Plucking vs. Preening vs. Molting

I’ve seen and read people mistaking these three importantly different aspects of parrots and their plumage. Although plucking parrots can tend to look somewhat like those parrots going through a molt and sometimes the act of plucking can look somewhat like a preening parrot – all aspects are entirely different and it’s important to be able to te...
Continue reading

Bathing = Bonding

My three year old galah, Bondi, is not so fond of her new younger brother, Bandit. However, he is fond of being around her! So what to do? Well, I found that they both needed a bath one day and there was no sense in me taking two just so they could each have one so I decided to give bathing them at the same time, on the same perch, a try. I ran ...
Continue reading

How to Properly Hold Your Parrot

One of the many reasons it can be hard to introuduce your bird to new people is because new people who don't know birds, don't know how to properly handle or hold them. I've experienced it before - both not knowing what the heck I am doing and witnessing someone else not know for themselves! Neither feels better than the other!   Here are some p...
Continue reading

The Different Ways Parrots Play

I believe firmly (and from personal experience with MANY birds) that every bird is different and there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to keeping them. Which also makes it fun!   My military macaw plays HARD. And that is why he plays with Dave, and not me! Here is a video of Cash actually playing…   Cash also loves playing hard with h...
Continue reading

Showering a New Baby Bird

Photo by Dave Location: Sandpoint, Idaho Showerer: Rose Breasted Cockatoo "Bandit" I took Bandit into the shower for the first time while staying at my parents' house in Sandpoint, Idaho. I didn't take a shower perch but he had watched Bondi (a 3 year old of the same species) from a shower perch before. He merely perched on my hand and I covere...
Continue reading

Flight Train Using Targeting

  To learn what it means to target train your bird, go to my blog entitled Target Training and Clicker Conditioning. The training that happens from your bird already knowing targeting, can be flight training your bird using the target stick. This training is very simple and happens pretty naturally for a flighted bird when just teaching them the...
Continue reading