Camelot macaw

Birds eat…and they poop…and then they poop some more. A cockatiel might relieve himself every 15-30 minutes – that’s a lot of relief. Have you ever wondered about the journey your bird’s food takes before it becomes an embarrassing stain on your shoulder?

Let’s go through each step…

The Beak and Esophagus:

It all begins in the parrot’s mouth. The tongue and the inside of the beak are dry – a fact which your fingers may have discovered in ...

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The domestication of animals is something that humans have done through breeding for millennia to manipulate animals with the intention of creating ones that are used for service or companionship, that are suited to be in human society and are aesthetically pleasing.

Domestication is what we have done with dogs, which started out as wolves. Humans bred dogs together which both possessed qualities they wanted to carry on – from personality traits to size to coloring and markings. It ...

My Senegal Parrot helping my garden

Gardening for parrots is not the nightmare you might imagine, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t have a green thumb! Now that spring is here, it is the perfect time to start planting for you and your flock — or to begin planning for the summer. Start small. Anyone with a garden or little patch of grass can grow their own produce, and doing so is a great way to save money. Feeding your flock is, after ...

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Q: Should I peel my bird’s fruit and vegetables?

-Christopher B., Jackson, MS

 A: Many rinds or skins taste bitter to humans and it is our habit to remove them. It seems right to prepare our parrot’s foods in much the same way as we prepare our own. However, we are short changing them when we do. Not only do parrots like a lot of bitter tasting things, but some of the best nutrients in produce are found in the parts we typically throw away or avoid eating.

• Kiwi – the fuzzy outer skin of the kiwi ...

   

The distinctive brightness of a well-fed Rainbow Lorikeet is unmistakable.

My flock contains a few parrots that require a specialised diet, which makes mealtimes a little more challenging at my place. This is particularly true for my lorikeets.

Lorikeets and lories are known for their need for a specialised wet diet. In the wild they largely feed on pollen, nectar and wild fruits. Some species of lorikeet (such as the Rainbow Lorikeet) have a tongue that is adapted to enable them to more ...

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