Hyacinth macaw

Q: My bird and I get along great, but he doesn’t like it when I touch him. What am I doing wrong?
Eli F., Wilmington City, DE

A: All of us have gotten our parrots with the hope that they be cuddly and physically affectionate. Heaven knows that is the huge attraction with some of the cockatoo species. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

When you think about it, it’s hard to believe that a bird, a small prey animal, could ever be trusting enough that it would ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Alexandrine parrot Rasta waving while on my hand

I’ve been training alexandrine parrot Rasta for 2+ months now…

But recently I lost his trust and I need to share why so that you don’t make the same mistake with your bird, or maybe you already have and didn’t realize why your sweet bird turned on you.

Way #1 – You pushed the fear threshold too far. 

Alexandrine parakeet Rasta showing his threshold has been violated

We talk about the phases of fear and mistrust, ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Military macaw

Q: I have had a problem with my macaw lunging at me since I got her 4 years ago. I recently switched her onto a better diet and the lunging has stopped. Is it possible that the new diet is responsible for the change in her personality?  

A: It’s not only possible, it is probable.

There isn’t any area of your bird’s life that isn’t touched by its diet. Aside from being the largest contributing factor in your bird’s overall physical health, it comes as a huge surprise to most ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Scarlet macaw photo by Chris Padgett

I only want to take my birds to the vet once a year – for their annual well bird exam. Even with the excellent diet my parrots enjoy, things happen that are beyond my control that cause me to have to bring them in for unscheduled maintenance.

There was one year that I made a total of 16 visits to my vet in a nine month period with the same bird, over the same issue. I was still paying for those visits well into the next ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

At Birdtricks.com, we have daily contact with many bird owners and we listen to their complaints and concerns over their bird’s diet: “My parrot won’t eat vegetables!”

When we were putting together our cookbook, Cooking For Parrots, we took these concerns to heart and tried to find solutions to the biggest and most common parrot feeding problems. It became obvious that the list of concerns is neatly divided into two categories: human considerations, and our bird’s determination NOT to cooperate with our efforts.

In the end, it ALL comes down to us because, as caregivers, it is ultimately our responsibility ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

It has been an exceptionally awful week for me. My dog Belle lost her battle with cancer and Cushings Disease. We had to have her euthanized on Saturday. It had been a long time coming, but somehow even knowing what we were building up to didn’t made it any easier.

Belle was a staffy that had been with my family for nearly eight years. We don’t know her exact age because she was a rescued dog. My parents had found her in the Australian ...