SEO - Birds'n'Ways

Can Cockatiels Eat Watermelon? What the Numbers Say

August 25, 2026 by Alice Wender

Can cockatiels eat watermelon: a gray cockatiel with a yellow crest and orange cheek patch stands next to a white dish of red watermelon cubes on a wooden table.

Can cockatiels eat watermelon? Yes, but it is 91% water with more phosphorus than calcium. The portion that fits the diet, and the two-hour serving rule.

Why Is My Bird Losing Feathers? How Vets Narrow It Down

August 22, 2026 by Alice Wender

A grey cockatiel with a raised crest and orange cheek patch perched on a wooden branch by a window, showing the thin, partly bare patch on its chest that makes owners ask why is my bird losing feathers.

Why is my bird losing feathers has three answers, and vets split them with one question. The tests that rule out disease before anyone says boredom.

Parrot Molting: How Long It Takes and When to Worry

August 21, 2026August 21, 2026 by Alice Wender

A blue-and-gold macaw mid parrot molting, one wing open showing uneven flight feathers, loose feathers on the floor below its stand.

Parrot molting runs disproportionately longer in big birds, and the reason is measurable. Plus the feather test that separates a molt from plucking.

How Do Parrots Talk Like Humans? Syrinx, Tongue and Brain

August 20, 2026 by Alice Wender

An African grey parrot on a wooden T-perch with its beak slightly open, showing the scalloped grey chest, white face patch and scarlet tail, illustrating how parrots talk like humans.

Three separate pieces of research explain parrot speech: a paired sound organ, a tongue that shapes vowels, and a brain layer no other bird has.

How to Tame a Cockatiel: What Works and How Long It Takes

August 19, 2026 by Alice Wender

A grey cockatiel with a raised crest and orange cheek patch perched inside a cage, watching a person's flat, motionless hand resting on the table outside the open cage door.

Step up takes minutes; getting a hand accepted takes far longer. The four approximations, what to reward with, and the handling that resets your progress.

How to Keep Pet Birds Cool in Hot Weather (Without a Chill)

August 25, 2026August 18, 2026 by Alice Wender

A grey cockatiel with a yellow face and orange cheek patch perched beside a shallow ceramic water dish inside a cage, on the shaded side of a room with a sunlit window blurred behind.

Birds run a body temperature near 104 °F and cannot sweat, so heat builds fast. Where to move the cage, how to use fans and ice, and the signs to act on.

Cockatiel Screaming: Why It Starts and How to Stop It

August 19, 2026August 17, 2026 by Alice Wender

A grey cockatiel screaming with its crest raised and beak open, on a wooden perch beside a window at dusk.

Cockatiel screaming usually starts as contact calling, and the obvious responses reward it. What it means at dawn, when it signals illness, what to reward.

Budgie Molt: What’s Normal and What Needs a Vet

August 21, 2026August 15, 2026 by Alice Wender

A green and yellow budgie mid molt on a wooden perch, short pin feathers on its head and shed feathers scattered on the cage floor below.

A budgie molt runs symmetrically, left and right together. Patchy loss, clubbed feathers or a fledgling that never feathers properly mean something else.

How to Find a Lost Bird: The First 48 Hours

August 19, 2026August 14, 2026 by Alice Wender

A grey cockatiel with a yellow crest and orange cheek patch perched high on a bare branch, photographed from below against an overcast sky with suburban rooftops behind.

Escaped birds land high and close, and clipped wings do not keep them home. The search order that works, and who to call before the first day is out.

Bird Pin Feathers: What They Are and What to Do

August 20, 2026August 13, 2026 by Alice Wender

Close-up of the back of a grey cockatiel's neck with several pin feathers pushing through, each a pale sheathed spike with a dark blue-grey base

A pin feather is a new feather with live blood inside the shaft. How to spot one, why your bird flinches, and what to do in the two minutes after it breaks.