When I wrote a blog post on cleaning tips, I mentioned the incredible staining ability of a red Dragonfruit. A few people commented wanting to know what a Dragonfruit was. I could relate to those questions as I could remember a time when I had no idea either. The questions have inspired me to share some of the weirder things that end up in my birds’ food bowls.

My favourite vegetable shopping experience was when a cash register ...

Fid, my Blue and Gold Macaw

Have you ever sat back and thought that you had everything under control and that you’re doing pretty well with your birds? Thought that your flock is happily occupied, playing with foraging toys, enjoying their amazing diet while rattling off their extensive vocabularies at each other? Thought that while they were busy in their respective aviaries that it was safe to leave them to it and go out for ...

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Hi, my name is Chrissann Nickel, also known as “The Toucan Lady” from Adventures in Toucanland. I’ve been a big Bird Tricks fan for about a year now, shortly after I adopted my three adult Toco toucans – Paco, Paz, and Pepe (otherwise known as the “Three-Cans”) in June 2011.

I am really excited about this new blog series we are beginning, sharing the successes of others who have overcome behavioral problems using the Bird Tricks training program. I ...

Because of its construction, this swing from Birdtricks.com will last forever and help keep your parrot safe in the cage.

Earlier this summer, within roughly a 10 day period, there were 3 separate incidents posted on our Facebook page that described parrots becoming entangled in their toys. I heard of another incident of entanglement from a different source just last week.

In two of the four cases, the neck was caught in a toy part, posing a serious strangulation threat. Fortunately, the owners of all of the birds were home at ...

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What is a foraging toy?

To forage means to rummage or root around for food, the activity at which a wild parrot spends the largest part of his day. And a toy, in a parrot’s world, is pretty much anything from which it gains benefit. Therefore, by definition, a foraging toy can be anything the enables a search for food, even another food. We can use foods as foraging toys.

As expected, the very best opportunities for food foraging are provided by nature itself. Nuts and peas in the pod are perfect examples of foods that are built into their own foraging ...