Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Waco, Texas Upside down: Blue throated macaw "Jinx"

This is my macaw Jinx in his traveling cage for when we drive from one place to another. For more images of how my birds currently travel from place to place, check out more of my photos on flickr.

Whenever we are traveling from one place to another, and it's quite a long drive, I PACK my birds' cages with new toys. They're usually always wooden toys so that my birds can be busy during the drive and sometimes I throw a couple foraging toys in there too but normally foraging toys go to waste when the bumps of the drive do all the work for opening them. And I like to travel with my birds on full stomachs so that their immune systems are at their strongest in case weather changes or my generator goes out (the more food they have inside, the more they can protect themselves during any stress that might come about while on the road.)

Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Waco, Texas Pictured: Military macaw "Cash"

In these photos you can see how much of their cage is taken up by toys! The birds get SO excited for this, because they know they're getting lots of fresh wood to chew on right before take off and they sure as heck take advantage of it by the time we get to our new destination.

Now I ONLY do this on longer travel days where I don't want my birds getting bored on the drive. They love it, and I love providing it for them, but it's not something they have on a normal basis otherwise they'd hardly have any room to move around in their cages! But my birds destroy their new toys FAST, which is why I had to take these photos right after I put them in the cages, hehe. Otherwise I knew you'd never believe what they really looked like.

Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Waco, Texas 3 travel cages shown with: Military macaw "Cash", blue throat macaw "Jinx" & Camelot macaw "Tusa"

Caution: Travel toys can also be dangerous as your bird can get hit by them, or tangled so be careful with the toys you choose to travel with for your bird and always think about securing them down to a side of the cage if possible so the swaying won't cause the toy to hit the bird.

Article by Jamieleigh Womach. She has been working with parrots and toucans since the age of 17. She isn’t homeless but is home less than she prefers to be. She travels the world with her husband, daughter, and a flockful of parrots whom she shares the stage with.