Senegal parrot loves music.

One of the things I often get asked by friends and family is, ‘Doesn’t your bird hate your musical instrument?’ It is, after all, very loud. And it takes my attention away from them.

As a musician, I find that my parrots have come through necessity to relate to my music. I had to find a way to turn my own practise time (which is of vital importance to me) into a fun time for them, too. Otherwise ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Umbrella cockatoos may be quiet sometimes, but they have the capability to produce an ear-splitting scream like a dying, wounded animal.

We can’t expect our parrots to be quiet all the time. Many species are naturally noisy, such as sun conures, amazons or cockatoos. While we can train our birds that excessive screaming isn’t okay, I feel that it’s important to allow them to let off steam sometimes.

Enter the scream session…

Try making time for a sanctioned (and planned!) ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Cockatiel.

Each of my birds has been instrumental in teaching me something, be it the importance of certain aspects of their lives, like training, or that persevering does pay off. But Mishka the cockatiel taught me nearly everything I know about birds. It was usually slow going. She was not the best teacher, true, but I was not always a fast-study, either.

I mentioned in my first post, here, that she – who is actually a he, by the way! – came to ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Wax warmer photo from amazon.com

This question comes up often and creates enough confusion that it merits a blog post.

When I am asked questions about the safety of a product, I get online and I research. I consider the opinions of all sources, both pro and con, and take what information they offer and further dissect it.

Because most of the products in question are on the market for human use, there is precious little out there that is directly relative to birds. This means looking hard at not only the ingredients ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Here’s to that wonderful moment when a cage wheel snaps off and you can see another is about to follow the one that just rolled away…

I don’t know who started the trend of putting cheap castor wheels on the bottom of indoor bird cages but I think it’s safe to say that I have called that person every expletive I know (and a few I made up) on more than one occasion. I’m pretty sure that I’m not alone in this. The wheels ...

My Blue and Gold Macaw “Fid”, likes to drag grass up to his sleeping platform and roll in it.

Having seen photos in recent blog posts or on the BirdTricks.com Facebook page, a few people have been asking about the foliage in my cages? What exactly is it? What do the birds do with it? What do I do to prepare it before I give it to them?