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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Blue throated macaws

This question seems to be coming up a lot recently on the birdtricks facebook page and other places I visit regularly. I appreciate that people have the good sense to ask, but it’s a very difficult question to answer without knowing the person asking it, without getting a sense of the person or what their lifestyle is. I normally spend more effort trying to talk people out of getting birds than recommending a species to them.

Owning a bird takes a lot of time and work:
Are ...

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Congo African Grey Parrot

Q:  Is it safe to give my bird meat? -Joann, Athens, GA

A: Meat is not part of the natural diet of a parrot.  However, when offered a piece of chicken, many parrots will accept.  Offer them a cookie, they will do the same.  I think we all went to school with a kid that ate the paste that glued pieces of construction paper together.  I doubt that it was ever on the dinner menu at his house.  Just because a parrot (or kid) eats something, ...

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Rose Breasted Cockatoo

I have mentioned in past posts how useful it is to have a faithfully kept journal to refer back to in times when you feel at a loss about a particular behavior your parrot is exhibiting.   Spring is coming, and the hormones will soon be raging.  A parrot’s behavior can be so perplexing during this time that I have often referred to last year’s journal to see what craziness was present, as well as refreshing my memory about changes in eating an sleeping patterns.  This is a great ...

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Rose Breasted Cockatoos

To me, the loss of a pet is like the loss of a family member.  It takes a long time to fill the void they leave behind.  I lost my aged cat just shortly before I moved here to Orlando.  He was a snuggly little thing and my constant companion.  My ex-husband used to tell me that I preferred cuddling with my cat at night to him.  He was correct.  My cat never hogged the covers or elbowed me in the face by accident in the middle of ...

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Camelot Macaw

Your parrot’s feathers speak to its overall health.  A healthy parrot will have soft, vibrant and well-formed feathers.  Flaws in the feathering, such as discoloration are often a sign of poor diet or the lack of sunlight, but can also be attributed to illness and the subsequent use of antobiotics.   It can also signal serious organ problems or PBFD.  If you have noticed a change in your parrots feathering, you should seek the attention of an avian certified vet to rule out any significant health issues.

A good, varied ...

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