That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

The quite unexpected antics of a number of parrots have made news this past week…from assisting drug cartel members in Columbia (unwittingly, of course!) to exposing the unfaithfulness of an owner’s partner (perhaps on purpose?), pet parrots continue to show that they are well equipped to trick, help and frustrate us…

Love Triangle Exposed

Parents learn very quickly to watch what they say around toddlers – parrot owners, it seems, should as well.  Upon sitting down on a couch near her bird cage, a woman who owned an African Gray Parrot was surprised to hear her pet say “Oh Claire ,oh Claire, I love you!” – surprised because her name was not Claire!

Suspecting that her boyfriend was using the couch for purposes other than watching TV, the woman called him at work…only to find that he was at lunch with, as fate would have it, Claire.  Within a day or so the woman caught the pair leaving her home at a time when they thought she was at work.  Unfortunately, Harvey the parrot seemed to enjoy screaming out Claire’s name (perhaps he had heard it very often!) – so much so that his owner found him a new home! Read More »

In Part I of this article we discussed the importance of socialization – the process of familiarizing your parrot with the people and things that make up its world.  Wild parrots are socialized by their parents, mates and flock members, but most or all of these important individuals may be unavailable to captives.  Un-socialized parrots generally live stress-filled lives and remain fearful of people.  Today we’ll take a look at some simple and effective socialization techniques. Read More »

The trimming of flight feathers is often touted as an important first step in training parrots and other birds, but the process has many other important implications that should not be overlooked.  Parrots, finches, softbills, quails – and, as you’ll see, Saurus Cranes – each present different considerations, as do your reasons for keeping the birds and the situations in which they are housed.

Age Considerations

It is true that, in general, birds with clipped wings are easier to work with and train than are those capable of flight.  This is the most common reason that owners trim flight feathers, and the fact that the feathers will grow back does seem to provide an “insurance policy” of sorts, in case all does not go as planned.  Read More »

Budgerigars, Lovebirds, Amazons, Macaws Cockatoos and other parrots are so intelligent that it is tempting to train them to speak and perform tricks right away.  However, socialization must come first, as un-socialized birds are virtually impossible to work with.

Socialization is the process of introducing the parrot to the world around it, so that the bird will accept its surroundings and react positively to the people and things that come in to its life.  Socialized birds also accept reasonable changes in their environment without experiencing undue stress. Read More »

Parrots that seem to dance in synchrony with music have long enchanted us, but were considered more of a curiosity than anything else.  However, Harvard University researchers now believe that the birds actually time their movements to the speed of individual beats, and are dancing in much the same manner as people! Read More »