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.

Blue and gold macaws

Q: I recently read that a good way to give your bird exercise is to hold its feet and drop your arm to make your bird flap its wings. I’m afraid my bird will bite me if I try this. What is your opinion?

 - Sarah G., Great Neck, NY

A: It is very important that your bird gets plenty of regular exercise. This can come from climbing, walking and flying. We will often notice our birds flapping their wings wildly inside the cage while gripping onto the bars. Exercise is something they both want and need and we should do everything we can to promote activity and provide the means for it.
However, “the drop”, as it was once known, is detrimental to your relationship with your bird. This method of forcing movement will only serve to cause mistrust.

When we offer our hand to our birds, they will eagerly step up knowing we are providing them a stable place to perch. They utilize our hands for travel between one place and another. And our hands are a place where they feel safe in our care. Your birds looks to you for its security.

Blue and gold macaws

If you suddenly and deliberately cause your bird to lose its footing and scramble to hang on because it believes it is falling, you can bet that you will simultaneously cause it to lose its confidence in you as a risk-free place to be. Using the drop says that the human hand, yours in particular, is unreliable.  It says to your bird that YOU can’t be trusted with its well-being. And yes, it could result in a bite – even if it is one that results from your bird having to use its beak suddenly to right itself.

The drop can make your efforts to step your bird up in the future uncertain and diminish the possibility of success in training recall. If you do not represent a place of comfort and safety to your bird, he will choose to be elsewhere.

Camelot macaws

Q: I like to buy my produce from local farmers and it usually takes several days before the food I buy gets used up. How many days in a row can I give my birds the same foods before they get bored?
- Tamara T.,  Houston, TX

A: I think it’s wonderful that you buy your produce from local farmers. It is something we should all consider doing. Not only does it support your community, but the quality of the produce is better than that which you will find in your local supermarket. Good for you.

The answer to your question calls for a bit of speculation. It is impossible, of course, to get inside the heads of our parrots and most of the judgements that we make on their behalf are based on our observations of their preferences.

A wild bird spends most of its day foraging for food. A flock might locate and feed on the same food source for weeks before it is depleted and they move on to another source. With this in mind, it seems completely reasonable to me that can you feed your birds the same food until it runs out. But is this acceptable to your bird?

Locally grown black raspberries

In captivity, your birds gets what you give them – whether it’s what they would choose for themselves, whether it’s in or out of season. Our indoor birds have an entirely different dining experience than that of their outdoor cousins, but food, and feeding, is no less important to them.

Utimately, a successful parrot diet relies on both you and your bird. Your job is to be thoughtful and creative in your decisions about the diet.You should offer foods in ways that increase the likelihood that your bird will eat it. This is as much about your preparation and presentation of food as it is about the type of food you are serving. If you have several days worth of green beans to go through, try to serve them in different ways each day. You could leave them whole one day, dice them the next, steam them on the following day.

You need to keep in mind, however, not to let the food sit for too long in your fridge. For each day that goes by there is a marked decrease in its nutirional value. If you have more than four or five days worth of a particular food, consider freezing the rest. It is best that you make that decision on day one and freeze a portion while it is still at its nutritional peak.

Your bird’s job is to eat the food you prepare…and fling some against the wall, drop some on the floor for the dog, and make parrot soup by filling the water bowl with any leftovers. You get to clean up.

photo by benefitsof honeyblog.com

For those of you with outdoor aviaries or cages for your birds, I am sure the consideration of insects has crossed your mind. Can they be harmful to your parrot?

BEES:

Bees are not terribly fast moving and are really no match for the speed of your parrot. Any bee that gets close enough to your bird will be moving right on it’s way as soon as it realizes the speed and agility with which a parrot a parrot can manoeuvre that snapping beak. And if a bee were to make an undetected landing on your bird, it’s stinger isn’t really long enough to penetrate the feathers to make contact with the skin.

Bees really have no interest in stinging unless there is a threat perceived. A parrot that is outside sunning itself doesn’t really represent a threat and a bee might only make an appearance to check out what was for lunch in your birds bowl. In this regard, just let nature be and your parrot can look out for himself.

I must tell you, though, that a notification came through the BirdTricks customer service office not too long ago that was just horrifying. We learned that the large outdoor aviaries of a breeder were deluged with attacking bees resulting in the deaths of 12 macaws. We aren’t sure what caused the bees to attack, but birds can be overcome by swarming bees that will burrow under feathers and sting – the result can be fatal.

It’s a good idea to walk the area surrounding your aviaries to know if there are hives nearby. If bees decide to attack, your caged birds are helpless to escape.

photo by nationalgeographic.com

MOSQUITOES/GNATS:

Mosquitoes and gnats are annoying to everyone, parrots included. They, unlike bees, are not particulary concerned with the snapping beak and will remain in the area and do what they do best – bite.  If you have a species that have patches of bare skin on their faces, like macaws, or if your bird is a plucker, you might notice the irritation of bites on their faces and bodies.

Apart from using bug zappers there really isn’t much you can do except to bring your birds in at sundown when the bugs are out in full force. The oil in citronella candles produce fumes that are unsafe for birds, and backyard foggers will coat the aviaries and perches with toxins. Neither are acceptable solutions.

You should know that birds are susceptible to West Nile Virus if they are bitten by a mosquito that has been feeding on an infected wild bird. It is a contagious disease that causes inflammation to the brain and can be fatal. It is considered to be uncommon in many places, but in those areas, such as Florida, where mosquitoes flourish there have been several reported cases.

Photo by nicoledpe255.blogspot.com

FLIES/FRUIT FLIES:

Flies are not only an annoyance, but they spread bacteria and disease. They, themselves, are not harmful to your parrot, but are more dangerous to your parrot’s environment – or more precisely, the part of your parrots’ environment that ends up in its mouth.

Flies are generally the result of uncleanliness with food left lying around on the ground and unemptied garbage cans being the major contributors to the problem in the average bird home. If you feed them they will come…and lay eggs…and never leave.

Fortunately, fruit flies are not disease spreaders because with the foods we commonly feed our parrots, they do appear from time to time. The sticky traps work wonderfully in collecting fruit flies making it easy to rid yourself of them. Be sure to keep the traps, which look like wonderfully fun bird toys, well out of reach. There have many unhappy birds who have lost patches of feathers during the removal of fly traps that they have gotten into.

photo by how-to-get-rid-of-ants.info

For the most part, under normal conditions, there is no reason to worry about flying insects with your birds. Birds are well adept at handling all things outdoors-y. That is their original stomping ground, after all.

Photo of bare eyed cockatoo by Anna Sloan

Thanksgiving will be here in a few days. I am sure you are all running around like crazy trying to prepare. I just want to take a minute to remind you to practice caution with your parrots on this holiday.

Thanksgiving is an exciting day for both the family and the flock. There is a lot of activity and excitement and with that we may not necessarily be on our game where the parrots are concerned. This holday is centered around the kitchen where there will be hot burners and cooking foods, perhaps open flame.

As much as you might like to let your parrot be involved in the family festivities, the kitchen on Thanksgiving is not the best place for a parrot. There are too many distractions for you to be fully aware of your parrot’s safety and, therefore, too many opportunities for disaster.

I can’t remember a Thanksgiving that did not result in an accident with somebody’s parrot – usually involving an escape as people come or go from the house. Please use “better safe than sorry” thinking this year.

Camelot macaw

I also want to remind you that not all foods that we serve on Thanksgiving are great choices for birds, or more precisely, the preparation of these foods makes them less than ideal. If it is your intention to share your meal with the birds, please try to keep it as healthy for them as possible.

Most traditional Thanksgiving menus contain foods that are very healthy – until we add the butter and the sour cream and the cream cheese and the sugars…  However, as we are cooking we can set aside some potato, yams and vegetables for the birds before we add all our human accoutrements that make them so deliciously unhealthy.

We can make special birdy stuffing from cubed whole grain breads and add thyme or sage, nuts, raisins and dried cranberries all softened with boiling water. Your parrot might want to indulge in a bit of turkey breast, which would be fine in moderation.

Since I don’t know any of my birds’ hatch dates, I celebrate their “birthdays” collectively on Thanksgiving for the obvious reason: I am very grateful for their presence in my life. I have been known to over-indulge them on this day. There certainly isn’t any shortage of food with which to do so.

Linus in NM. Photo by Anna Sloan

Q: What is loud, destructive, high maintenance and totally missed?

 - Patty J., Orlando, FL

A: Linus the umbrella cockatoo.

People have been asking how Linus is doing in New Mexico. It’s hard for me to write about it because I think the only way I get through this is by not thinking about it – or trying not to. I am grateful to so completely trust the person taking care of Linus that I never have to worry for his physical well being. That fact is comforting enough that I am able to push him from my thoughts when I start to get teary eyed. I am simply unaccustomed to life without him.

For those of you unaware, Linus is staying at the home of a friend whom I have known for several years. With the return of Jamie and Dave and their flock, we decided that it would be best for Linus to be elsewhere while we worked on some projects. Linus has shown himself to be somewhat uncooperative around the Womachs, perhaps because of a past history they share to which he has taken exception for reasons only a cockatoo understands.

Linus is a temperamental bird – “edgy” describes him well. He is assertive about his rights. He doesn’t like to feel disrespected or disregarded. He will make his opinions known. He is also very fair and very patient, but there is a point where he draws the line, and he needs to be handled by someone experienced who will recognize those signs. When he is handled properly, he is a terrific bird.

He particularly enjoys manipulating anyone who shows themselves to be nervous or uncertain around him.So, of course, when he arrived in New Mexico, his first order of business was to test the mettle of his temporary caregiver to see what he could get away with. He did this by refusing to step up for her and held on to cage bars with an unbreakable grip. My clever friend, knowing how to appeal to the vanity of a cockatoo, sweet talked him into cooperation before he even knew what was happening. She knows that the trick to success with an uncooperative cockatoo is in making them feel that everything was THEIR idea.

It didn’t take long for Linus to realize that her game was as good as his and he gave up testing her at every turn. With this out of the way, they are able to move on with things and really get to know each other.

He is currently being housed in a room with several other large cockatoos whose company he seems to enjoy. It would appear that when gathered together, male cockatoos enjoy competing to see who can scream the loudest. I’m betting Linus has won a match or two.

I talked to my friend today. She said everything is going just fine. Linus has been friendly and cooperative with her and the volunteers at her rescue. And she seemed to be able to hear me during the conversation. That is a very good sign.