For birds in the wild, masking illness is a means of self preservation. A sick or injured bird is more vulnerable to predators and other birds in the flock. Hiding illness has become an important means of survival and an instinctive behavior in wild birds. Our captive birds retain this instinctive behavior. Unlike other animals … Read more
Siva was a relatively new member of the household when I purchased Jennifer Warshaw’s book, The Parrot Training Handbook. He already knew his basic commands of “up”, “down”, “it’s okay” and “no”. I began by carefully reading the book from cover to cover and decided to start with something simple. I had previously used the … Read more
A parrot’s beak is made of keratin, just like human fingernails. It has two basic parts: the upper and lower mandible. The mandibles are hinged to a parrot’s skull which gives the upper and lower mandible separate vertical movement. Their beaks grow continuously so parrots need constant sources for chewing to help wear down their … Read more
Several weeks ago, the lower part of my state, Michigan, was hit hard by severe storms. The storms were from the west and were moving east across the state. The storms brought high winds, hail, lightening, and tornados. I has been watching the weather reports all day. The storms had brought tornados in every county … Read more
Many bird owners have contemplated the purchase of a dog or cat. Others already have mixed pet households. Having both dogs and birds in the same household, raises the issue of the safety of the birds. I am a dog trainer, and while I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, I can assure you that there … Read more
“I believe I can fly“, a tune a friend sings to my African Grey keeps running through my head. I can fly and I do and I usually take Siva, my Umbrella Cockatoo with me. It sounds easy, and it is, well kind of easy, sometimes, but it didn’t all happen in one day. This … Read more
Every caring bird breeder and pet store wants to find the perfect homes for their birds. This is the hardest part, trying to find the best possible family for your cherished babies. I love each and everyone of my babies and selling them is the most difficult part. The emotional attachment makes the separation hard, … Read more
Our family consists of my wife Carol, me and six birds, a green cheeked conure, Pistachio, a dusky conure named Orville and four umbrella cockatoos, Ashley, Murphy, BeBe and Mickie. Unlike the conures, which we purchased as babies, all four umbrellas were adopted as older birds. They came to us, each with his own problems, … Read more
This has been the mildest Winter that I can remember in the Northeast. Today is a clear sunny day in March. Nonetheless, there are gale force winds blowing and we have been without power since early this morning. According to the last automated bulletin from our infamous power company, they have not even dispatched a … Read more
An annual Well Bird Exam is a very important part of monitoring the health of your flock Birds will often show few signs of illness in the initial stages of disease. Early signs will often be very subtle and may be easily missed. By the time that obvious signs of illness are present ( a … Read more