Congo african grey

Outdoor aviaries have become all the rage in the avian community. It’s a great thing. There are untold benefits from getting our birds into just a few minutes of moderate, natural sunlight daily:

• Sunlight interacts with the oils from our parrot’s uropygial gland (which are spread throughout the feathers during preening) and converts to vitamin D3 in the body. Vitamin D3 has a large role in the body’s ability to maintain normal calcium levels in the blood and to absorb calcium, which in turn determines our bird’s bone, feather and beak health.
• Sunlight supports the immune system and greatly reduces the chances of developing cancer. It helps overall organ function.
• Sunlight has sterilizing qualities and kills bacterias on feathers, toys and cages.
• Sunlight wards off depression and fatigue – in all creatures.

We bird lovers are all over this and are looking at safe ways to take advantage of that big yellow thing that rises into the sky every day offering all of these glorious benefits – and for FREE! Not to mention the fresh air!

Hyacinth macaw

As a result, many people are looking at ways to build their own aviaries. There are some serious safety issues that need to be addressed, though,  before you try this. We want your birds healthy, but we also want them safe from injury, toxicity and predator attack.

It takes a lot of careful, thoughtful planning to build an aviary. Most that are not designed commercially are works in progress. Just about everyone I know who has built their own has discovered flaws in their planning and has had to rebuild or modify their aviary.

There are three main areas where these flaws are discovered:

Construction:
Plans that look good on paper do not always worked out well in construction. The places where the sides meet each other and the top of the aviary are one of the places where injury occurs. If they are not spaced properly or are unsteady they become areas where toes, beaks and wings can become caught. A gust of wind shaking the sides of one person’s aviary resulted in the loss of an entire foot of their bird.

Design:
Most of us are not engineers. However, most of us are talented enough to erect an enclosure that is cube-shaped. It seems logical that this would be sufficient for an aviary. Unfortunately, this design is responsible for the escape of many parrots as we enter the aviary. Commercial designs include an small area outside of the actual aviary (called a catch-hold) that you enter first and close off from the outside before opening the door to the aviary. Also, aviaries that are set directly on the ground might leave birds vulnerable to animals that can burrow underneath it to get in. Most people wouldn’t think to consider that fact.

Materials:
This might be the most important consideration in your planning. Almost all materials standardly used in construction of outdoor structures are made of things that are TOXIC TO BIRDS. Chain link? Toxic! Galvanized hardware? Toxic!  Pressure treated woods? Toxic!  NONE of these can be used around birds. Birds are chewers and they explore with their mouths. No one can say with certainty that their bird will not investigate a particular thing in their environment. Your “never-gets-into-anything” bird might shock you with what he does get into when you aren’t looking.

Rosebreasted cockatoos, african grey

The unfortunate truth is that to build a an aviary that meets all the necessary construction, design and materials safety standards, it won’t cost you a whole lot less than most commercial aviaries.This is mainly due to the right materials being unavailable at reasonable costs because of lack of demand.

As I explore the internet looking for products to recommend to people who want to make their own aviaries, I have come up with very little that is affordable. Zoo mesh is probably the most reliably safe product to use in a homemade aviary, but it costs between $30-40 per meter, which is just smaller than a yard, and is sold in minimum 100 meter quantities. That’s $3-4,000 for the fencing alone. (I don’t suppose a bunch of you would be interested in going in on some together??)

I also found this company, based in the UK, that has a reasonably priced product. They sell powder coated panels to your specification that are bolted together. The total cost of an 8X8′ aviary would be about $1100 – before shipping. Unfortunately, this does not include a catch-hold, but one could be added.

Military macaw

This post isn’t meant to scare you away from building your own aviary, but rather to encourage you to be extra careful in your planning of one if you do. I have mentioned above a few of the things that can go wrong in aviary planning, but there are certainly more to consider. It would be very sad to learn that someone who cared so much about their bird that they took the time to build an outdoor aviary had a death or injury as the result of their good intentions.

Camelot macaws allopreening

The winter months are some of the driest months of the year. Not only are the natural humidity levels typically down during these months, but heating systems further deplete the air of moisture. The result can be dry, itchy skin for everyone – humans and parrots alike.
Typically, when our skin gets dry, we grab some hand or body lotion. But when our parrot’s skin gets dry, they might scratch with their feet or make a fuss to let us know that they are uncomfortable. Some might begin to preen…and preen…and preen.  Some might cross the line into plucking to alleviate the itchiness.

Rosebreasted cockatoo

There are three courses of action we can take:

Bath your parrot more frequently. Somehow, bird owners have gotten the notion that it is unsafe to bathe parrots in the cold weather.This is simply untrue. For all the reasons listed above, it might be MORE important to get them nice and wet at least a couple of times a week during the winter. It is a necessary grooming procedure and your bird’s feather and skin health will suffer if it is overlooked.

If your house is cold and drafty, bathe your bird earlier on so it can dry off during the warmest time of the day and be completely dry for bedtime.This is more for comfort than safety.Your bird is not going to “catch it’s death of cold” from being wet in the winter any more than you will. Being cold AND wet temporarily lowers the body’s immune system. It makes one more susceptible to disease but does not CAUSE illness. Don’t let this misinformation cause you to avoid baths in the winter.

Buy a humidifier. Here is a post that outlines the different types available and which ones are safest for use with parrots.

Use bath sprays.There are several brands available on the market today. When it comes to selecting these products (or any type of product) for your parrots, go for the ones with the fewest ingredients. They are typically the safest and most natural. I have gone through the ingredients in the some of the more popular bath sprays and these are my findings:

• Avix Rain – This product uses ingredients that can be irritants to eyes and skin. It also appears that the more natural ingredients they use are of low quality.
  
• Avix Soother Plus – This product is frequently recommended, but it is an analgesic with medicinal purposes and is not all natural. I don’t recommend this product for aiding dry skin at all.
  
• Mango Parrot Bath Spray – Not even going to go here. These morons sell this SHAMPOO(??) stating this in their product description: ” Caution: Parrot Shampoo is extremely mild but keep away from eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth.” Run away. Run far away.
  
• THE WINNER:  George’s Aloe – Its ingredients are 100% Aloe Barbadensis Miller, a species of Aloe native to northern Africa. It can be purchased in gallon jugs making it by far the cheapest choice. You simply dilute it and put it in a spray bottle. Aloe, as it has multiple uses, is something we should all have on hand in our first aid kits for the treatment of cuts and burns.

Indian ringneck

Whichever product you decide on, spray some on your hand before you spray it on your bird so that you can feel the texture and consistency. You should not be able to actually feel any of the ingredients. There should only be the feeling of soothing moisture. If  it feels oily to you, it will to your bird. It is in a bird’s nature to remove anything foreign from the feathers and your bird will set out to remove the what doesn’t belong. Even the oils secreted from their own preen glands are barely detectable. Never use more than what is recommended with the idea that you are making your bird even more comfortable. You will in fact be causing him distress and givng him a reason to over preen.

The following question came up recently on our Facebook page.  I was unable to answer it and turned to Mel Vincent, a wildlife rescuer located in Western Australia. Not only does she keep this species herself, but she is fortunate enough to be able to observe many in her own backyard! We are grateful that she stepped in with her expertise to address the uncertainty on line. Thanks so much, Mel!

Q: Do you guys know what part of Australia the dark morph Galah is from? I found two site’s with info about them, one show’s the dark morph and says it’s the western subspecies, but then another breeder’s site show’s the western species and they’re only slimmer, not darker. I really want to know more about my Galah Rosie since I’ve already missed (at least) the first 20 years of her life and the USDA QT information on imported birds is no longer available.

A: That’s a fun question!  The person who posted this has been trying to get this question answered on the parrot forums for a while.  They’ve hit on a very difficult topic.  I say difficult, because there is a lot of conflicting information out there on the subspecies of rose breasted cockatoos/galahs.

60 year old galah Cocky Boy Photo by Mel Vincent

Photo by Mel Vincent

10 year old Morgy, a female roseicapillus. Photo by Mel Vincent

That said though, the periopthalmic rings can change with age, diet, weather… I have photos of all of my birds at different times with different colour rings, lighter/darker grey feathers.  I can also say that it seems to be a general rule that the younger the bird the less skin around the eye.

From left Merlin, Nemo and Morgy. Photo by Mel Vincent

5 Wild eastern galahs Photo by Mel Vincent

Wild eastern galahs Photo by Mel Vincent

Photo of african grey by parrotsancturay.co.cc

Just like people, parrots sometimes find themselves in a place in life where they have a hard time getting around. This might be the result of a deformity, an injury or the struggles of old age. And, just like people, parrots learn to adapt to their circumstances with a little help from those around them.

To most people it makes sense that a parrot hatched with a deformity would be better able to learn to get by. After all, it has never known any other way. But how could a parrot that lost a foot in an injury learn to adapt when everything a parrot does involves its feet? How could a blind parrot learn to navigate it’s cage without hands to guide him in the darkness?

The answer to these questions is quite simple: a parrot makes the difficult adjustment because it must in order to survive. And frankly, it is a lot easier for a parrot to adapt because they don’t suffer from bouts of self pity the way humans do. They don’t waste time or energy thinking “Why me?”, or considering “If only…” They see a task ahead of them and they get to it. The footless parrot plots out another means of getting from point A to B. The blind parrot learns to rely more heavily on its other senses.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t do everything we can to make the cage more practical for our special needs parrots. Our highest priority should be in the matter of safety. Until which time the bird recovers or has adapted to its infirmity, we must be certain they are not in danger when perching or moving around the cage.

Footless african grey photo by Anna Sloan

A few years ago, a friend took in two handicapped african greys. Shortly after hatching, their parents bit off their feet, for reasons no one will ever know. If I remember correctly, the breeder’s solution to the problem was a river and a bag of rocks, but fortunately someone stepped in and they wound up in the care of my friend. Each bird had a different degree of “disability”. One had remnants of feet, one had only stumps. They both needed special considerations for their care.

Obviously, the biggest obstacle was finding a way to offer comfort and stability in perching. Below is a photo of a starter cage that my friend modified to suit the needs of one of the birds. The cage is large enough to encourage active play, but small enough to prevent injury during a fall from any real height. Everything is padded for comfort, while offering help with balance. The climbing ramp is wound with rope to add traction for footless-ness.

Aside from the obvious special caging and perching needs of the greys, some unanticipated problems arose, such as how to confidently step up a footless bird. It is difficult for a human to be a stable perch for a bird with no toes to grasp fingers or wrists. This resulted in some trust issues as the birds struggled to feel secure when being held by humans, but it was sorted out with patience and diligence. There is more to tending to special needs than meets the eye but the birds did remarkably well and have since gone on to new homes.

Photo and cage modification by Anna Sloan

Recently, someone contacted me because her bird was going blind. She was very upset, but I explained to her that this was not the end of the world – for her or her bird. She sent me some video footage of her bird’s cage and in the end we decided to change nothing. Her bird had been in that cage for its entire life and was quite aware of where the food bowls were and how the perching was laid out. As its vision declined, the bird was showing that it was quite capable of navigating the cage without any problems.

I think one of the biggest challenges with having a special needs parrot comes from within ourselves. Very often, their physical shortcomings are a bigger deal to us than it is to them.  Birds are very reactive to the stress levels of their people, and wouldn’t it be ironic that while we fret over making their lives livable in the face of their handicap, that we are actually making it more tense with our own stress?

Photo of handicapped budgie by avianweb.com

Once we have tended to their health issues and to their safety, we really must learn to back away and let the bird take it from there. Their perseverence will astound you. It’s important that we don’t over-assist our birds. In doing so, we might take away opportunities for exercise, which might be somewhat limited anyways. Once your bird has adjusted to his new way of life, be sure to allow him opportunities to explore and play like any other bird. We want to help make life do-able without crossing the line to where it is sedentary or boring.

Budgie

I feel it is important to admit to and talk about my mistakes. It is a learning experience for you readers, and a humbling reminder for me. Yes, even we who spend our days trying to coach you on the whys and whats of bird ownership blow it from time to time. In a classic idiot manoeuver, I indirectly caused an injury to one of the Womach budgies.

The smallest birds live in the house upstairs in what I call the spare birdroom. My cockatiels and quaker are still a bit wary of the Womach’s flock and we keep them and the budgies separated inside. Theo (my goffins cockatoo) has her night cage set up in that room as well and she is moved back to her main cage in the morning.

This morning I went about cleaning the cages in the upstairs birdroom. The budgies upstairs cage, which I saved for last, needs to be dismantled to be cleaned thoroughly. When it came time to do that cage I decided to put Nikko and Visa inside Theo’s empty sleeper cage for the few minutes it would take to run downstaris and wash their grate and bottom tray.

Budgies

I distinctly remember hesitating when I put them into Theo’s cage. I was very aware that the bar spacing was far too large to contain a budgie, but I ignored  my concerns and opted to just shut the door to the room in case of an escape. I did not take into account other possible hazards to them. I expected they would just stay put until I got back. Wrong…well, half wrong. Visa stayed put. Nikko flew over to the cage top of Libby, my quaker, and landed.

Quakers are very territorial. They don’t like anyone invading areas that they regard as a nesting site – primarily the cage – and certainly no other bird species are allowed. Through the bars of her cage, Libby went after Nikko’s tiny feet, although I have to say, not with the deadly force she could have imposed.

When I came upstairs, Nikko was, for reasons beyond my understanding, still on top of Libby’s cage. Libby was at the bottom looking guilty. I could tell in an instant that something was wrong just by the puffy appearance of Nikko feathers, and, sure enough, there were small woulds on Nikko’s left foot and an abrasion on one of the toes on the right.

Wet budgies

Fortunately, all the injuries were minor and treatable at home. I know that bird’s feet are very susceptible to infection following injury and took preventative measures against that. All in all, it turned out much better than it might have, given the difference in size of the two birds.

BUT there is no excuse for my lapse in judgement. This was not Nikko’s fault for escaping an inappropriate cage. It was not Libby’s fault for defending her territory. I am entirely to blame. I knowingly put the budgies in a cage that they could get out of, in a room with larger birds that could injure them, because it was easy. I certainly know better than that, and have, in the past, warned other people about making that same mistake.

So, the moral of the story is this: take the necessary time and action to do things the right way. Be aware of ANY dangers in your bird’s environment, and never assume your bird will stay put and avoid those dangers in your absense – no matter how shart a period of time you might be gone.

Rosebreasted cockatoo and cat

There have been so many pictures posted on the the Facebook page recently depicting parrots playing with the family pets that I thought a post on the subject was a needed. I know this is is going to make me seem like a killjoy, but I feel it’s necessary to warn you of the dangers of allowing members of your feathered and furry family to interact.

When I was younger, I always had any number of different animals sharing my home. Most of them were not species that we traditionally think of as being compatible: dogs-cats-rodents-birds. However, they all managed to get along and some even became good friends. It wasn’t unusual to find one of my daughters missing rats curled under the chin of our sleeping dog, or one of the cockatiels preening the fur on our cat’s head.

It was kind of cool, and was always a surprise to our houseguests that our menageie of animals were all so willing to interact and share quarters. I always though of our home as a place where all creatures, big and small, could come and be part of a larger family. We all got along.

Blue throated macaw and cat

Then, one summer, on separate nights, my cat brought home the remains of a field mouse and a sparrow. Lovingly, she left them in my bed in the middle of the night for me to discover in the morning. The only thing more horrible than finding their tiny corpses was the realization that my cat had killed both a mouse and a bird – two species with which she freely interacted in the house.

I had no choice but to rethink the way we were doing things with our animals. I began to study animal insticts in depth. I read about the dogs that were bred as “birders” in hunting sports (retrievers, spaniels, pointers). I eventually came to the understanding that while an animal’s wild instincts might be repressed, buried under years of domestication and training, they are still present and are sometimes expressed at the most unexpected times.

I discovered that instincts are not entirely controllable in animals, and are definitely beyond the understanding of the human race. When a cat is paired with a bird or a rodent, instict bubbles just under the surface waiting for the right trigger to set the hunt into motion. We can’t fully fathom what those triggers are, and we cannot keep them at bay.

Rosebreasted cockatoo and cat

In just the past year, I have had two people tell me of the deaths of their beloved birds following attacks by their family dogs. One death was immediate, the other bird died as a result of infection. My friend hadn’t noticed that the bird had been scratched by the dog’s nail or tooth. All mammals (including us!) carry gram negative bacteria in our mouths, which is transferred to other parts of the body – such as claws and fur – through saliva. Bird’s bodies do not harbor this bacteria naturally and it can be deadly to them when left untreated. (For this same reason, we should not let our birds play with the toys of any pet mammals in the house.)

We all love the romantic notion that our home is a place where all species show respect and love for one another. While we may live in peace and harmony on most days, this can change in the blink of an eye when a single, unobservable event triggers the hunting instinct in one of your animals resulting in the death of another.

Blue fronted amazon and cat

Please be VERY AWARE AT ALL TIMES if you allow your pets to share a communal play area. I don’t want you to discover a tragedy by noticing a blue and gold feather hanging from the chin of your dog like someone I know recently did.