“Oh wow, you’re just soooooo fat,” my Eclectus Pepi has started saying to people in a very despairing voice. My voice. He picks his audience too. I have one relative who is particularly concerned with her appearance so naturally she is his favourite target. As he uses my voice – I’m the one that gets the blame for being rude. How dare I teach my bird to say that to her???

 

Q: I am at home sick with a cold. Can my bird catch it?

— Justine, V., Fairfax, VA

A: A veterinarian once told me that a client brought her amazon in with a “terrible cold”. It was coughing, sneezing and sniffling with a “runny nose”. The doctor dutifully examined the bird, feeling pretty confident about the outcome.

When he was finished checking the bird, the vet asked her client if she, herself, had recently been sick. She replied that she’d had a cold and that she felt ...

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Ever heard the saying that if something seems too good to be true then it probably is? I think that’s what was bugging me about my Blue & Gold Macaw, Fid. I found myself with this beautifully good-natured creature that just seemed so perfect. I kept waiting for bad health news or for something to go wrong.

I put Fid through every screening test that my vet could think of; just to ...

 

 

A bird’s beak serves more purpose that just about any other part of its outer anatomy. Aside from its obvious function during meals, it is used for climbing and it acts as a “hand” as it explores its world. It can snap a tree branch in half and then gently feed a chick in the nest. A bird would surely struggle without its beak.

Like our nails, a beak is made of keratin. And like our nails, beak tissue is continually growing. Normally, if a bird is on a good diet, a healthy beak will take care of itself. As ...

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There have been a few questions on the BirdTricks Facebook wall lately, asking about health record keeping. The question is basically what information is useful? In terms of written records, the answer is: it helps to keep a notebook where you record the date, your bird’s weight (in grams) and note any obvious behavioural changes.

I thought I’d share a couple of extracts of another type of record that I ...