Visually sexing a parrot is never 100% reliable, with the exception of the dimorphic eclectus, whose genders are entirely different colors and were thought to be two different species in the wild for the many years before they became a popular companion parrot.

While DNA or surgical sexing are the only guaranteed ways of determining your bird’s sex with certainty, well, that and finding an egg in the pellet bowl, there are a few parrots that allow us to make an educated ...

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Q: I have two yellow naped amazons that are the picture of good health. Do I really need to take them to the vet once a year?
– Byron L., Jacksonville, FL
A: Many of us who have had parrots for a while know what signs to look for when they are ill. We feed them an optimum diet, watch and regulate their weights and observe their droppings on a daily basis. These are great practices to follow, but they do not tell us everything. ...

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I don’t know the exact hatch dates of any of my birds, so we celebrate their birthdays collectively each year on Thanksgiving day. Since I also don’t know the hatch dates for Jamie and Dave’s budgies, Nikko and Visa, who are in my care, they will celebrate with us tomorrow.
I  chose Thanksgiving day as their pseudo-hatch dates for two reasons: 1) because I am so very grateful (usually) for their presence in my life, and 2) because there is always yummy treats to ...

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My birds don’t talk a lot, with the exception of Libby, my quaker, who won’t shut up. The problem is, she only has one thing to say, and says it over and over until I finally have to leave the room having run out of ways to respond to “How ya doin’?”.  Still, every once in a while, one of them will come with a doozie.

I used to come home from work everyday to a familiar: “Hi. How doin’?” from Linus, my umbrella cockatoo. Now it has ...

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Think about being a parrot for a minute… You are stuck in a room the size of a small bedroom for about ten hours a day waiting for your people to come home from work to let you out. All you have to entertain yourself with is...

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I spent the better part of this evening going through the archives on a parrot forum that I visit regularly. Mainly, I was re-reading some of  the threads I had started looking to other cockatoo owners with whom I could compare notes.  I found myself getting teary eyed.  I feel very fortunate to have made so many friends over the years who thoughtlessly give of themselves when someone has a question or a problem. They are always there for me.

When I was done, I ...

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