Rose Breasted Cockatoo

Should I use any soap or shampoo when bathing my bird?

-Karen F., Hanover, MA

No. Not only is it unnecessary to use anything but water when bathing your bird, it is counterproductive to a bird’s natural cleansing process.  Most birds have a preen gland (uropygial gland) which is located at the the base of its tail.  When a bird is preening, it pinches this gland which then excretes an oil that is spread throughout the feathers.  This oil gives helps to keep feathers in proper ...

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Blue throated macaw

Take a good look at your parrot. You will notice he has wings. You will see that they, and most of the rest of his body, is covered with feathers of varying length and size. If you were to look inside his body, you would find hollow bones and a unique respiratory system and muscular structure.  All of these things contribute to a single outstanding ability: FLIGHT!
Birds are meant to fly, and I encourage you to let them do that. Flight is what differentiates birds ...

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Umbrella Cockatoo, Goffin Cockatoo

We wear many hats as bird owners: we’re cooks, toy makers, housekeepers and behavioral analysts.  I once read: “Yur day job iz how ya ern muney, yur reel job iz to spend it on yur handsum burd”  by author Mango McCaw. If your parrot had to go out and find work (oh, the indignity!), what would he do?
I think this is what best suits my birds:

Goffin Cockatoo

Theo, goffins cockatoo, 24
I used to think of Theo ...

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Hyacinth Macaw

Hurricane season is beginning here in Florida, and forecasters are predicting an active season.  While I am located in central Florida and don’t expect to see the severe weather the coast might see, hurricanes do, in fact, travel inland. I grew up in the northeast and lived a good part of my life in Chicago so I am accustomed to severe storms and oceans of snow. The south offers some new challenges to which I don’t feel particularly accustomed.  The clouds, both here and in Texas, don’t seem ...

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Blue and gold macaw, Scarlet macaws

There are any number of things wafting through the air in a home where a bird lives.  Dust, dander, seed hulls and even airborne particles of dried poop occupy more than just the the immediate air space. It settles on and into everything creating the need for a higher standard of hygiene. Floor or ceiling fans and open windows seem to aggravate the problem more than solve it as it blows the settled dust back into the air.  Some of the better home ...

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The following are five things we all need to know how to do to give us the advantage in day to day life with our birds:

1. TARGET TRAINING

Target training might be one of the most important things you do with your parrot. This activity, which many parrots literally pick up in minutes, is the first step in training. The joy felt by both the owner and the bird during that first AHA! moment when it makes the association between the requested behavior...