Camelot macaws and blue throated macaw

One of the most common questions we receive at BirdTricks is how to get the family parrot to be a family parrot and not just Mom’s bird, or little Joey’s bird. It is frustrating and disappointing to have a bird in the house that doesn’t want to be loved by you. It hurts and it turns what should be a wonderful experience sour in the eyes of those rejected.
In most homes facing this problem, the bird’s behavior is reinforced on a daily basis. ...

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Linus, umbrella cockatoo

Parrots, like people, can become complacent and fall into routines. They can develop habits that are difficult to break as they get comfortable with the status quo. Such was the case with Linus, my umbrella cockatoo.
Linus has been away since last October. He has been staying with a trusted friend, Anna, in New Mexico, and is due to return TODAY!! I am excited beyond words to have my boy back with me – there has truly been a hole in my heart since he ...

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I just don’t do hills. I don’t like it when treadmills pretend you’re going up one, I don’t like them when I’m cycling, I avoid them when walking my dog and I’ve even been known to throw a tantrum when (thanks to a slight hill), my feet wound up about 3 cm higher than my head when sleeping in a tent. While 3 cm definitely lands me squarely in the category ...

Bandit and Bondi, rosebreasted cockatoos

When you go to the BirdTricks Facebook page you see a whole lotta cute going on! Everyone posts adorable pictures of their birds and shares stories of their antics and accomplishments. It’s hard to not have a big grin on your face as you roam from post to post.

Then there’s BirdTrick’s YouTube where the Womach’s upload their videos of their own birds. Two big favorites are Bandit and Bondi, their rosebrested cockatoos, or galahs, as they are called in some parts of the ...

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Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Orlando, FL
Foraging for a nutriberry: Galah “Bandit”

Foraging seems like a wild and time consuming idea for a lot of people, but it’s not and it is WORTH IT for your bird to build confidence. I can’t even explain how important it is for your bird not to be sitting around all day bored out of its mind. Boredom causes a huge percent of the behavior problems out there in birds today such as plucking, aggression and biting, etc…

So let’s ...

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Camelot macaw

As I was driving the other day, I was thinking about the huge contribution that Irene Pepperberg and the amazing Alex made to our knowledge of avian cognition. Without she and Alex, and our acceptance of her findings, I wonder if the avian community would be using terms like “enrichment” today.
Life was uncertain for Dr. Pepperberg. She became outcast among her peers. Grants to fund her work were hard to come by and it must have seemed to her that her career was always on the verge of ...

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