Military macaw

Birds are very messy creatures who manage to track their meals throughout every square inch of their cage. Many can throw their food with the distance and accuracy that would qualify them for a Cy Young award. That means that we find ourselves cleaning A LOT, and sometimes in strange places.

Hopefully, everyone understands the importance of a clean environment for their bird. Where there is leftover food and fecal matter, there is bacteria and yeast which can inundate a bird and make him very ill. Cleaning thoroughly, and often, ...

Galah/Rosebreasted Cockatoo eating Eucalyptus Flowers

At the start of each year, I tend to reflect on the past. This year I’m asking the question: If you could go back in time to when you got your first bird, what is the one thing that you would tell yourself or wish that you’d known?

I used to think the answer to that would be “Birds don’t just eat seed” because I look back on the birds I had as a ...

There has been a video circulating for a couple of years that depicts a parrot on a counter top feeding long strands of pasta to a large dog waiting below. It is an adorable video of an interaction between two species that are not naturally seen together. While it is touching and sweet, I cringe every time I see it.

There are two parts to my discomfort. First, there is the idea of a prey animal and a predator interacting. I can’t tell you how many stories I have ...

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Every now and again, people write to me complaining that they have seen a photo of me with a bird on my shoulder. People tell me that I shouldn’t allow this. I’ve also had some negative feedback about perch location in some of my aviaries. Some of my perches are above my eye level. I am told that this is a terrible idea and very dangerous.

Now you’d think high perches and having a bird on your shoulder are completely different topics? I’m grouping them together because the ...

Camelot macaws

Q: I make a lot of toys for Puffin, my african grey, by myself. Her favorite ones are the hanging toys that I string up with rope, but now she bites through the rope and they end up on the bottom of the cage and get “messy”, if you know what I mean. I want to use chain so she can’t bite her toys down but I don’t what metal is safe to use. What do you suggest?

Ashley G, Scranton, OH

 A: This is a great question because while ...

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