My Blue and Gold Macaw named Fid joined my flock back in February this year. He went through the standard ‘new bird’ vet consultation and was diagnosed with psittacosis and an assortment of other much more minor problems.

When I last wrote about him, Fid’s was health was steadily improving and I’d finally solved the issue of his terrible sleeping habits and fear of the dark by giving him ...

African grey, Cressi, in free flight

Last week, Chris, a member of the Birdtricks community, posted a horrifying message on facebook that his beloved african grey, Kendi, had flown off. We were heartbroken for him because we knew how much love, time and effort he had put into turning Kendi into the trusting bird he had become. There were many issues to be worked through in the beginning of their union, but diligence and dedication had finally paid off and the two shared a wonderful, while hard won, relationship.

Kendi escaped from ...

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Cockatiel

My cockatiels were my first parrots and they were very patient with me while I learned how to be a good caregiver. I hated the idea of them being confined and they spent their days out of their cage intermingling with the humans. Most often, they were riding on a shoulder while we went about our activities but, as ground foragers, they would often make their way to the floor to explore.

I bird proofed the house as much as possible, removed electrical cords and any toxic substances from reach, ...

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One of the main problems that I have had with my Blue and Gold Macaw Fid, is getting him to settle at night. He cries when I put him to bed, he cries again when I turn off the light, he screams in fear if anything disturbs him and he often wakes up and starts making a heart wrenching, hiccupping sob noise for no obvious reason.

In my last post on Fid, I ...

Blue throated macaw

Knowing that I love to read, Jamie left some books for me that she had read while on the road. I want to share with you a thought provoking part of a forward (written by Stephen Fry) in one of those books titled “The Book Of Animal Ignorance – Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong” by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson:

“Animals all have this in common with one another: unlike humans they appear to spend every minute of every hour of every day of their lives being ...

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Cockatiel

My cockatiels, Tinky and DeeDee, have been joined at the hip forever. Except for a brief period of introduction (the importance of quarantine was not emphasized back when I first started my flock), they have done everything together from the beginning, including sharing a cage.

For some time, they were housed with cockatiels Henry and Cocoa, who have since passed, and they lived in perfect harmony as cockatiels so often do. They were great together.

As I mentioned in a recent post, the two were not doing particularly well. Tinky had ...

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