Cuddling Your Bird: The Pros and Cons

Ché and Esteban, Hahn's Macaws, photo by Ben Coulson

I’m guessing the majority of you probably enjoy a cuddle with your parrot now and then, whether it’s a big hug right to your chest or your face, or perhaps just offering them a nice snuggly head scratch. Whilst ‘snuggle time’ can be beneficial to both you and your bird, there are some pros and cons to be aware of.

Because the parrots I work with at the Tropical Butterfly ...

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The Lorikeet Diet


Rainbow Lorikeet eating Eucalyptus flowers.

 

People who work with lorikeets tend to regularly complain about their bird’s poo. It’s a runny, sticky, noxious substance, that I half-jokingly argue has the corrosive power to melt concrete. If that’s not bad enough – lorikeets happily shoot it on a 45-degree angle. None of this business of a nice clean drop straight through a grille at the base of a cage! Lorikeets are happiest if they can “paint” nearby walls.

 

That’s an ...

 

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The Threat of Wild Birds


Wild Rose-breasted cockatoos

As someone who genuinely loves birds, I’d have to say one of the best parts of living in Australia is being able to see the wild birds on a daily basis. I’m very lucky because there are a lot of different types of wild parrots that live in the area surrounding my house. That said though, as someone who has domestic parrots – wild birds are a serious problem for me.

 

Working in wildlife rescue, I attend ...

 

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Talking Parrots Can’t Keep Your Secrets


Pepi, he's all innocence in the shower!

 

You can’t have secrets when you have parrots. Even when you think they can’t hear you or aren’t listening, you have to be careful about what you say. I’ve learned this the hard way more than once.
I was a bridesmaid at a wedding about a year ago. The bride and groom had been living together for a while, so it was one of those situations where they didn’t need household themed ...

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Training a Green Winged Macaw to Hang Upside Down

When I began presenting the parrot shows, I was lucky that they had already been trained lots of behaviours and tricks – for example, I cannot take credit for teaching Ruby (7 year old Green-winged Macaw) how to ride a bike; all I had to learn was how to pick her up and put her on the bike, and how to turn the bike around with her sat on it!

Ruby, Green-winged Macaw, riding her ...

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Why Having Perches at Different Angles is a Good Idea For Pet Parrots


Wild Corellas settling for the evening

I just don’t do hills. I don’t like it when treadmills pretend you’re going up one, I don’t like them when I’m cycling, I avoid them when walking my dog and I’ve even been known to throw a tantrum when (thanks to a slight hill), my feet wound up about 3 cm higher than my head when sleeping in a tent. While 3 cm definitely lands me squarely in the category ...

 

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