Military macaw

I have been avoiding writing this post for a long time. But someone recently contacted me and confirmed that this post needs to be written.

I have for years encouraged people to work out their problems with their birds before giving them up. I stand by that. If you have a behavioral problem with your bird, Birdtricks.com has every tool you need to fix it. Screaming, biting and aggression are solvable problems. In fact, of all of the birds I have ever kept, known or known of, there is ...

Congo african grey

If you follow this blog, you have often heard me explain how being a prey animal affects our companion birds. It is one of the most relevant aspects to consider when trying to understand parrot behavior.

Consider, for a minute, if evolution had turned out differently on our planet and we were lower in the food chain. If you had the sense that you were always being hunted, watched and stalked, how would it affect your daily behavior? Wouldn’t your eyes be everywhere? Wouldn’t things out of the ordinary ...

Recent visitors to my house – separated from my flock by a glass wall.

Well it hasn’t been quiet at my house lately because we’ve had some visitors staying with us while their human left the country. Three extra birds don’t sound like much in theory but noise wise – it adds up.

Earlier in the week I made an appointment with Linus (my umbrella cockatoo) for a nail trim. Some of his nails were a bit long and one was painfully sharp. I hunted for my favorite nail trimming clippers and couldn’t find them, so I put off the trim until they could be located.

I had bought these clippers perhaps as many as 12 or 13 years ago. I brought them home and tested them out on my dog and loved the handling so much that I returned to the store the next day to purchase ...

My Blue and Gold Macaw, Fid.

I just had my hair dyed yesterday. I got rid of all of my grey roots. I had finally found a colour that I liked and my hair was still at that stage where it looked like I’d been to a human hairdresser rather than to a lorikeet frizzathon. I had chocolate in the house and no one needed me to do anything. I had no assignments due and I had at least 10 minutes to myself. Only ...

Hyacinth macaw

If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend this exercise: go into the woods or someplace where you can’t be heard (this is to keep you from being arrested) and scream at the top of your lung for 30 seconds. Just 30 seconds. You will find yourself needing a nap afterwards. It is a lot of work.

There are a million different reasons why a bird would choose to scream. But the one thing all screams have in common is that, somehow, it is beneficial to the bird. If ...