Birds have a population of bacteria known as ‘normal microbial flora’ which colonizes the skin and mucous membranes of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. These bacteria are not disease causing and are referred to as ‘nonpathogenic’.Bacteria may be classified as ‘gram-positive’ or ‘gram-negative’ based upon certain staining characterisitics. Gram-positive bacteria are the predominant normal inhabitants … Read more

I think everyone has a fleeting thought on breeding birds once they have had pet birds for a couple of years. Especially if they have the “dreaded” Multi-Bird Syndrome. We did and we actually acted upon it. We got a pair of Hahns Macaws and a pair of Quakers. Once we had them, we realized … Read more

If one were to look at the most popular species of pet birds, then 3 groups of birds would pop to the top of the list – parrots, softbills and pigeons or doves. But there are many other kinds of birds, such as raptors. And these fall into other groups called families or orders.There are … Read more

Angel the Jenday Conure was found one April day immediately under his cotton candy preening toy. He was standing perfectly still with strings of shredded cotton wrapped tightly around his throat. Angel also had his right leg hung in those same strings from trying to free himself from the ones around his throat and he … Read more

The avian egg goes through three major stages in its life, the process of forming the egg, incubation after the egg is laid and finally the hatching of the chick. Each stage is a wonder of nature and has its own unique processes. The Forming of the Egg It takes approximately 25 hours for an … Read more

This story has not appeared in print before. It has not been told aloud. Popcorn and I did not realize that he was a bird, so we did many things inappropriate for a bird. But we loved doing it all wrong.My wife Carol met a cockatoo when the two of us were visiting a business … Read more

We all feed our birds as well as possible. Unfortunately for us, ants like all of the bird foods too. Last year we were suddenly infested with carpenter ants in our den. These black, half inch long devils made a beeline for our birds’ large gym and began feasting in the bird food dishes and … Read more

Every once in a while, one of us may find a baby wild bird or birds who appear to have fallen out of the nest. We want to help, but don’t know what to do. Here are some guidelines on how to help an unfortunate baby bird. Birds fall into two categories; precocial and altricial. … Read more

Egg binding, or the obstruction of the uterus or oviduct by an egg, is a common problem seen in female birds. Since it can occur in a female bird, even if a mate is not present, unmated pet birds can also experience this problem. Egg binding can be life-threatening, especially in the smaller species such … Read more

This is the third in a series of articles I have written on breeding Greys. The first article Breeding African Greys – Part I covered setting up, mating and breeding through the hatching of baby chicks. Part II addressed brooders, handfeeding and caring for the baby chicks. Part III covers weaning, fledging, advanced socialization and finding buyers. Further articles … Read more