A while back, a friend and I were talking about some of the behavioral oddities of my umbrella cockatoo, Linus. I call them Linusisms. I was explaining to her that he has this thing about me sitting on the floor. He doesn’t like it. If he is out of his cage when I’m on the floor, he will always make his way over to me, usually thinking evil thoughts. She asked me how I handled this, and I told her...

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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Blue and Gold Macaws

Q:  I have a 2 year old blue and gold macaw that is very sweet and has never bitten me.  I heard recently that at some point my bird will bite me.  Is this true?

-Mary, Springfield, IL

A:  This is a great question and an important topic for new bird owners.  Unfortunately, the answer to your question is most likely ‘yes”.  Parrots may bite for a number of different reasons ranging from fright to fear to aggression, with a host of different possibilities in between.  What is more ...

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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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Establishing boundaries for your young parrot, one that has yet to reach sexual maturity, is an important first step in laying the groundwork for a happy and healthy co-existence between parrots and people. By setting and adhering to rules consistently, you are ensuring that your older parrot (who otherwise might have become more assertive of his wants) will cooperate with your requests in pleasant and acceptable ways.

Rescues are packed to the brim with unwanted parrots. Many of them have been determined to be a “problem” later in life when owners...