That Bird Blog

Wild and Pet Conures – Natural History and Captive Care – Part 1

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. The term “conure” includes a number of small to medium-sized parrots (i.e. genera Aratinga, Pyrrhura, Cyanoliseus and Nandayus) found from Mexico to southern South America. While not necessarily closely related, aviculturists lump them together for convenience sake. North America’s Carolina parakeet, closely related to Aratinga, would likely have been considered a [...]

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Wild and Pet Conures – Natural History and Captive Care – Part 1

Parrot Body Language – Puffed Feathers

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Parrots use a wide range of postures when communicating with one another and with their owners. Understanding the meaning of your parrot’s body language will simplify interactions with your pet, and is also important in assessing its health. Today we’ll look at puffed feathers - a behavior which can have several [...]

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Parrot Body Language – Puffed Feathers

Bird Reproduction – How Natural Social Behaviors Affect Captive Breeding

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Bird breeding is rarely as simple as putting a male and female together and hoping for the best. Even Budgerigars and others that been captive bred for thousands of generations remain influenced by ancestral behaviors. Understanding this will greatly improve our success at keeping and breeding birds in captivity. Social Behavior in [...]

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Bird Reproduction – How Natural Social Behaviors Affect Captive Breeding

Parrot Training Accidents – How Our Reactions May Confuse Parrots

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Birds of all types are surprisingly skilled at reading human body language, and making the connection between their body parts and ours (i.e., identifying eyes, mouth, etc.). I’ve always been surprised by this, because we are such different beings than birds, and our facial features do not seem to line up [...]

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Parrot Training Accidents – How Our Reactions May Confuse Parrots

Introducing Estrildid Finches – the Waxbills, Munias, Nuns and Grass Finches

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Among the130+ species of the family Estrildidae we find popular cage birds and highly endangered species. Some, such as the gorgeously colored Gouldian Finch, are both - at once rare in the wild yet abundant in the pet trade. Waxbills and their relatives are often the first finches aviculturists obtain after having [...]

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Introducing Estrildid Finches – the Waxbills, Munias, Nuns and Grass Finches

Parrot Bonding – Will my Budgie be a More Responsive Pet if Kept Alone?

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. I’m often questioned on the pros and cons of keeping Budgerigars (parakeets) and other parrots singly as opposed to in pairs or groups. Most folks are aware that parrots housed alone tend to form strong bonds to their owners, more so than birds that have others of their own kind to [...]

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Parrot Bonding – Will my Budgie be a More Responsive Pet if Kept Alone?

Top 6 Bird Care, Conservation and Natural History Websites

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Aviculturists are fortunate in having available a great many bird interest groups….following are several that I’ve found to be particularly worthwhile. Note: the websites are listed alphabetically, not in order of preference. The Avicultural Society of America I first began reading the ASA’s wonderful journal, The Avicultural Bulletin, while working at the Bronx [...]

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Top 6 Bird Care, Conservation and Natural History Websites

Bird Breeding – Why Do Good Parents Sometimes Attack Their Chicks?

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Parrots that pair up well, mate, hatch eggs and feed their chicks are every bird-breeders dream. However, some such birds present us with a frustrating situation - just as the chicks begin to grow feathers, one or both of the otherwise doting parents begin to pluck at their chicks’ feathers. Bleeding [...]

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Bird Breeding – Why Do Good Parents Sometimes Attack Their Chicks?

The English Budgerigar – Calmer and Quieter than its American Cousin?

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Recently, a bird owner confided to me that, although pets were prohibited in her tiny Manhattan apartment, she was able to keep an English budgerigar because it was very quiet and also a good deal less active than the American budgies which she had kept. Thinking back, I realized that English [...]

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The English Budgerigar – Calmer and Quieter than its American Cousin?

Avian Nutritional Considerations: Finches, Toucans and Other Birds

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here. Today we’ll take a look at some of the finer points (as opposed to the basics) involved in feeding canaries, doves, budgerigars, toucans and related birds. Please see Part I and Part II of this article for information on African Gray and Amazon Parrots, Mynas and Macaws. Finches The perception of finches as [...]

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Avian Nutritional Considerations: Finches, Toucans and Other Birds