Birds are sentient beings, and their feelings can be hurt. When they see a clear preference for another bird, especially when it’s flaunted in front of them, it will lead them to behavioral problems. Even the quiet bird who suffers in silence is likely to deliver an “out of the blue” bite one day when he’s had enough. Unhappy birds are known to pluck. You can’t blame them for their reactions when it is continually pointed out to them that they are second best.
It’s perfectly understandable that you might feel a special bond with one bird in particular. We have preferences among the people we associate with. We just have to be certain not to exclude the others who want to share our lives to any hurtful degree.
Click here to read the full article.
by Birdtricks.com
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Study: Parrot Parents Name Their Babies
Parrots, with their amazing abilities to mimic speech and talk to humans in addition to each other, are by far impressive communicators. But research shows that parrot conversations are even more complex. Each parrot has its own signature call that others use to address it, which is the parrot equivalent of having a name. But where do these “names” come from? New research has shown that just like with human babies, parrot parents name their offspring, even before the babies can communicate themselves.
Click here to read the full article.
by Erin Podolak
Click here to read the full article.
by Erin Podolak
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Mandatory Bird Education for Bird Owners
I keep in contact with people from a number of bird rescues. I am friends with some on Facebook and I make sure to keep them in my feed so that I have a daily reminder of all the homeless birds out there. I see many more coming into these facilities than I see going out.
As I scout around the internet, I am alarmed by questions such as: “I just got a sun conure. What do I feed him?” REALLY?? You brought a bird into your home without a clue what he eats?? That seems unfathomable to me. Know that my gripe is not with the uneducated owner, but with the person selling the bird who allowed the uneducated owner to leave the premises without any knowledge of what they were doing.
I understand how this happens at pet stores. Pet stores are in the retail business, not the animal welfare business. It simply so happens that the products they are selling are alive and intelligent, and have needs. It’s about money. I doubt a shoe salesman gives a second thought as to the well-being of the sandals he sold earlier in the week. “I sure do hope she is coordinating them with her handbag!”
Click here to read the full article.
by Birdtricks.com
As I scout around the internet, I am alarmed by questions such as: “I just got a sun conure. What do I feed him?” REALLY?? You brought a bird into your home without a clue what he eats?? That seems unfathomable to me. Know that my gripe is not with the uneducated owner, but with the person selling the bird who allowed the uneducated owner to leave the premises without any knowledge of what they were doing.
I understand how this happens at pet stores. Pet stores are in the retail business, not the animal welfare business. It simply so happens that the products they are selling are alive and intelligent, and have needs. It’s about money. I doubt a shoe salesman gives a second thought as to the well-being of the sandals he sold earlier in the week. “I sure do hope she is coordinating them with her handbag!”
Click here to read the full article.
by Birdtricks.com
Angus Case Reaches a Conclusion
As you have probably deduced from the photo above, the court’s decision was to conditionally return Angus to Justin. Two members of the Committee To Save Angus were present, one testified for the defense, but spoke honestly about the stupidity of his act. She added: “I was able to confirm that he’d been trying to educate himself by asking others for help and that he did have an excellent vet. The vet had provided a written reference and an offer to help Justin by maintaining contact with him/regular check ins. The magistrate asked if I was prepared to maintain contact as well, I said yes. He asked if I’d report any suspected cruelty to the RSPCA and I said ‘in a heartbeat’.”
Justin was offered a deal. In order to regain custody of his bird, he was required to plead guilty to animal cruelty, which he did not want to do because there was no malicious intent in his actions. Verbiage was changed to “conduct likely to cause suffering” and veered away from harsh language that would legally preclude him getting his bird back.
Click here to read the full article.
by Birdtricks.com
Monday, July 11, 2011
Giving Your Bird Too Much Seed Is Not a Good Diet
This is a very important topic for all parrot and bird owners.
Giving your bird a seed only diet is not a good, period!
It is like feeding your child potato chips every day for his entire life. Think of how sickly your child would be on a diet of that. He would develop malnutrition over a period of time and eventually die at a young age.
Unfortunately, when I bought my first cockatiel 14 years ago, I was told by the pet shop that a bag of cockatiel seed would be just fine for him. But this was not the case. At an older age around 7 my bird was developing health problems. He would become exhausted and weak when he would fly really fast with the other bird.
I changed him to a pellet diet of 3 different kinds mixed and crushed together to get him to eat a proper diet. Pellets are a must diet for your birds. It's like the meat and potatoes of the human diet. I also gave him and still do give him some fresh fruit and veggies on a daily basis Plus Birdie Bread I make homemade with an essential oil mix of 1 part flaxseed oil to 4 parts olive oil. I put just a drop on the birdie bread. Cockatiels can live to be 30 years old!
I still need to give my first cockatiel some supplements on a daily basis so he can keep up with his young friend of half his age. 14 is consided a young age for a cockatiel.
By the way. I do not recommend purchasing birds for pets. I recommend adopting one. There are so many abused and unwanted birds out there that need a loving home. Please adopt an unwanted parrot. Please do not buy.
Read More about feeding your birds too much seed.
Giving your bird a seed only diet is not a good, period!
It is like feeding your child potato chips every day for his entire life. Think of how sickly your child would be on a diet of that. He would develop malnutrition over a period of time and eventually die at a young age.
Unfortunately, when I bought my first cockatiel 14 years ago, I was told by the pet shop that a bag of cockatiel seed would be just fine for him. But this was not the case. At an older age around 7 my bird was developing health problems. He would become exhausted and weak when he would fly really fast with the other bird.
I changed him to a pellet diet of 3 different kinds mixed and crushed together to get him to eat a proper diet. Pellets are a must diet for your birds. It's like the meat and potatoes of the human diet. I also gave him and still do give him some fresh fruit and veggies on a daily basis Plus Birdie Bread I make homemade with an essential oil mix of 1 part flaxseed oil to 4 parts olive oil. I put just a drop on the birdie bread. Cockatiels can live to be 30 years old!
I still need to give my first cockatiel some supplements on a daily basis so he can keep up with his young friend of half his age. 14 is consided a young age for a cockatiel.
By the way. I do not recommend purchasing birds for pets. I recommend adopting one. There are so many abused and unwanted birds out there that need a loving home. Please adopt an unwanted parrot. Please do not buy.
Read More about feeding your birds too much seed.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
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