Learn about your bird in the wild

Learn about your bird in the wild

There are many resources on keeping birds in captivity. Most people search online but there are also books and magazines. However, these resources typically don’t mention much about how various bird species live in the wild.

The reason this is important is that unlike dogs and cats, birds are significantly less domesticated and some argue they are not domesticated at all.

An important distinction to make is that learning to behave nicely around humans is very different than being genetically programmed to like humans! Usually, domesticated animals mesh well with human lifestyles because the animals have been selected to like people. A domesticated dog puppy with limited experience near people will still approach humans for affection and play because thousands of generations of dogs before it were allowed to breed only if they were friendly toward humans.

Wild, Invasive, Domesticated, or Tame: How to Describe a Bird—Constance Woodman—AFA Watchbird

The more that animals are bred to integrate with how we live our lives, the less they are like their wild ancestors.… READ THE REST

“The Genius of Birds” by Jennifer Ackerman

“The Genius of Birds” by Jennifer Ackerman

This is not a parrot-specific book, but this is my top recommendation to people that love birds. Obviously, parrots play an important role due to their widely accepted intelligence but wait till you read about all the other birds in this book.

Like many animals, it was generally thought for centuries that birds were not particularly bright. Over the past few decades, things have turned completely around. Depending on the type of intelligence you are looking at, birds are at the top of many categories.

And it’s not just Keas and New Caledonian Crows, the typical poster birds for avian intelligence. Even the tiny chickadee has some mind-blowing skills up its sleeves. Note: they do not have sleeves.

Birds share tool making capabilities that even other primates don’t. Digest that one for a moment!

I don’t want to spoil this book by relating more specifics. I would say that this book is accessible to anyone but does have a more scientific bent.… READ THE REST

Bleach alternatives

Bleach alternatives

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?

What’s it like to have a pet bird?

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.

Get the variety pack!

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
Animal research applied to parrot psychology

Animal research applied to parrot psychology

Previously, I wrote about animal research applied to parrot diets. This insight greatly opens up the much more prevalent research on animals, including 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

The mythical “all seed” diet

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 “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, it’s very difficult to buy a 100% seed diet. You can either buy a wild bird mix or buy individual types of seeds yourself and mix them. The predominantly seed mixes all have other ingredients such as processed grains and are typically fortified like breakfast cereals.

Now, THAT’S an all-seed diet.

Just for fun, I entered “parrot seed” as a search term in Amazon and looked at the top 5 results. I listed a summary of the ingredients since the full lists are very, very long (typically a bad sign!):

  1. Kaytee Forti Diet Pro Health Bird Food For Parrots: Seed, processed grains, nuts, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins
  2. Wild Harvest Advanced Nutrition Parrot: Predominantly processed grains, seeds, nuts, legumes, eggs, sugar, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins
  3. Vitakraft Menu Vitamin Fortified Parrot Food: Seed, processed grains, nuts
  4. Volkman Avian Science Super African Grey and Amazon Bird Food: Seeds, processed grains, dehydrated fruit and vegetables, nuts, artificial flavors(!), vitamins
  5. 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

Count Chocula for birds

[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?

What about euthanasia?

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

  1. Euthanizing an animal is fine if they are sick, annoying, or you just want to try out a different pet
  2. 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)
  3. 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

What causes Fatty Liver Disease

When a human, other animal, 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

Bird cage brands

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