Over preening is a feather destructive behavior. Sometimes a bird begins to pay too much attention to its feathers – in a way that seems unhealthy and obsessive. Generally, we observe this through changed preening behaviors.

For reasons that make no sense to me, over preening has a less ominous status as a behavioral problem than plucking. However, it is a precursor to plucking and very loudly states that something is wrong.

A couple of months ago I was in contact with a woman who ...

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A couple of years ago, someone located here in the US asked me a great question: he wanted to know if his eclectus, a bird native to Australia, would display hormonal behaviors during the local spring season or by the one in its native land.

For those unaware, the seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres of our planet oppose each other. When it is summer in the north, it is winter in the south. Likewise with spring and fall. Spring actually occurs twice on our planet each ...

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I did the tourist thing on the weekend. I live in Melbourne (Australia) and was entertaining an interstate visitor over the weekend. My friend just happens to be another bird person – so we thought it might be fun to have a look at Healesville Sanctuary while he was here.

Healesville Sanctuary is unusual because it focuses on Australian natives. They have some really worthwhile conservation campaigns and breeding programs. This is a fantastic place to visit ...

 

This hasn’t always been the case, but these days you can’t research bird care without the importance of toys in the parrot’s environment being carefully stressed. The educated bird owner understands the multiple purposes bird toys serve:

• they keep the mind active and stimulated
• they keep the body active and fit
• they satisfy the urge to chew and destroy
• they take away the boredom that might result in feather destruction

It is always a joy to watch a parrot at play – it is the sign of a healthy and happy bird – but ...

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This hasn’t always been the case, but these days you can’t research bird care without the importance of toys in the parrot’s environment being carefully stressed. The educated bird owner understands the multiple purposes bird toys serve: they keep the mind active and stimulated they keep the body active and fit they satisfy the urge to chew an...

When I wrote a blog post on cleaning tips, I mentioned the incredible staining ability of a red Dragonfruit. A few people commented wanting to know what a Dragonfruit was. I could relate to those questions as I could remember a time when I had no idea either. The questions have inspired me to share some of the weirder things that end up in my birds’ food bowls.

My favourite vegetable shopping experience was when a cash register ...