We wear many hats as bird owners: we’re cooks, toy makers, housekeepers and behavioral analysts.  I once read: “Yur day job iz how ya ern muney, yur reel job iz to spend it on yur handsum burd”  by author Mango McCaw. If your parrot had to go out and find work (oh, the indignity!), what would he do?
I think this is what best suits my birds:

Theo, goffins cockatoo, 24
I used to think of Theo as a philosopher, quietly contemplating the things around her.  Lately, though, I have thought of her as more of a novelist.  Her active imagination has more than once created a scary monster out of an inanimate object, the latest being the bath brush in the shower. Yesterday it was a scaly, howling beast intent on savaging the world (or at least the bathroom), today it was just a personal hygiene tool.  I also think that her remarkable measures of patience and tolerance would make her a valued school teacher, although story-time might cause the children to have nightmares.

Linus, umbrella cockatoo, 18
Linus, would be a fine woodworker,  but I think engineering is his true calling.  This bird can do things with his cage cover while I’m at work that defy the laws of physics. Cockatoos are known for their skills in this area, and for their flare for the dramatic, but that he is able to weave the fabric through a dozen cage bars, around his perch and meticulously through the eye-screw hole just baffles me. Then there was the knot I found tied at the end. He is very talented.

Libby, quaker parrot, 4
Quakers are uniquely qualified in the field of architecture, with a little interior designer thrown in.  If you’ve ever seen one of the huge, multi-roomed, condo-like structures that quakers build on city transformers, you’d know what I’m talking about. Libby apparently didn’t get that contractor’s gene but is still an interesting and well rounded little bird.  I think she would do any job well.  As long as she was the boss.  And the food availability was non-stop.  A girl’s gotta keep up her strength.

Nikko and Visa, budgies, 2
Jamie and Dave’s budgies are hard to figure out.  I have always seen them in the roles of the drowning swimmer (Nikko) and the lifeguard (Visa).  When I first came to Orlando, Nikko had contracted a infection which required months of medication.  After the Womachs left for their tour, I was the evil stranger who reached into the cage with a huge hand to capture and torture her. Visa took up the role as bodyguard and positioned himself between my hand and Nikko, threatening to bite if I proceeded.  Recently, I found Nikko in the cage with a toe injury. Visa was standing guard over her.  It was days later that I discovered that Visa also inflicted the injury. So, who knows?  Nikko has had hard life health-wise and might find it satisfying and rewarding to help the less fortunate.  Visa would make an excellent prison inmate.

Tinky and DeeDee, cockatiels, 16
The cockatiels are not suited to work outside the home.  Instead, they would prefer to be kept in the manner to which they are accustomed.  The pampered life as the wives of an insanely rich man would work well for them.
It’s career day. What line of work is your parrot best suited to?

There are countless sources of information about parrots online.  There are online forums and web pages that are dedicated solely to the specific bird you are looking for.  There are sites for conures, macaws,  cockatoos, eclectus, you name it.  Within each group you can learn the habits of the individual species.

The behavior differences between a macaw and a cockatoo are enormous, but even within a family of birds, different species behave differently.  For instance, the goffins cockatoo species is entirely different from the umbrella cockatoo.  Then when you throw in the independent personalities of each bird, there’s a lot to consider before you buy.  If you do your homework by looking into the natural inclinations and behaviors of a species that you are interested in, you are less likely to have a parrot that doesn’t fit in your household.

Ask yourself these question.  Within each question are more question to break it down further.  I will use a “typical” african grey as an example of how this species might or might not work in different households:

1.  Which parrot will fit with my my lifestyle?

• Do you live in a noisy, chaotic home that is filled with children and other pets? This may not be the best environment for the typical african grey, which has a tendency towards fearfulness.  A calm home that is not full of surprises is a better match.
• Do you live in an apartment or have neighbors in nearby? Since they are not considered to be loud parrots, african greys are great apartment birds.  This is not to say that they can’t raise the roof, it’s that they generally don’t choose to.  Be prepared for morning and evening vocalizations with whatever species you select.
• Do you work out of your home? This is the ideal situation for an african grey.  Since they are quiet(ish) as parrots go, you can go about your paperwork and phone calls without much interruption.  And your bird will get to have you around all day!

2.  What kind of owner am I going to be?

• Are you looking for a bird that might talk? Needless to say, the african grey is at the head of the classwith its ability to talk and comprehend.  Know, however, that yours may not.  Some prefer to imitate sounds  like the telephone, car alarms, kitchen timers, dripping faucets, and the alien spacecraft that apparently landed in your backyard recently.  (Half the fun in this is trying to identify the sounds and figure out where he picked them up.)
• Do you want a bird that enjoys being handled? Not all greys like to be handled. While there are some snugglers out there, this is not a typical trait.  Some prefer to watch from a distance.
• Will you make time to devote to a pet that requires a lot of care and interaction in order to thrive? The african grey is very intelligent and perceptive, perhaps even hyper-aware of its environment.  It requires a lot of interaction and needs to be included in the life and energy of its owner.
• Can you bring up a parrot the right way? African greys are are no different than other species in their need to be well-adjusted.  How your bird behaves in general depends on being taught him how to play independently to occupy his time on his own.  A parrot that feels bonded to its people, and has a sense of security, will find no need to play attention getting games.

There are many more questions to ask with regards to your environment and level of care you are willing to give.  There are some situations that are preferred for this particular species, but it will vary from bird to bird.  I know greys that are quite outgoing and love a house filled with craziness.  I know one that has never uttered a word or imitated a sound.  Some prefer multi-bird homes, others prefer to be the only child.  Your birds personality plays a big role in how well it will adapt, but knowing the probabilities will help you make the right selection.

After you’ve done all your research and found a great species match and your cockatoo turns out not to be a snuggler, or your cockatiel  prefers to hang out in its cage instead of in the family room, will you be accepting of that?

We have all fallen victim to the unforeseen parrot bite at one time or another.  Usually, our feelings are hurt worse than our flesh.  The only thing you can think to say at the time is: “What the…?!”  Here are some common scenarios that are typical of the “unexpected” or “unprovoked” bite:

1) You’re enjoying some quiet out of cage time with the eclectus and a good book.  You are stretched out on the couch and your sweet little bird is preening at your shoulder.  Out of the blue, you have a nose piercing…
“Out of cage” time and time spent with your parrot are two different things.  The time your bird spends on it’s kitchen perch watching you do the dishes cannot be a substitute for hands-on, interactive play, training and communication.  While out of cage time is enjoyable for your bird, time spent engaging your bird is more important.  It is stimulating, creative and an important part of  your bonding process.
I have always been amazed at just how patient my parrots are with my “human-ness” and my hectic life.  They put up with a lot, but even the most easy going of my birds will let me know when enough is enough.  If we don’t pay attention to the body language and sure signs of discontent, it would seem like their mood turned on a dime, catching us completely off guard.
This is likely the cause of the above “unexpected” bite.  It is probable that the eclectus was waiting for interaction from it’s owner, and as it was perched on the shoulder, out of the line of sight, the signals were missed.  A bite may have been the only way left to get the attention of his owner who was absorbed in a book.

2) Your african grey is contentedly pulling a one-footer on his favorite perch in the back corner of his cage.  You walk up to the cage and politely invite him out for a visit.  You reach in to retrieve him and then wham!  You count your fingers, expecting not to get past four.

I think that the normal usage of the beak is more for chewing and less for biting. In  a wild setting, birds typically squabble for perching rights, food and territory.  Rarely, very rarely, do birds ever engage in bloodshed.  Most birds will typically flee rather than fight.  Given this fact, trainer Steve Martin makes an excellent point in that our caged birds have had the alternative to flee removed and sometimes the only recourse is to bite.

Taking this into account, if your bird preferred to stay in his cage to sleep, what were his options in this example of the “unprovoked” bite? Being  that he was cornered in a cage with a “demanding” hand in his space, as the bird may have perceived the event,  he was left with little alternative. And, not to mention, most people clip their birds’ wings nowadays so the “flight” part of fight or flight is missing and all that’s left is fight.

Since there was no emergency requiring that your bird readily step up, retrieve your hand and let him be.  If your bird doesn’t immediately and eagerly respond, it is a sign that he would prefer to stay where he is.  There is no good reason to force your will on a parrot, opt instead for a cooperative effort and a meeting of the minds.  You will find that the more respect you show your parrot, the more agreeable he will be to seeing things your way at times when you need or want him to.

3)  Your sun conure is very bonded to you and wants to be a part of everything you do. Your husband and the bird do not share the same good relationship.  She is happily perched on your shoulder while you go about household tasks.  Your husband approaches you, and your sun conure takes a bite out of YOUR chin.  Why?

This is a very common scenario. Why would a bird bite its chosen person?  Here are a few different perspectives:

Avian behaviorist and author Sally Blanchard states that when a bird feels threatened in the wild, it will bite its mate causing it to flee.  Since a single bird cannot defend its mate and territory at the same time, this action frees it of the immediate responsibility to the mate and allows it to concentrate on the defense of territory.

Steve Martin, however, contests this by saying that biting one’s mate is a poor species survival strategy, and doesn’t do much good in terms of bonding among mates.

Mattie Sue Athen, author of Guide To A Well Behaved Parrot, puts it down to “displaced aggression”, citing that birds are of the mind that “when you can’t be with the one you want to bite, bite the one you’re with”.

I find some truth in all of these perspectives.  The one common denominator is probably hormones.  In this case, the sun conure has chosen the wife as her mate and is defending its territory by deflecting the attentions of the disliked husband.

The first part of the problem lies in allowing a bird to respond well only to you.  It is your duty to see that your parrot be socialized, not only to everyone one in the household, but to all humans.  If something were to happen to you, the parrot would likely spend the remainder of it’s lifetime being bounced from home to home to shelter because of its inability to get along with anyone that isn’t you.  It’s unfair and completely unnecessary.

Make sure your bird is handleable by everyone from its first day in your home. Birds very often will choose a favorite person that he prefers to be with.  That’s just fine, as long as it also plays nicely with the rest of the family.  Let those “out of favor” be the ones who do the fun things like offer treats and fun interaction and training.  Gradually bring your parrot around to being a family bird.

Any of this sounding familiar? More often than not, it is the circumstances accompanying the bite that are more questionable than the bite itself.  In almost every case where a human is bitten by a parrot, the fault lies with the human and not with the “unreasonable” parrot.  The trick is in learning to read your bird’s body language and signs, understanding a bird’s natural responses, avoiding situations that might be problematic and forming a bridge of communication with your parrot that you can both understand through training.

Photo by Alan Lee

In the early morning hours, as the sun is rising and weather permitting, wild parrots all over the world visit clay licks on tall riverbanks to eat dirt.  This practice has long confounded bird watchers, conservationists and scientists alike, and while all of the benefits of this activity are still a mystery, more and more is being discovered and understood.

Wild parrots forage on plants, their fruits and their seeds as part of  their natural diet.  However, plants naturally produce chemicals, poisons, that protect themselves, their unripened fruits and seeds from violators.  As parrots consume these plants, they can become laden with toxins that can overwhelm their system and interfere with nutrient and mineral absorption.  They get tummy aches.  Their diet is less complete.

Photo by InkaNatura.com

Enter the clay lick.  Not only are the cliffs at the riverbank rich with the minerals that are missing from the parrot’s natural diet, but the clay content in the soil contains some of the same ingredients found in our over-the-counter stomach and digestion ailment products.  Clay coats the intestinal tract and binds to the toxins that have been eaten and passes them through the digestive system so that they are not able to be absorbed into the blood stream.

There are still many questions about the clay licks that go unanswered: for instance, it’s unknown how often a single parrot visits his local clay lick.  It isn’t understood why that, while parrots benefit from a high clay content in riverbank soil, they don’t also ingest other soils that have been tested and shown to have a higher nutritional content.

There certainly isn’t enough knowledge about this behavior for us to be adding clay to OUR parrot’s diets, although some products now include clay in their list of ingredients.  We simply don’t know how much is being safely consumed in the wild.  It makes me wonder what other resources wild parrots and animals are using for medicinal purposes and health benefits that we don’t yet know about.  We owe a huge debt to these pioneers who have taught the human race so much.

Photo by Alan Lee

Field researchers logged in about 1,000 parrots visiting the clay lick in Tambopata, Peru early one morning.  Can you imagine the noise? Most people seem to associate the macaw with clay licks, but, in actuality, there are many species that benefits from them.  Parakeets, amazons, pionus, caiques, african greys, conures, lorikeets and parrotlets are some of the others parrot species that frequent the clay licks as well as many mammals.

Clay licks have become a huge attraction for eco-tourists. There are many eco-tours that make the clay licks a focal point in the tour and lodges have been built locally to house the tourists.  This brings a lot of money into the local economy and helps to support the conservational efforts for these magnificent parrots.

A few weeks ago, I was going out of town for a few days. I was very busy around the house getting things together and although I had prepared their food for the rest of the day and had their care for the rest of the week handled, I hadn’t spent my usual time with Roxanne, Charlie, and Skittle. I rushed out the door anyways, but I didn’t make it to the end of my street when I had the overwhelming desire to turn back around and spend a few more minutes with my birds before I went without them for a few days. I came back into the house and into the room where they all sat- just kinda looking at me, almost astonished to see me back so soon. I didn’t have much time to spend, but what kind of individual quality time could I possibly give 3 parrots in a 10 minute span?

Living day in and day out with these 3, it is only natural to come to know what specific things will make them the happiest. Charlie (blue and gold macaw) loves playing, chasing and even more playing with toys. I took her our put her on her playstand and proceeded to let her play to her little hearts content while I talked to her and made her feel like she was a big deal! I know for Skittle, like most conures, snuggling and being close is his favorite way to spend time with me, so out of the cage he went and he immediately started into my shirt and snuggled onto my shoulder while he contently grunted.

And then there’s Roxanne the newly adopted grey. With skittle and Charlie I am able to just walk into our bird-room and they are ready to come out and spend time together. But with Roxanne, no matter how many times I may go into the room on any given day, she still needs to see me for a few minutes and get used to me being in the room with her before she will even consider stepping up without trying to bite. So here I am with just a few minutes left to spare so what do I do? Do I approach her rushed anyways and try to spend some sort of time with her for the day even tho I know she will be scared and try to bite? No. I already know how she operates so to make our time worthwhile, I need to make her feel secure. I ended up (with Skittle still in my shirt, and Charlie on the stand) leaning over and gently speaking to Roxanne while giving her some sunflower seeds. I am currently able to have Roxanne step up, but not on an abrupt command like Charlie and Skittle- but I don’t even go there to risk jeopardizing the trust I am building with Roxanne. The clock was ticking and I needed to be on my way. Charlie and Skittle went back into their cages without a fight to stay out and I gave Roxanne one last sunflower seed.

It felt good knowing that in just a small amount of time I could spend time with my parrots. I may feel like I spent more time with Skittle and Charlie because I was able to actually handle them and love on them. But the time I spent just talking and giving seeds to Roxanne is just as good according to Roxanne because as I was walking out of the room to leave I said “Goodbye guys” only to be responded by Roxanne with “Love you more!!”

Since my personal experience ranges in the small to medium birds, this article is really intended for owners of budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, conures, senegals, quakers, and mini macaws. While I am sure the same overall techniques apply to larger birds, the actual details of it may be slightly different. However, what I write here applies the same for all birds that can fit in your hand. I am going to write about how to do it by yourself but if you can have a second person help you do it, it would be so much easier.

If your bird is very hand tame and allows you to grab, hold, and cuddle with it, then you can follow the procedures I lay out directly. If your bird is aggressive, timid, or just not that tame, you have two choices. Either you can focus a lot of effort on getting it to this level of tameness (which I highly recommend regardless) by training it and teaching tricks. Otherwise you can use a towel by doing the same technique that I describe but with the towel between your skin and the bird’s beak to avoid getting bit.

Warning, doing it my way can get you bit. You need to be careful and respect your bird. I prefer to do this bare handed on my bird because it involves trust both ways and the bird does have the freedom to give me feedback if something is really wrong. I try to be gentle and not let the situation turn to biting and if the bird does bite I ignore the bite to avoid teaching biting. However, knowing that the bird is biting tells me that I am either doing it too long or too hard which teaches me how to go about it better in the future. So I really trust my bird and my bird trusts me. I don’t push it too hard or file her too long and she doesn’t bite me (even though she is in the position to). She doesn’t bite me too hard or any more than necessary so it doesn’t bother me too much if she does and I just ignore it (but take a mental note what to avoid next time). So if you are terrified of your bird or really afraid of getting a little bite, don’t do this. Use a towel or let a bird expert do it for you.

This is the grip to use to file nails solo.

So what you will do (assuming you are right handed, probably reverse this if left) is hold the bird in your left hand and file with your right hand. Grab the bird with you left hand with your thumb curled around its neck. The rest of your fingers will be on the birds back and lay the bird in your hand so it is laying on your fingers. The thumb goes under the beak as high up as possible. Under your bird’s beak is the safest place for your finger to be because it is harder to bite so close.

All Psittaciformes have zygodactyl feet which means that two toes face forward and two face back. However, for the purpose of filing the nails the feat could just as well be anisodactyl (typical bird feet with 3 toes forward and 1 back) because the fourth digit evolved to swing back from the forward position. So even though the long toe faces rearward, you can actually hold it forward because that is the original position from which the rear facing joint evolved. The hallux (small rear facing toe) cannot be moved and is very hard to reach when filing. The nail is so small and outgrown by the others that I often don’t file it at all and just wait till the next time the nails get cut. It is nearly impossible to hold and file it because it is so small and not end up filing bird’s skin or your own.

Hold bird on back and grip toe with thumb and forefinger

So I hold the bird’s 3 large toes one at a time between my thumb and forefinger. I hold at the tip of the nail and try to hold as much of it in my hand as possible and leave just the tip exposed to file. If you hold too far back, the file will just drag your bird’s entire nail or even toe back and forth without progress. I use a sturdy coarse nail file and quickly make some large deliberate strokes back and forth on each nail. I will go for as long as the bird lets me but usually only enough to blunt the  tip of each nail. If you really want to file the hallux you will probably need a smaller file and to be careful. The grip I use to file the bigger toes does not work so well for the hallux and the foot is in the way. That toenail, even when sharp is usually no bother because it is shorter than the rest.

Some other things to remember. A challenge while filing the nails is to keep the other toes out of the way. The bird may like to bite the file or rip it away from you. You may end up filing yourself a bit in the process because it is hard to grip so close. I take the hit because I don’t want to hurt my bird, rubbing my skin a little doesn’t bother me so much.

No matter how much my bird bites or squirms, I do not stop until I am finished. The more I’ve done it, the more enduring my bird has become so it is a good thing that I do not give in. She usually does not give my any trouble for the first foot I file but only by the second. If I had more time, I am sure I could file one foot per session without any trouble at all. After I finish filing I usually give my bird a treat but she usually doesn’t care about it. She just wants to relax or cuddle. So I will pet her and put her on my shoulder as a reward for being brave. The positive ending is essential if you want your bird to let you file again in the future.