Old Magazine

The avian beak is a complex, remarkable organ composed of bone, vascular layers, keratin, dermis and a germinative layer. It continues to grow throughout the bird’s life and is constantly worn down by feeding, grooming, climbing, chewing and rubbing. The rate of keratin replacement depends upon the use of the beak.The beak is also known … Read more

Parrots have their own unique way of playing and behaving. They amuse us, give us pleasure and sometimes cause great damage. Why they do the things they do are often hard to understand, but they are based upon behaviors in the wild. Here is a humorous look at some of their methods. Perhaps your bird … Read more

Tucker Farms is a small aviary. By a small aviary I mean that our family does all the work that needs to be done without outside help. My husband Ron builds equipment and cages and does most of the heavy cleaning. I handfeed babies, prepare food and feed breeder birds. I try to educate people … Read more

Calcium is essential for bone formation, muscle contraction, proper functioning of the nervous system and egg shell formation.Phosphorus is also essential for bone formation, metabolism of carbohydrates and fat, and calcium transport in egg formation. The diet provided to keep a bird healthy must contain adequate calcium and phosphorus and they must be present in … Read more

(This concludes this article. Part I of this article is at https://birdsnways.com/raising-good-pets/) Flight Training I consider this to be the most important thing in raising confident babies and the single biggest factor in avoiding the clinging, feather-plucking, self-mutilating, neurotic Cockatoo or naked, fearful African Grey or biting, screaming Amazon. Our baby birds fly through weaning. … Read more

Do birds need grit? This is not only a common question of concern to bird owners, but a source of disagreement as well. Understanding what grit is, its purpose, and the possible problems which may result from its use, can help us in deciding whether or not to offer it to our birds. Most of … Read more

We have all wondered which foods contain the most nutrition for our birds. Many of us also want to know what nutritional differences exist if foods are served raw, fresh, cooked, sprouted, dry roasted or oil roasted. This is the second in a series of articles which will address these questions. The first article covered seed … Read more

Megabacteria, as the name implies, are very large rod shaped organisms. Although initially considered to be a type of bacteria, newly emerging evidence suggests it is really a fungus. Megabacteria have been identified in many species of birds among which include budgies, finches, canaries, lovebirds, cockatiels, rosellas, cockatoos, mynahs, certain parrot species and waterfowl. It … Read more

Awwww, a baby parrot. Such sweet treasures to love and cuddle. In addition to the joy they bring us, it is our responsibility to teach them things that will help them integrate into our homes safely and happily.To begin this integration process, you need some special items for that baby parrot. My task was to … Read more