I really dislike the term “forever home”.  It is used very commonly among people who take in rescued or rehomed parrots.  “He has found his forever home”.  I like the idea behind the expression, which is indicative of a person’s level of commitment to a bird that might be unsuitable in many homes.  Practically speaking, all good intentions aside, it often doesn’t happen that way.

Have you ever given thought to what would become of your parrot if you were to die or in some way become incapacitated?  What if you were faced with a financial crisis and were unable to keep your pets?  Do you have a plan?

Both of my cockatoos could outlive me, as could my young quaker, even if I live to a ripe old age.  The cockatiels are getting up there in age, but who knows?  I could be hit by a falling meteor on my way to the mailbox.

Placement:

Since parrots are so long-lived and require specific care, their placement is a little complex.  If you are lucky enough to have a spouse that loves your birds like you do (not just tolerates them because he loves you), or children who have been raised around them and will commit to taking on their care once you are gone, you are indeed lucky.

Many people I have discussed this with do not feel that their family members will offer the same level of care and understanding that their birds are accustomed to.  Sometimes your bird will be better off going into the care of  an outside party that is educated about parrots and their needs.

Once you have made a decision on placement, it is a good idea to frequently reevaluate.  Your favorite nephew may have eagerly offered to take over the care of your parrot, but his life could change as well.  He may wind up engaged to a woman that really doesn’t care for birds and would prefer that one not be in her house.  Once someone makes the offer, let them know that it is always retractable with no hard feelings.  This will allow you to make other arrangements.  NEVER will a bird to an unsuspecting relative or friend:  so-and-so gets the house, so-and-so gets the jewelry, and so-and-so gets Kiwi because you once said he was cute.  Not a good plan.

Passing along vital information:

On my computer desktop I keep two bird related files: Bird Instructions and My Parrots.  I place them in the top center of the screen so they can be easily spotted.  Bird Instructions outlines my daily routine for the feeding and care of my birds, should I ever be hospitalized or unable to return home for any reason.  I include the number of my vet, and a few bird knowledgeable friends to call with any problems.  I assume that someone with limited knowledge about birds might have the short term care of my birds, and I make it as simple as possible.

The My Parrots file contains a very detailed outline of each individual bird.  It includes the hatch date, or approximate age if you don’t know for certain, and the species of each bird and whether captive bred or wild caught.  It includes band #s, and microchip information,  the number for the vet and a friend or relative who has had some experience with each parrot.

I specify, in length, any health or behavioral issues and list as many likes and dislikes as I can think of:  foods, snacks, toys and favorite games. Also include a list of your bird’s quirks, he feels threatened if you… or doesn’t like his toes touched, for example.

I go into detail about how well this bird does with other birds, pets or children and how tolerant he is with commotion and noise.  If you are working on any tricks with your bird, be sure to include those.  A video of a training session would be helpful for a person who will continue this practice.  It will give them a chance to see your training style and how your bird responds to it.  I put in whatever I could think of that might help a future owner take the best possible care of my bird, and I constantly revise as new behaviors or issues present themselves.

Trust Funds:

Many people are setting up trust funds for the future care of their pets, should they die or find themselves unable to care for them any longer because of health issues or advancing age.   We all know that keeping a parrot can be expensive.  This will ensure that the new care giver will be able to afford the very best for your bird, and maintain the lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.  A living will can ensure that your desires are carried out if you are unable to communicate them.  Forms for this can be submitted online.

Mine are all going to a rescue in Arizona that is owned and operated by a dear friend.  I trust her implicitly with the task of finding great new homes for my babies.

Q:  Is it safe to give my bird meat?

-Joann, Athens, GA

A: Meat is not part of the natural diet of a parrot.  However, when offered a piece of chicken, many parrots will accept.  Offer them a cookie, they will do the same.  I think we all went to school with a kid that ate the paste that glued pieces of construction paper together.  I doubt that it was ever on the dinner menu at his house.  Just because a parrot (or kid) eats something, it doesn’t mean it should.

Yes, meat has protein, and yes, a parrot requires protein in its diet, some species more than others.  However, the natural diet we should be feeding our parrots has enough protein to cover that dietary requirement.  Legumes (kidney beans, garbanzo beans etc), nuts and seed will fulfill all their protein needs (and more) without having to resort to animal proteins.  Excessive amounts of protein in your birds diet (taking pellets into account, which are also high in protein) will almost certainly lead to kidney problems in his future.  Further, meat is high in saturated fats and cholesterol, which are not good for us or our birds.

To answer your question, meat is not a necessary part of your bird’s diet, and can complicate his health if his protein intake is already high.  However, it isn’t unsafe.  I will occasionally (accent on occasionally) allow mine a bite of lean, well cooked meat, like chicken or steak.  Some parrots enjoys a bone with bits of meat on it.  If this is done in careful moderation, a parrot can enjoy a taste of meat as a snack without causing him harm.

While I was going through some old parrot related paperwork today I found this piece.  I think that, along with a guide to the proper care of parrots, pet stores and rescues should send new owners home with this list as food for thought:  (author unknown)

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF PARROT OWNERSHIP

• 1.  My life is likely to last 20 or more years.  Any separation from you will be painful to me.  Remember that before you take me home.
• 2.  Give me time to understand what you want from me.
• 3.  Place your trust in me.  It’s crucial to my well being.
• 4.  Don’t be angry with me for long, and don’t lock me up as punishment.  You have your work, your entertainment, your friends.  I have only you.
• 5.  Talk to me sometimes.  Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when it’s speaking to me.
• 6.  Be aware that however you treat me, I’ll never forget it.
• 7.  Remember before you strike me that I have a beak that could easily crush the bones of your hand, but that I choose not to bite you.
• 8.  Before you scold me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me.  Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, or I’ve been in the cage too long.
• 9.  Take care of me when I get old, you too will get old.
• 10.  Go with me on my last journey.  Never say “I can’t bear to watch it” or “Let it happen in my absence.”  Everything is easier for me if you are there.  Remember, I Love You.

Have you ever wondered how your parrot’s sense of smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing compare to your own?

Sight:

A bird’s eyesight is the most important of its senses to its survival.  Our bird’s vision, while not as acute as that of raptors, is vastly superior to our own and is adapted to the survival needs of parrots.

Predatory birds, such as the eagle, the owl or the hawk, have wider skulls allowing for forward facing placement of their eyes.  This positioning gives them heightened depth perception which allows them to judge the distance and speed of other birds and animals, which they do with incredible precision.  This advantage helps them locate their next meal.

Parrots have more narrow skulls with the eyes placed on either side of the head.  Since they are a prey animal, this positioning gives them great peripheral vision which allows them to flee to safety when necessary. This advantage helps them avoid becoming the next meal.

In addition to their keen vision, birds also see a different spectrum of color.  Human retinas have cones that see red, blue and green wavelengths.  Birds have an additional cone detecting violet and some ultraviolet wavelengths, making their perception of color much broader than ours.  This allows them to determine the sex of each bird in their flock and is used in mate selection. They also have a receptor called the double cone which allows them to detect motion.

Did you know…

• that your parrot is able to detect the individual oscillations of a florescent bulb while it looks like a constant flow of light to us?
• that when a parrot sees something worth studying, it will bob its head allowing it to see the same subject rapidly from different angles?
• that the avian eye uses a lens of oil to filter out all but certain ranges of light, like sunglasses?

Hearing:

A bird’s range of hearing is similar to ours, although it is more sensitive.  They hear what we hear differently than and perceive it in different ways.

Birds recall absolute pitch.  If you try to teach your bird a song on a piano and always play it in the same octave, they will recognize the song.  If you play the same song, but in a higher or lower octave, they may not.

Birds can hear shorter sounds than we can.  A human can hear a single sound, a musical note for instance,  that is 1/20th of a second long, whereas a bird can hear in increments of 1/200th of a second.  So this means that where we perceive one note, a bird could hear ten.

Did you know…

• that some birds use echolocation like bats and dolphins?
• that a barn owl can track its prey audibly without any visual reference?

Taste:

Birds have a poor sense of taste.  Humans have about 10,000 taste buds, birds have fewer than 100.  Still they are able to discern flavors and do have their preferences.  This is why food texture is so important to many parrots. They make some food choices based on how it  feels, since they may not fully taste it.

Did you know…

• that parrots love bitter foods?
• that parrots can’t sense capsaicin in peppers, the chemical that puts the HOT in habanaro?  They can bite into them and not feel a thing!  Just don’t let them kiss you afterward.

Smell:

A sense of smell is better developed in some groups of birds.  The turkey vulture is known to have a strong sense of smell in locating their food: decaying flesh.  Some birds use smell to locate their roosting spots.  Parrots are not among the groups with extraordinary sense of smell, but it is better than that of humans.

Did you know…

• that some engineers that were trying to stop leaks in a pipeline filled it with fumes that smelled like rotting meat and then watched along the 42-mile pipeline to see where turkey vultures gathered?  They found their leaks.

Touch:

This is the only sense where a human is on equal footing with a bird.  They have sensory nerve endings that allow them to feel pressure temperature and pain, just like us.

Did you know…

• that penguins and auklets use feathers to touch?  These birds have evolved using these feathers to navigate in dark or cluttered environments and use them much like cats use their whiskers.

1. Dirty Food:

The expression “you are what you eat” is so true.  Since we are in charge of our parrot’s food selection, we have to make sure that it is not only the best quality we can offer, but that it is safely edible.  Thoroughly wash all fresh foods. Even organically grown produce use pesticides, although not chemical ones.

Many of us work full time jobs and are in a rush to get out the door in the morning.  It’s convenient to feed the birds and go.  However, when we leave fresh or wet foods out for a period of time they begin to collect bacteria.  Most birds are very hungry when they first wake up, so this is a good time to feed them their fresh foods.  Often they will have finished their meal by the time you are ready to leave for work and the dirty bowls can be collected.  I will often cut up the food the night before and store in plastic containers for easy service in the morning.

If they are slow eaters, like mine tend to be, give them drier, less seepy foods if it needs to be left in the cage for a period of time.  I save the wetter foods, which collect more bacteria, for their second meal after I return home.

Even dry foods will go stale.  Any pellets and seed not eaten should be thrown away and replaced at least every other day.  Even better, serve only as much as they will eat in a day.

**Note: If your bird poops in it’s food or water, it is no longer edible.  It may dry as a solid in the pellet or seed bowl, but there is urine in their poop that will spread and contaminate the food or the water.

2. Dirty Cages:

Birds eat with their feet.  This means that when they are done eating, they will be tracking remnants of food around their cage. It will sit and harbor bacteria, which your bird will walk through again on it’s way to pick up more food or to get to its toys. The amount of harm this does to your bird depends on how often you wipe down the bars of the cage.  Dirty perches can lead to foot infections, which in birds are a serious thing, given that they are on their feet 24/7.

Did you know that a cockatiel can poop every 15 minutes?  This makes for a lot of poop in a single day, and poop is another bacteria gatherer.  I have gone into homes and seen a mound of poop building up like a stalagmite underneath a parrot’s favorite pooping spot.  If this doesn’t particularly bother you, then know that it dries and becomes airborne, causing disease in humans.

3. Use Of Commercial Cleaners:

Commercial cleaners leave a chemical residue on surfaces that are harmful to your parrots.  Never clean cages, toys,  or perches with any commercial cleaner or solvent.  In fact, I won’t let my birds play on a floor that has been washed with a commercial product.  Even those claiming to be pet friendly or a green product are not suitable to me.  I use white vinegar diluted with water, grapefruit seed extract (GSE) or a mild dish soap like dawn for any bird related cleaning.

4. Use Of Air Pollutants:

Parrots have an incredibly sensitive and efficient respiratory systems.  Their systems is designed so that when they take a breathe, a second breathe is necessary to push the first one to complete the cycle.  A third breathe pushes the second through to completion etc.  When you think about this, since two inhalations are necessary to equal one of ours, it means that if there are toxins in the air, birds are doubly affected.

We have all heard about the coal miners in earlier times that would put a cage of canaries into a mining shaft to determine if there were any odorless gases present.  If the canaries were found alive after a time, they knew they could enter and work safely.  If the air was safe enough for a bird, a human certainly would survive.

It is very important that we pay attention to the air quality in our homes. We should never smoke around our birds, or use incense, aerosol sprays or scented candles.  Pick your cookware carefully, anything with a non-stick coating can kill a bird within minutes.

No Toys In Cages:

The most common excuse for this is:  “Well, it never played with them anyways.”  And it never will learn to, if they aren’t there.  Birds are very active and intelligent creatures and they need mental stimulation.  If your bird doesn’t care for a particular toy you selected, try one of a different texture.  Most birds can’t resist toys made of shreddable materials.  A crumpled up ball of paper can keep a bird busy for hours. If you give them enough options and watch how they respond, you will hit upon just the right type of toy, and you’ll know from there which toys are preferred and most likely to be played with.  Just remember to keep it interesting for them by rotating toys every couple of weeks.  A reason many birds don’t explore toys is because they don’t understand what they are.  If you play with the toy with your bird, it will quickly get the message.

Originally Dave and I thought we would be able to free fly our birds all around the country on this tour. But we’ve started the tour in December and now that we’re into February it’s just plain cold. It was 9 degrees out here in Shelbyville, TN the other night and so flying outside just isn’t a very smart idea.

Instead, we have been free flying inside! We have finally caught onto our schedule enough to be able to take advantage of the empty arenas before anything is set up for the show.

We shared the arena with the elephants; Bonnie, Suzie and Mini.And we had their trainer, Ramon Esqueda, there just in case any of the elephants felt nervous about the birds then Ramon could calm them since they look to him for comfort.

The birds had a blast! As you will see in the video above.

And it reminded me of something SUPER important to parrot owners…

Exercise via flight for your bird makes it TIRED, which almost always is followed by cuddles. Our birds were SO cuddly during this time and especially afterwards. They wore themselves out playing hard and flying around burning tons of energy and just wanted to be close and cuddle. Comet and Tusa aren’t always the most cuddly birds, they remind me of cats in the respect that they have to be in the “mood” and come to you for cuddles. But whenever we fly them like this, they just want to snuggle up afterwards and be mellow and sweet.

If we ever notice our birds being a little more on the aggressive side, we look at their schedules and always realize that they need more exercise to burn that excess energy and this energy can ONLY be burned to the best and healthiest extent via FLYING. It’s so so so so SO so so important not to clip your bird’s wings and to let it have the freedom of flight specifically for health purposes alone.

However, I promise you will also notice behavioral changes as well. Flight training is a great way to build a strong a bond between you and your parrot as well as work in healthy exercise. Birds that go through flight training usually eat much healthier too, because their body craves the good stuff.

Enjoy the video from our recent adventure and I will be sure to continue to keep you all updated with more from our flock!