Blue throated macaw

PDD is a disease that causes a failure in the parrot’s digestive system. While it is also called “Macaw Wasting Syndrome”, it is absolutely not exclusive to the macaw.  In fact, it has been seen in many species of our companion birds and their wild counterparts.

So that you can better understand the impact of this disease, first let me describe the parrot’s digestive system:  The bird breaks down food with its beak and passes it down to the crop.  The crop slowly delivers food to a two ...

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Goffin Cockatoo

I really don’t like the word “desensitizing”, it sounds so…insensitive. It is an appropriate term, however, and sometimes necessary. If you’ve read some of my recent posts, you know that Theo, my goffins cockatoo,  is often overwhelmed by new things, sometimes by old things, and that I have been concerned about how she would handle the changes in Florida.  In no particular order, these are some of the bigger concerns I had and how she actually responded to them:

1) the chaos of packing up the house – didn’t ...

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Galah, Goffin Cockatoo, Quaker Parrot

The move went fairly…smoothly.  There was a last minute change in the date we were to leave which created a bit of chaos for us all, and by us all I mean me.  The six days I thought I had left to finish my packing was shortened to two.  I managed to get most of it done, but I rushed through so much of it that I don’t remember which box contains what.

When they first arrived at my place with the ...

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Umbrella Cockatoo

Of the five parrots I currently have, I have only experienced travel with two: the cockatiels.  Linus, my umbrella cockatoo,  has had some fairly extensive travel experience from when he lived with Dave and Jamie.  I have the expectation that Libby, my quaker, will do just fine.  She is one of those rare birds that just rolls through life, never letting too much get in the way of her fun.  The cockatiels, though confident enough to handle the changes, are old. Theo, my goffins cockatoo, is a concern.  She ...

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Rose Breasted Cockatoo

Many parrots are neophobic, meaning that they fear new things.  In fact, maybe most parrots instinctively fear new things.  Since parrots are undomesticated, and bring many of their natural behaviors into our homes, they often display alarm towards things that are unfamiliar to them.  This makes sense from a practical standpoint when you consider that they have to be on high alert in the wild to guard against predators.  A watchful bird is a smart bird, and a safe bird.  It’s the level of fearfulness that takes this ...

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Rose Breasted Cockatoo

I was looking through you tube videos and came across the title Funny Biting Parrot.  I thought to myself: what can possibly be funny about a biting parrot? and I watched the video.  I did find it funny.

When you watch the video, there are a few clues that tell you this is not aggression, but a game between parrot and owner.  First, the owner is encouraging the bird  and  is clearly unafraid of a serious bite.  Secondly, there is no aggressive body language in the bird – just ...

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