Blue Fronted Amazon Parrot

While I was going through some old parrot related paperwork today I found this piece. I think that, along with a guide to the proper care of birds this piece should be given to every new owner:

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF PARROT OWNERSHIP

by Jane Hallander, reprinted with the permission of Greyhaven Exotic Bird Sanctuary

1. My life is likely to last 20 or more years. Any separation from you will be painful to me. Remember that before you take me home.

2. Give me time ...

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Have you ever wondered how your parrot’s sense of smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing compare to your own?

Sight:

A bird’s eyesight is the most important of its senses to its survival.  Our bird’s vision, while not as acute as that of raptors, is vastly superior to our own and is adapted to the survival needs of parrots.

Predatory birds, such as the eagle, the owl or the hawk, have wider skulls allowing for forward facing placement of their eyes.  This positioning gives them heightened depth perception which allows them to judge the distance and speed ...

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Congo African Grey Parrot

1. Dirty Food:

The expression “you are what you eat” is so true.  Since we are in charge of our parrot’s food selection, we have to make sure that it is not only the best quality we can offer, but that it is safely edible.  Thoroughly wash all fresh foods. Even organically grown produce use pesticides, although not chemical ones.

Many of us work full time jobs and are in a rush to get out the door in the morning.  It’s convenient to feed the birds and go.  ...

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Originally Dave and I thought we would be able to free fly our birds all around the country on this tour. But we’ve started the tour in December and now that we’re into February it’s just plain cold. It was 9 degrees out here in Shelbyville, TN the other night and so flying outside just isn’t a very smart idea.

Instead, we have been free flying inside! We have finally caught onto our schedule enough to be able to ...

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Congo African Grey Parrot

There are countless sources of information about parrots online.  There are online forums and web pages that are dedicated solely to the specific bird you are looking for.  There are sites for conures, macaws,  cockatoos, eclectus, you name it.  Within each group you can learn the habits of the individual species.

The behavior differences between a macaw and a cockatoo are enormous, but even within a family of birds, different species behave differently.  For instance, the goffins cockatoo species is entirely different from the umbrella cockatoo.  Then when ...

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Camelot Macaw

I wrote an article a while back on the devastating parrot disease PDD (Proventricular Dilation Disease).  Since that time there have been great strides made in the testing process for this disease and some new discoveries about PDD in the environment.  This is great news for parrots owners, since testing for the disease in the past has been very invasive, dangerous, and costly.  More recently, researchers developed a test that didn’t require a biopsy of the crop, but these test result were proving to be unreliable.  This is ...

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