Goffins cockatoo, Theo nesting in her pellet bowl. The bowl has been replaced with foraging toys for her pellets.

“Hormones” may be a bird owner’s least favorite word. It is hormones that bring on the breeding behaviors that cause peculiar routines, odd interests and sometimes intimidating aggression. The likelihood of being bitten increases dramatically and sometimes we react to their behavior in ways that results in problems that last long after the season has passed and the hormones are gone.

The funny thing about the reproductive hormones is that they are self-perpetuating. ...

Umbrella cockatoos may be quiet sometimes, but they have the capability to produce an ear-splitting scream like a dying, wounded animal.

We can’t expect our parrots to be quiet all the time. Many species are naturally noisy, such as sun conures, amazons or cockatoos. While we can train our birds that excessive screaming isn’t okay, I feel that it’s important to allow them to let off steam sometimes.

Enter the scream session…

Try making time for a sanctioned (and planned!) ...

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Blue and gold macaws

This summer I had the opportunity to meet Chris and Misty, a couple that Dave Womach worked with on a behavior consultation involving their moluccan cockatoo. They were at the Womach’s house graciously offering their time to disassemble some of the indoor cages for the Womach’s final move to Idaho.

In talking to them, I realized that Dave had managed to drive home a really important message during the consult. Chris said to me that he was relieved to find that the source of the problem was him ...

Cockatiel.

Each of my birds has been instrumental in teaching me something, be it the importance of certain aspects of their lives, like training, or that persevering does pay off. But Mishka the cockatiel taught me nearly everything I know about birds. It was usually slow going. She was not the best teacher, true, but I was not always a fast-study, either.

I mentioned in my first post, here, that she – who is actually a he, by the way! – came to ...

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Can dogs, cats and birds live together?

Photos and videos of birds with other pets tend to start wars on social media. There are many people that swear their dogs and/or cats are best friends with their birds but there are just as many tragic stories where those friendships end in disaster. It’s a tough topic.

There are two main reasons to be concerned about letting your birds interact with your dogs and cats. The first and most obvious is the fact that you’re trying ...

Wax warmer photo from amazon.com

This question comes up often and creates enough confusion that it merits a blog post.

When I am asked questions about the safety of a product, I get online and I research. I consider the opinions of all sources, both pro and con, and take what information they offer and further dissect it.

Because most of the products in question are on the market for human use, there is precious little out there that is directly relative to birds. This means looking hard at not only the ingredients ...

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