Free Range Parrots – How captive birds can have freedom

Bleach alternatives

2019-05-12

For disinfecting cages and toys and other things birds use, bleach is likely the most popular choice. Bleach has a reputation for being an excellent disinfectant, and it’s very effective against both bacteria and viruses.

However, there are significant downsides to using bleach as well as equally effective alternatives.

Birds and inhaled toxins

You’ve heard of expression “canary in the coal mine”? Maybe you didn’t know it’s a real thing!

Well into the 20th century, coal miners brought canaries into coal mines as an early-warning signal for toxic gases, primarily carbon monoxide. The birds, being more sensitive, would become sick before the miners, who would then have a chance to escape or put on protective respirators.
Sentinel species—Wikipedia

There is at least one modern study that suggests the same thing.

Birds are ubiquitously distributed in essentially all of the environments inhabited by humans; thus, if we understood the effects of a broad range of inhaled environmental contaminants (gas and particulate) on a wide variety of avian species, they could serve as highly effective and sensitive monitors of air quality.

… READ THE REST

What’s it like to have a pet bird?

2019-05-10

I used to breed cockatiels starting in the early 1980s, selling over a hundred birds a year. I used to advertise them in some town papers with my phone number.

When people called, I would find out whether this would be their first bird. If so, I would give them my standard speech to make sure they knew what they were getting into. Maybe 25% of the time, they would decide to think about it more before buying a bird and in some cases they would decide a bird was not for them.

Here’s what I would tell them:

Birds are really messy! There’s really no getting around it. Feather dust, feathers when moulting, seed strewn everywhere, chewing on everything they can find, and they seem to find a way to poop in impossible locations.
With very rare exceptions, birds don’t like to be pet like dogs, cats, or rabbits.

… READ THE REST

Human research applied to parrot psychology

2019-05-07

Previously, I wrote about human research applied to parrot diets. This insight greatly opens up the much more prevalent research on humans. We can then supplement the much sparser research on animals, especially those kept as pets.

But how about mental disorders? There is a branch of psychology that tackles this question called trans-personal psychology. It’s not as crazy as it sounds! The article below has 40 bibliographic references so it’s not exactly a fringe line of thinking.

Trans-species psychology is the field of psychology that states that humans and nonhuman animals share commonalities in cognition (thinking) and emotions (feelings).
Trans-personal psychology—Wikipedia

There strong evidence that animals suffer from mental disorders, especially in captivity. Here is a long quote on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD, a pervasive psychological disorder, common to human prisoners of war, genocide survivors, and victims of domestic violence. It is characterized by difficulties with severe mood dysregulation, impaired interpersonal functioning, loss of sense of safety and security, and disruption in the sense of self.

… READ THE REST

The mythical “all seed” diet

2019-05-06

You know how they used to have commercials where every product was compared against how the “leading brand” performed? It’s easy to compare against something mythical isn’t it?

Well, I very frequently hear diets compared to the mythical “all seed” diet. I hear people adopting or fostering a bird and disdainfully talking about how the bird was on an “all seed” diet and they needed to be rescued.

If you’re in the US, the only way to buy a 100% seed diet is either a wild bird mix or to buy seeds yourself and mix them. With almost no exceptions, there are no 100% seed mixes for parrots. They all have other ingredients such as processed grains and are typically fortified like breakfast cereals.

Just for fun, I entered “parrot seed” as a search term in Amazon and looked at the top 5 results:

Kaytee Forti Diet Pro Health Bird Food For Parrots: Seed, processed grains, nuts, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins
Wild Harvest Advanced Nutrition Parrot: Predominantly processed grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, eggs, sugar, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins
Vitakraft Menu Vitamin Fortified Parrot Food: Seed, processed grains, nuts
Volkman Avian Science Super African Grey and Amazon Bird Food: Seeds, processed grains, dehydrated fruit and vegetables, nuts, artificial flavors(!), vitamins
Kaytee Supreme Bird Food For Parrots: Seeds, processed grains, nuts, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins

And what does processed (pelleted) food contain?… READ THE REST

Count Chocula for birds

2019-05-02

[Note: These products are popular and most bird owners probably use them. Eventually, either I can convince you to stop or time will pass and the same realizations people have had about dog and cat diets will finally reach the bird community More on this later.]

I was on the website for Lafeber, one of the largest bird food companies. On this page, I find this selection of products:

Doesn’t it look like sugary breakfast cereals for birds? They are predominantly processed food and very high in carbohydrates, which I discussed in earlier posts on dietary fat:

So, I picked the most popular and looked at the ingredients.

Ground corn = 86% carbs
Canary grass seed = 49% carbs
Millet = 78% carbs
Oats = 68% carbs
Wheat flour = 79% carbs
Sugar = 100% carbs
For comparison, Count Chocula = 84%

All but one of those is well above the 45-65% recommended by the USDA, which has long since been debunked as well too high (see sources above).… READ THE REST

What about euthanasia?

2019-04-30

There are sharply divided opinions about euthanasia and I’ve grouped them into 3 categories that I’ve encountered.

Euthanizing an animal is fine if they are sick, annoying, or you just want to try out a different pet
Euthanasia is a final option if all medical options are exhausted and the bird is on the edge of death (this is typical in humans)
Euthanasia should be applied to animals that are suffering and there are no available options to alleviate it other than a lifetime of painkillers

There is also the added issue of financial burden. Categories 2 and 3 are evaluated differently if medical options are unaffordable.

With a blog called Free Range Parrots, I predictably believe in the third option. Part of being free is being free from unending suffering. How do you tell if your bird is suffering?

It’s not playing or singing or chirping much
It’s fairly inactive
It acts much better after giving a painkiller, indicating they are in considerable pain
Sometimes you can just intuit it by looking at the bird

Euthanising a bird is an extremely difficult thing and obviously should be given a lot of consideration.… READ THE REST

What causes Fatty Liver Disease

2019-04-29

When a human or a bird has been diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease, they are commonly put on a low-fat diet (although this is changing). The same goes for heart disease and many other conditions.

However, peer reviewed research is not hard to find and the culprit is not fat, but carbohydrates. This is one I picked because it’s short and sweet.

Ingested carbohydrates are a major stimulus for hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) and are more likely to directly contribute to NAFLD than dietary fat.
[Note: DNL is the process by which fatty deposits are created in the liver, NAFLD is “non-alcoholic fatty liver liver disease” which should be self-explanatory.]
Carbohydrate intake and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: fructose as a weapon of mass destruction—Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition—April 2015

Just as it’s difficult to get your head around the notion that dietary fat doesn’t make you fat, it’s difficult to comprehend that fat doesn’t lead to the creation of fat in the liver, carbohydrates do.… READ THE REST

Bird cage brands

2019-04-29

I’ll start off by saying I haven’t been paid any money to promote any brands here. 🙂

Since bird cages are so expensive, I tend to not forgive even the smallest faults for that kind of money.

Having said that, I’m disappointed with the two brands of bird cages I’ve bought before: HQ and A&E Cage. However, I recently tried a new brand: Avian Adventures. Here it is:

Avian Adventures Chiquita Dometop Bird Cage

I paid $369 for it. The short version is I’m thrilled with this cage. I feel like they really care about the quality of their product. I only ran into a few issues and some things that are inferior to other brands.

Packing

Hands down, the best packing job of any bird cage I’ve bought. Double and triple walled cardboard boxes everywhere, no metal parts rubbing together, and a real effort made to prevent important pieces from getting bent or scratched.… READ THE REST

Enrichment and the senses

2019-04-29

One of my favorite speeches at the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) conference in 2018 was one called “The Great Foraging Experiment” and was given by Robin Shewokis.

When most people think of enrichment, they think of toys to shred or techniques to make it a challenge to obtain food. Robin’s speech opened this up to more than just that.

The rest of this post comes entirely from my notes on her speech.

— from Robin Shewokis —

The major types of enrichment are: visual, auditory, olfactory, social, exercise, and dietary.

Variety is the spice of life. Change and move toys and food dishes, even to the bottom of a cage for ground feeders. Change dietary elements such as fruits and vegetables.

Tactile enrichment would involve having to move objects around. For example, a food bowl that has wood block or glass beads in it that birds can touch with their beaks.… READ THE REST

Human research into fat and disease

2019-04-24

I’m going to recommend a book on dietary fat. It shouldn’t be controversial, given it has very solid backing in research, but it is. It makes people and some industries uncomfortable but it’s becoming more accepted over time.

The Big Fat Surprise

It was hard to find a book review that didn’t require a subscription, but here’s one from a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

This book should be read by every nutritional science professional as a guide to risks of hubris…and to the consequences of basing public policy on belief as opposed to evidence of positive, beneficial effects….All scientists should read it as an example of how limited science can become federal policy….Teicholz compiled a historical treatise on how scientific belief (vs. evidence), nongovernment organizations, food manufacturers, government agencies, and moneyed interests promised more than they could deliver and, in the process, quite possibly contributed to the current world-wide obesity epidemic.
Book Review—American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

This blog is about birds and the book is about humans, but I strongly believe it’s applicable to birds.… READ THE REST