Congo African Grey Parrot

Heavy metals are found throughout our homes and toxicity is a fairly common ailment in our companion birds.  It is life threatening.  A bird not diagnosed and treated will certainly die. Fortunately, the vast majority of birds can be saved with proper treatment.   Depending on the level of toxicity, the symptoms may take a period of time to present themselves as the level of poisoning slowly increases, or symptoms may appear suddenly, where the bird seems fine one day, and is in desperate need of ...

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Camelot Macaw

I have spent the last several months looking into a holistic approach to my parrots’ diets.  They all have great eating habits except one: Linus, my umbrella cockatoo.  It makes me crazy and I worry and fret every day about whether he is getting the nutrition he needs.  He is healthy and I guess that says a lot.  Still, I am always looking for ways to make improvements in everybody’s diet, but especially so with Mr. Picky. I decided that prying his beak apart and stuffing squash ...

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Congo African Grey Parrot

Have you ever just sat and listened to your bird’s calls and tried to figure out what they mean?  Just like babies have different cries meaning: I’m hungry/wet/tired/angry, your bird has a different meaning and a different sound to each of his vocalization.
We all know the shrill, panicked sound of the alarm call.  Often meaning that there’s a fly in the cage or Alex, the evil pool guy, is in the back yard again waving around that net thingy on the the long stick.  ...

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My severe macaw won’t touch fresh fruit.  Can I give him dried fruit? -Lonia G.,   Boston, MA

Dried fruits have a lot of advantages.  It lasts a long time, it is an easy snack if you are traveling and because there are no bacteria harboring juices, it works great in foraging toys and stays fresh in the cage all day. There are, however, some things you should be aware of.

When fruits are dehydrated, the process shrinks them to a fraction of their original size.  The concentration of sugar becomes very high and because they ...

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Blue and Gold Macaw

The cutest things on the planet may very well be (and not necessarily in this order): a baby cracking up laughing, kittens doing just about anything, and birds playing.  Some of the very best memories I have of my birds are of them playing, especially when it involves me.  There’s something so precious about watching the determination of a 100 gram bird tug on something twice its size, and the lengths they will go to to accomplish an nearly impossible task.  I am always on the lookout ...

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