a home where a bird lives.  Dust, dander, seed hulls and even airborne particles of dried poop occupy more than just the the immediate air space. It settles on and into everything creating the need for a higher standard of hygiene. Floor or ceiling fans and open windows seem to aggravate the problem more than solve it as it blows the settled dust back into the air.  Some of the better home ...

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