The northern cardinal is surely one of North America’s best loved birds – so much so that it is the state bird of 7 states here in the USA. As it is illegal to keep this species in the USA, it may surprise you to learn that it is a quite popular aviary bird in [...]

As mentioned in my recent article on this blog, providing pet birds with access to sunlight and fresh air is of great value to their well-being. A pair of yellow-fronted Amazon parrots, Amazona ochrocephala, kept at a research station on Tortuguero Island, Costa Rica, where I worked some years ago, seemed a perfect example of [...]

Those working with birds in zoological collections, commercial aviaries and poultry farms have long recognized that the behavior and health of the animals under their care seemed influenced by the quality and amount of light that they received. It many cases, breeding behavior and egg production also seemed linked to light in some way. Observant [...]

To read the first part of this article, click here.
In reproductive biology as well, the palm cockatoo breaks with its close relatives. The male’s breeding display is the group’s most complex – flying high above the ground towards his mate, he raises his spectacular crest, deepens his cheek patch color, and calls loudly. They are [...]

It is not easy for a single species to stand out among a group of birds as spectacular as the cockatoos, but the striking palm cockatoo does so quite handily. At nearly 30 inches in length and with a 30-inch wingspan, this giant among cockatoos approaches the hyacinth macaw, Andorhynchus hyacinthus, the largest of the [...]

The white-crested laughing thrush, Garrulax leucolophus,(picture referenced from Wikipedia) is aptly named, and makes itself known by a cacophony of sounds that sound surprisingly like human laughter. In seeming harmony with its vocalizations, this bird is quite mischievous, at least in captivity.
Ranging from northern India to southwestern China, and south to Indonesia, this bird is [...]

That Avian Blog would like to take this opportunity to welcome renowned Zoologist and Author Frank Indiviglio. With his experience as a zookeeper at institutions like the Bronx Zoo, field work with such exotics as hummingbirds, palm cockatoos, ostriches, and a lifetime’s worth of intense interest in all things animal, Frank is here to share [...]