Umbrella Cockatoo

Of the five parrots I currently have, I have only experienced travel with two: the cockatiels.  Linus, my umbrella cockatoo,  has had some fairly extensive travel experience from when he lived with Dave and Jamie.  I have the expectation that Libby, my quaker, will do just fine.  She is one of those rare birds that just rolls through life, never letting too much get in the way of her fun.  The cockatiels, though confident enough to handle the changes, are old. Theo, my goffins cockatoo, is a concern.  She ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Rose Breasted Cockatoo

Many parrots are neophobic, meaning that they fear new things.  In fact, maybe most parrots instinctively fear new things.  Since parrots are undomesticated, and bring many of their natural behaviors into our homes, they often display alarm towards things that are unfamiliar to them.  This makes sense from a practical standpoint when you consider that they have to be on high alert in the wild to guard against predators.  A watchful bird is a smart bird, and a safe bird.  It’s the level of fearfulness that takes this ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Rose Breasted Cockatoo

I was looking through you tube videos and came across the title Funny Biting Parrot.  I thought to myself: what can possibly be funny about a biting parrot? and I watched the video.  I did find it funny.

When you watch the video, there are a few clues that tell you this is not aggression, but a game between parrot and owner.  First, the owner is encouraging the bird  and  is clearly unafraid of a serious bite.  Secondly, there is no aggressive body language in the bird – just ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Rose Breasted Cockatoo and African Grey

While Jamie and Dave are freeflying with their students in Moab, Utah, I am packing up my apartment so I can hitch a ride to Orlando with them on their way back.  They are going to be on the road for two years starting in December, and I am going to be staying at their house while they’re gone.  This is going to be the start of some big changes for me and the flock.

For the past five years, following my divorce, I have ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Congo African Grey Parrot

I was listening to the Ask The Bird Experts weekly webcast the other night.  Liz Wilson was speaking about how little we actually know about parrots.  After so much research has been done about parrots in the wild, there are very few questions that can be answered with absolute certainty.

I have complained in past posts about the fact that there isn’t a formulated diet that can duplicate a parrot’s natural one. This is because we really don’t know what they eat.  A field researcher can spend ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Mitred Conure

I took my umbrella cockatoo, Linus, to the vet last week.  His poops were runny and just generally not right.  I have to watch him closely because he contracted AGY (avian gastric yeast) last year, and it took almost a year to get rid of it.  It started out with the same symptoms: runny poops and a bad attitude.  I didn’t want to take any chances, so I had them run the tests, which all came back negative. Problem was, his poops still weren’t quite what they ...

Read the rest or post a comment »