Recognising the early symptoms of illness in a bird can be extraordinarily difficult. Often when we realise a bird is sick, the small window to do something about it has already passed. To those who have discovered a love of birds, it’s a frustrating and scary thought.

When I last took my elderly Galah/Rosebreasted Cockatoo Cocky Boy to the vet, an observing vet student sat in ...

Congo african grey

“My bird hates me!”

“My bird refuses to listen!”

“My bird is a hopeless case!”

We hear it all the time, but none of these statements are actually true.

It’s fair to say that everyone who gets a parrot has the hopes that theirs will be a playful and interactive member of the family. Many people are disappointed to find that isn’t the bird that they got.

In actuality, EVERY bird is the one you hoped for. Birds are very social by nature – in the wild they choose to live in communal ...

“I have adopted a male Eclectus parrot and I have a question about cuddling and petting. I have been very cautious about it so far because I have read that with their hair like feathers they don’t like to be pet like other birds. However, when he is relaxing with me he seems to want to cuddle and be pet, but I don’t want to upset him. I would like some advice about what he ...

Congo african grey and rosebrested cockatoo

The best way to learn is by example.

Birds, both wild and captive, use this method of learning often. Typically, having something to use as a template, which can be referred to often, teaches most effectively – especially when there is a lot of information to absorb.

For example, going to the vet when my bird was sick used to be a completely stressful experience for me. Before I started to have an understanding of avian illnesses, and long before I found an avian vet (before I ...

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It’s that fun time of year again (here in the Southern Hemisphere). You know the time I mean? The time when your visitors see your lorikeet doing a hormonal war dance on your ponytail and delightedly tell you how you should hold still because this is going to make the best YouTube video ever… Sometimes it’s hard to like Spring! It’s easy to see why people are desperately looking for ...