The wild housecat slinks across the living room, eyes bright and tail twitching. Across the room, she sees her prey, a pair of parakeets in a cage. Slowly, she moves into position, raises up to place her paws against a cage, then abruptly jumps away as the parakeet nips her whiskers. She backs away to … Read more
“Let your food be your medicine” said Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who compiled a list of over four hundred herbs and their uses. Herbs, spices and other nutritional substances are the oldest form of medicine known to man. While modern or “allopathic” medicine is barely a century old, the practice of natural medicine using … Read more
Many bird owners have wondered about building their own cage at one time or another. I’m writing this to share the knowledge I’ve gained about zinc and the process of galvanizing. Galvanized means iron (steel) coated with zinc. If it is coated with something else then it is anodized or plated. Galvanized implies zinc. The … Read more
Zinc is extremely toxic to birds. Although a bird requires a certain amount of zinc to remain healthy, too much zinc is very dangerous and can cause degeneration in the liver, kidney and pancreas and even death. Unfortunately, zinc is all around us, and given the opportunity, our “inquisitive” and “unceasingly exploring” charges will be … Read more
The strikingly beautiful Eclectus hails from the South Pacific. Depending on which authority you believe, there are 9 or 10 subspecies of Eclectus, but I am aware of only six presently available in the United States: Grand, Vosmaeri, Red-Sided, Solomon Island, Biaki, and McGillvary. The first three listed are considered common, and the Solomon Island … Read more
Very few of us in the US have ever seen a kakariki “in the feather”. Information about these birds has been growing for several years, and they sound as if they are a lot of fun. But they are fairly rare in the US, so most of us have never really had the opportunity to … Read more
Providing the best furniture for the inside of your parrot’s home is paramount to good health. Next to perching on his favorite person, your bird will spend the rest of his/her time on perches. There are a wide variety of textures and styles to choose from including natural woods, plastic, acrylic, dowel stock, and cement. … Read more
In a previous issue, Building a Good Avian Library, we covered in detail the books which should be contained in the Basic, Advanced and Breeder Level Avian Libraries. We also included a list of recommended avian books, including reviews and ratings. However, due to time and space limitations, we did not address the genus/species oriented books. … Read more
Caring bird owners quickly recognize the need for a home library which contains information on caring for, training and breeding their birds. Books not only help them learn about their birds, but are a source of important information when emergencies arise. However, when starting to build a library, many questions arise. What types of books … Read more
What is MAP? The Model Aviculture Program or MAP is a voluntary aviary inspection and certification program for aviculturists. MAP is a non-profit service organization, not a private business. It has been in effect nation-wide since 1990. In the early eighties a plan was proposed for a model state program for pet birds, the National … Read more