Congo african grey

“My bird hates me!”

“My bird refuses to listen!”

“My bird is a hopeless case!”

We hear it all the time, but none of these statements are actually true.

It’s fair to say that everyone who gets a parrot has the hopes that theirs will be a playful and interactive member of the family. Many people are disappointed to find that isn’t the bird that they got.

In actuality, EVERY bird is the one you hoped for. Birds are very social by nature – in the wild they choose to live in communal ...

Congo african grey and rosebrested cockatoo

The best way to learn is by example.

Birds, both wild and captive, use this method of learning often. Typically, having something to use as a template, which can be referred to often, teaches most effectively – especially when there is a lot of information to absorb.

For example, going to the vet when my bird was sick used to be a completely stressful experience for me. Before I started to have an understanding of avian illnesses, and long before I found an avian vet (before I ...

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Timneh african grey

A couple of years ago, someone located here in the US asked me a great question: he wanted to know if his eclectus, a bird native to Australia, would display hormonal behaviors during the local spring season or by the one in its native land.

For those unaware, the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres of our planet oppose each other. When it is summer in the north, it is winter in the south. Likewise with spring and fall. Spring actually occurs twice on our planet each ...

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When you decide to spend your life enslaved to a pet bird, you’re not doing it because you like their ‘chewed-on style’ decorating help. Usually it has something to do with you actually liking birds. Not surprisingly, bird people have a tendency to not just welcome wild birds into their garden, but to actively encourage them to show up.
Which brings me to the controversial topic of feeding wild birds. You might think it isn’t ...

Hi, my name is Chrissann Nickel, also known as “The Toucan Lady” from Adventures in Toucanland. I’ve been a big Bird Tricks fan for about a year now, shortly after I adopted my three adult Toco toucans – Paco, Paz, and Pepe (otherwise known as the “Three-Cans”) in June 2011.

I am really excited about this new blog series we are beginning, sharing the successes of others who have overcome behavioral problems using the Bird Tricks training program. I ...

Hyacinth macaw

Q: My bird and I get along great, but he doesn’t like it when I touch him. What am I doing wrong?
Eli F., Wilmington City, DE

A: All of us have gotten our parrots with the hope that they be cuddly and physically affectionate. Heaven knows that is the huge attraction with some of the cockatoo species. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

When you think about it, it’s hard to believe that a bird, a small prey animal, could ever be trusting enough that it would ...

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