budgies

Q: My bird is sexually frustrated and tries to mate with my computer mouse or anything else about that size. Should I put a stuffed animal or something in his cage for him to get out his frustrations on?

–          H. Hirsch, Kettering, OH

A: This subject comes up several times a year. Many people are mistaken in their assumption that their birds are sexually frustrated and they wonder if they should get it a mate. In reality, doing so may actually make the problem much worse.
To explain ...

July 2012. Cocky Boy huddled under a heat lamp.

I spent most of last year wondering when I’d be writing a post saying that the worst had happened and my elderly Galah Cocky Boy had died from his heart condition? Every day felt like a battle and there did come a point where I found myself realizing that difficult decisions were coming. He seemed happier with treatment but his weight kept dropping. His body condition deteriorated with his decreased weight ...

I have done a post or two on this topic in the past but think it’s important enough to re-visit it from time to time. Please take the time to read this to learn, or give yourself a reminder, about the many benefits of sunshine for parrots.

Companion parrots have a very different lifestyle from those of their wild cousins. As much as we try to provide them with a great diet and an active environment, there are few alternatives available for captive parrots that offer the same health benefits ...

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There is a lot of talk about bee pollen and its benefits in the parrot diet. I am one that believes we have to maximize every meal, especially if we have a picky eater on our hands. Bee pollen is as complete and natural a food supplement as there is…

What is bee pollen?

Flowers (and other plants) produce a powdery substance called pollen made of microscopic particles, which is a male seed necessary to fertilization. Bees travel from flower to flower collecting pollen particles and formulating and carrying to the hive the granules that we ...

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Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo. The youngest/newest member of my local wild flock.

There is a golden rule for Wildlife Rescuers in Australia. When you rescue an animal and rehabilitate it for release, it must be released back to the location where it was originally found. It’s actually illegal to release it anywhere else without a written exemption from the appropriate governing body. If you can’t release back to the original site and can’t get permission for an exemption then the animal is usually euthanized. It ...

Bubba and the Sweet Pea by Gladys Boutros

PBFD is a highly-contagious and usually fatal avian disease that causes beak and feather aberration. While it can affect all parrots species, the cockatoo seems to be targeted often, although this may not be an indicator of predisposition so much as location.

PBFD, as well as other devastating avian diseases, are very prolific in Australian wildlife. Since the pet industry in Australia is known to buy wild caught birds for resale, it brings wild bird diseases into the stores, which are then dispersed to ...