female eclectus

I try to cover this topic at least twice a year because it’s so important. I never have to look hard to find an event to inspire one of these posts.

I needed some supplies the other day and went to the local bird store where they have a few parrots for sale, among them a female eclectus and a cherry headed conure. Both of the birds had been in the store for several months awaiting purchase. They were, by this time, well adjusted to strangers gathering by their cages for a closer look, and sometimes little fingers would poke through the bars. They always handled the intrusions without a fuss.
This day, there were two women admiring the birds. One was a young woman, probably in her early 20′s looking at the conure. She was set back about three feet from the cage, kneeling. The other woman was older, perhaps in her 40′s, and had a toddler in a stroller with her. She had her hands resting on the cage bars as she spoke boisterously to the eclectus.

photo of cherry headed conure by sfcitizen.com/blog

I stood back and observed the two women interacting with the parrots, and watched each parrot’s response. I remember feeling very impressed with the young woman. She had positioned herself so that she and the bird had level eye contact and she stayed at a non-threatening and respectful distance.

It seemed that she was intuitively aware the the dynamic between herself, a much larger predatory animal, and the bird, a small, caged prey animal. She spoke quietly, but engagingly, to the bird, who was clearly taken with her. It moved to the side of the cage closest to her and turned its head to the side to get a better look. The bird’s body language said comfort.

camelot macaw

The older woman, the one with the apparent child rearing experience, was far less impressive. She was forceful and discourteous. She made no attempt to connect with the bird and it sat tensely at the point furthest from her in its cage.

She talked with the man accompanying her about how important it is for a child to have the responsibility of a pet and that this one would be a perfect choice. I hoped that the child she referred to wasn’t the toddler. When the man protested about owning a bird, she reminded him that “birds live in cages. What could be easier than that?” He didn’t disagree.
I was suddenly nervous for the future of this bird and felt inclined to say something, so I joked that birds no more “live” in cages than people do in bedrooms. I mentioned their need for out of cage time and human interaction and exaggerated the behavioral issues that result from inadequate care as best I could.
She smiled at me politely and then excitedly turned to the man and anounced that the red on the ecletus was a perfect match for the drapes – now they HAD to get it. I think that’s when the gloves came off for me. Imagine the deciding factor being compatibility with the home decor! At that time, I MIGHT have made up a horrible story about someone’s extensive plastic surgery nightmare following the bite of an angry parrot. I’m not admitting to anything, but if I DID fabricate that story, I’m not at all ashamed.

female eclectus

I am pleased to announce that they left empty handed! That lady, who I don’t fault for her ignorance about parrots, is not someone who should own one, at least not at this point in her life. Her energy level and body language were stressful to the bird, and she never even noticed. She was clueless about the needs of a parrot. She was ready to make an impulse purchase that might have had horrible consequences for this very sweet bird.

By contrast, the younger, much wiser, woman looking at the conure would have made an ideal home for a parrot. She was, by nature, exactly what a bird needs in a human: she was thoughtful, and deliberate and had clearly taken the time to check out parrot ownership. I had a chance to talk with her for a moment. Her reason for not getting the conure was the best one there is: she wasnt ready for the commitment.

Blue and gold macaw

We are parrot owners. And we are GOOD ones, I will venture to say, since I am taking the time to write this and you are caring enough to read it. We love our birds, and, in fact, everyone else’s too. It’s who we are.

But, we have a responsibility. While we are singing the praises of our beloved companions, we must be certain to avoid “selling” parrot ownership to the wrong people. Parrots do not make good pets for all people. Whenever we are faced with the opportunity, we must let prospective new owners know the real truths: while parrots are beautiful, intelligent and fun – they are also loud, messy and destructive. Their basic care is costly and very time consuming.
If you are able to get across only a single idea, let it be that, aside from providing the aspects of care that are necessary to maintain life, failure to provide the care necessary to promote good mental health can result in emotional issues ranging from biting and screaming to feather destruction and self mutilation. Hopefully that will give some people pause.

Mitred conure

Try to remember that every time you let someone walk away with the notion that a bird makes the perfect pet, that person might just go out and get one. If you don’t inspire caution, some pet store parrot could begin a life of constant rehoming as one owner after another fails.

With the right education, even the lady who wanted a bird to match her drapes might be taught to be a good owner, but first we have to guide her. Let’s make that our mission in 2012. Let’s help birds by helping people understand their needs – or understand that they are unable to provide them.

Photo by Dave
Location: Moab, UT
With: Blue throated macaw “Jinx”, Camelot macaws “Tusa” & “Comet”

One of my FAVORITE things is taking in other people’s birds and totally transforming them. Me doing this lead to our Total Transformation Course at BirdTricks.com where we realized we should be sharing these tools we use to change other people’s birds with those people so they can learn how to do it themselves. It was a great thing and even after the fact, I still enjoy doing it because every bird teaches me something new and getting the experience of learning different species of parrots body language is priceless to me. I really love taking on “case studies” and working with other people’s birds, but my favorite part about it is giving the bird back to the person afterwards and watching their relationship change into something positive and new.

Photo by Dave
Location: Waynesboro, VA
With macaws: Camelot macaws “Tusa” & “Comet”, blue throated macaw “Jinx”

When I do these case studies, so I will call them, with other people’s parrots, I do them when I am in a steady environment like at my home in Florida (this is a time when I worked with blue fronted amazon parrot “Storm” and hyacinth macaw “Hymie”) other times I was in Coney Island, NY for 3 months and Dave took on a blue and gold macaw baby named Coco.

My lifestyle as it is, is WAY too stressful for a rescue bird, rehomed bird, or someone else’s bird to handle. Going from the home they are used to – to a part in my life is crazy. It’s going from boiling hot to freezing cold. You’re talking about a person who thrives on changes, LOVES moving (that’s right, I actually enjoy packing an unpacking boxes and going through my things – redesigning my next bedroom and home…)

My lifestyle is something that can be dangerous to a bird if it’s not raised into it like all my birds have been. That’s why every bird I’ve taken in (adopted) out of feeling bad or pressured, or like “I’m the best home possible” has ended in me passing the bird onto a place that is actually right for that bird because my lifestyle proved too much. When taking on a case study bird I’ve made a commitment to stay still for the betterment and change of that bird.

Photo by Dave
Location: Moab, UT
With me: Blue throat macaw “Jinx” & Camelot macaw “Tusa”

Prime examples were taking on Crash (military macaw) and Ace (rose breasted cockatoo). I literally took Ace on as we were about to go on tour… for 2 years… moving each week. Sometimes mid week. But really I moved more than that because I’d pull over to freefly or stay the night at a friends’ house and hang with our parrots the next day in the yard. So I wasn’t just getting to the next place, I was taking my time and moving more than just weekly. Ace got insanely sick the first few months into tour, and thankfully he made it through and given, it was metal toxicity, but birds are more susceptible to illness when stressed and the only time Ace did well with me was when we were steady in Coney Island, NY and I spent every day sitting in the aviary with him for an hour before every show (twice a day) with one day off. This type of routine and steadiness he loved and thrived on, but the minute we were up and moving again the stress would ensue. My lifestyle isn’t something you put a parrot into and hope it hangs on, it can be dangerous and learning that was a hard lesson but a real one – my birds can do it with me because they know nothing else. This is how it has always been. Heck, I remember picking up Bondi in Oregon while working at fairs and then going to Kansas immediately after with her. I recall getting our macaws while on a cruise ship. We got Bandit and immediately traveled up to Idaho with him while he was still hand feeding. We were hand feeding all our babies over Christmas one year in the northwest…

Cressi was picked up in Las Vegas while Chet and Dave were there and came across her at a used car battery place. Our budgies were born in Saipan while performing nightly at a dinner theater for 13 months. Everyone was not only born on the road but used to it from day 1.

For me to take in a rescue bird and expect it to keep up is just unthinkable. Which is why I’m not adopting any birds into my flock.

Photo by Dave
Location: Orlando, FL
Shown: Camelot macaw “Comet”

The interesting thing about it though, is that Chet is the perfect home for a rehomed or adopted bird. He is stable, steady and routine. He’s focused on family and doesn’t plan on moving ever again. He has the type of lifestyle that can be reliable for a parrot which is why ALL of his birds are rescues. He is meant for that, he loves it, and embraces the challenge and offers the proper housing and lifestyle for a parrot who needs that stability.

I literally can’t. I get off the road from a two year tour and tell everyone I’m taking time off – then head out 3 days later for the Bahamas, 1 week after that for Aruba, a few days after that Virginia, a week after that California. I’m home now and already have plans to go to Washington state in a few days, travel all around Florida for the entire month of January into February and then go to the British Virgin islands after that and maybe Las Vegas. It just seems impossible for me to sit still – mainly because of what I do for a living. Work takes me places and I have to be able to provide for my loving flock, and this is how I do it.

Photo by Dave
Location: Orlando, FL
Flying at my face: Galahs “Bondi” & “Bandit”

My next big adventure of 6 months in Athol, Idaho to perform at Silverwood Theme Park will be my most steady place yet. And getting new birds for the show is a huge endeavor. I’ve had so much fun planning what we will train and what we already have in place for the ParrotFX show. We decided to get some new smaller birds to fill Bondi’s role – she will be performing Catapoultry in the new ParrotFX show but we took away anything else she’d be having to do and wanted to replace her so that she can be more of a pet-status. Ever since her yeast infection and minor abnormal behaviors we wanted to go easier on her without putting the weight on the rest of our flock to perform more, instead we have given them all their own tasks and decided to bring on new birds to carry the on the other routines. We wanted small birds because we feel our medium sized and large sized parrots are enough.

With a little help from our facebook fans in deciding, we decided on sun conures and this post came about on its own because of course, like great bird owners, they were all telling us to adopt the new birds we would be adding to our flock. And being me, I did look on a few adoption websites to see what was available. I found that I had a very hard time finding already bonded pairs of sun conures that were fully flighted. And unless I wanted to adopt single sun conures and work on socializing, waiting for flight feathers and molts, and excessive training – it wasn’t going to happen in time for our Silverwood contract opening in May 2012. I just knew adoption wasn’t an option for what I needed from these birds and I know that I’m not the right home for those birds, more importantly.

Photo by Dave
Location: Cruise ship
Kissing: Galah “Bandit”

However of course I feel guilty that for me, adoption doesn’t work out best for the bird which is why I’ve given any birds I’ve adopted out of feeling guilt for them to better places where they can actually thrive. I’ve learned not to take them on in the first place anymore, as much as I feel responsible for needing to (don’t we all?) and I ADMIRE people like my brother in law, Chet, who can offer a thriving environment for those birds. I’m just not it and it’s something I’ve had to come to grips with. I can, however, use my strengths to give the people the tools to BE LIKE Chet and offer the birds they’re about to give up on a thriving environment as well as a fun loving relationship with their parrots that they never dreamed was possible.

You don’t have to raise your bird from a baby to have an awesome relationship with your bird and thankfully, few people live their lives like I live mine and carry on my lifestyle – making it more possible for people to adopt and with the right tools, have lifelong companions out of their parrots.

I’ll be updating about the new addition of our 4 sun conures coming to us in mid-January from the same place our blue throated macaw, Jinx, came right here in Florida.

There are a lot of big hearted people out there who are just naturally inclined to try to save those in need. I feel similarly. I find it difficult to look away from need even when I know that involvement will make life more complicated for me. I try to do what I can. It’s who I am, and I’m proud of it.

Someone from Austin, the city I lived in before I moved here to Florida, contacted me and asked me if I would speak with a neighbor of his who was having problems with a newly acquired “rescue” bird. I asked the nature of the problems and was told about the biting issues with her new quaker, but more concerning was that the new owner was uncertain if the bird was eating. Birds don’t last long without food, so I agreed to be in touch with her right away.

After a few minutes of discussion, I felt satisfied that her bird was, in fact, eating and we moved on to the other problems.The first behavior related question I asked was regarding the circumstances of the “rescue” because it would likely play a big part in understanding the overall behavior of this bird. As we talked, I learned that the bird had not been “rescued”, but “rehomed”.

White bellied caique

There is a considerable difference in the terms rehomed and rescued where is relates to behavioral matters.

The quaker mentioned above came from the household of a friend who simply no longer had the time or interest in seeing to the needs of her bird. This meant that the quaker needed a new home where the environment was enriching and stimulating and it would be a cherished member of the family, not a burden to be tolerated.

In the case of a rescue bird, the word itself speaks clearly. This bird might be in dire and immediate need. It might be in a situtation where it is not being fed, is living in unsafe or unsanitary conditions, or is currently in danger from its environment and perhaps suffering from illness as a result of its hard life.

blue and gold macaw

It’s easy to imagine that the problems that might remain with a rescued bird following placement into a new home could be considerable, and more difficult to assess and manage. The circumstances of your birds arrival into your home must be taken into account when trying to assess a behavioral problem. It is important to establish whether a bird has been rehomed or rescued.

While time might be more essence in the case of a rescue, it is important to add that the bird in need of rehoming should not be considered of less importance. BOTH birds need new homes and the rehomer is doing as big a service to the well-being of their bird as is the rescuer. You should be feel proud of your contribution in helping a bird in need in either case.

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.

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.