In order to best utilize this research, you must understand that the birds we have in our living rooms are not domesticated. They are wild animals  – tamed, but still wild. The process of ...

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The cold weather here in the northern hemisphere will soon be upon us. This means that time spent in the aviaries and trips outdoors with the family will be limited for our birds. This also means that they will be getting less of the healthy benefits derived from...

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Photo by Dave
Location: Centralia, WA
On my back: Blue throated macaw “Jinx”

I’ve personally worked with a lot of adopted parrots, and they’ve always had extreme issues from an insane amount of aggression to extreme amounts of fear, to horrible diets, large amounts of weight loss to being obese, to hating women or men specifically or plucking themselves, among tons of other issues popular among captive parrots given up for adoption.

Because I had never worked with an adopted parrot that was just nice, with no issues, I assumed they literally did ...

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Photo by Dave
Location: Nampa,ID
Playing and learning: Baby Toco Toucan “Rocko”

There are tons of reasons for playing with your bird with things such as towels, blankets and clothing. The biggest reason to do so is so that you can towel your bird to hold it still in the event of an emergency. The other reason is so that your bird is not fearful of being covered up by a blanket or towel whether it happens on accident or happens on another account.

While our birds were babies, ...

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Photo by Dave
Location: Zazu’s House Parrot Sanctuary
Pictured: Volunteer with blue and gold macaw and Amazon parrots

I love parrot rescues that make you volunteer first so you know exactly what it will be like to have your own parrot. That’s right – no surprises. You’ll be working it all out ahead of time, no excuses either! Though some parrots may act totally different once you get them home for the first time but that’s pretty normal.

Volunteering at a local parrot ...

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The average parrot spends the majority of his time in his cage while his humans are at work or away from home. To keep our birds mentally stimulated and physically healthy we must provide an environment that offers entertainment and promotes activity.This means toys, toys and more toys.

The toys we put in our bird’s cages have multiple functions. They are there not only to entertain, but to teach new activities and to satisfy innate urges, such as chewing. I can always get a sense of the mental health of ...

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