A couple years ago, I was fortunate to have the time and the means to visit Avian Behavior International (ABI), one of the premier bird training facilities in the world.
It’s run by Hillary Hankey, her staff, and guest experts…
After a protracted move to Portland (Oregon), I’m back to writing about parrots.
Unlike most of my articles, this one is entirely anecdotal, supported only by my own experience and a handful of people who I’ve told about this.
We have three cockatiels who are not big fruit eaters. So when…
To anyone that has read my articles on diet, I have no love for the bird food manufacturers selling processed food to our birds.
As a background, I feed my birds a diet that is at least half seed, with added chop (dried fruits and vegetables), nuts, legumes, sprouted seeds, and fresh fruit and vegetables.…
It’s important to provide your bird with plenty to do to occupy their brains and beaks. Toys of different types are popular to place inside a cage, but you can also attach them on the outside of a cage or anywhere your bird likes to hang out.
It also helps immensely to rotate items around and introduce…
I previously wrote an article called Learn about your bird in the wild where I stress the importance of not just thinking of your bird as a pet. Think about how they would live in their natural habitat as you make decisions about how to care for them.
Fortunately for everyone, an excellent research paper…
People that breed birds are disliked and even despised by many bird groups, especially bird rescue organizations. They have a valid point, given that there are many unwanted birds out there, just like there are for dogs and cats.
Some people and groups won’t even speak to them. Despite the obvious…
This is one of those articles I feel like I shouldn’t have to write. No creature should eat artificial colors, period. Having said that, there’s a ton of research into the hazards of artificial colors to back up my feeling.
The most unequivocal I could find is this one.
…This review finds that
NOTE: This article only applies to those with outdoor aviaries.
The internet is full of safe ideas to deter predators (e.g. raccoons) and pests (e.g. parasites) and they all have two things in common.
Unlike most articles on this site,…
If you’re like me, you may have a lot of:
Since I have so many bowls, I don’t hand wash them, I run a dedicated dishwasher load every morning. But then I need two of every kind of bowl I use every day.
You’d think this would…
In its simplest definition, flicker is the constant fluctuation of light output from on to off.
LEDs: Fighting Flicker
In the US, the power that comes in through our outlets cycle at 60 times per second. Instead of one continuous stream of electrons, it goes ON and OFF 60 times per second…