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.

Photo: A bad macadamia nut, rejected by a hungry hyacinth macaw.

Parrots love nuts.  Many of our parrot species require them in their diets, such as the macaw.  They are part of their diet in the wild and contain many of the fats and oils necessary to maintain energy.  Since this is such a popular parrot food, it is important to be sure that you can recognize their quality and freshness.  Nuts do become rancid and their shells can contain mold spores that can give your bird aspergillosis (typically a fungal infection of the lungs, but can also effect the eyes, ears and sinuses.)  Some nut shells are more prone to collect these mold spores than others, such as peanuts, technically a legume, and almonds.

Unshelled nuts:

When a nut is in the shell, it can be very difficult to determine its quality until it is cracked open, and since this is a favorite activity of the larger birds, here are some things to look for in an unshelled nut:

• Consider the shell as the packaging for the nut that is inside.  If the shell is cracked or punctured, the nut inside has been exposed to air and harbors any bacterias that have leaked inside.   Throw it away.  It is no more good to eat than our food is when packaging fails.
• If the shell has anything that looks fungus-y or moldy on it, throw it away.  In fact, throw the whole batch away.  Since they’ve been stored together, what was on one shell is now on all of them.  Remember that these are going in their mouths.

Occasionally, the outside of a nut will appear fine, but the inside is rancid.  Before serving any from a new batch, open several of them up randomly.  When you find a bad nut, you’ll know it.  Random testing is not an efficient method of weeding out bad nuts, so keep an eye what your parrot is pulling out of the shells.

Shelled nuts:

It is easier to tell the quality of a shelled nut.  Here are some things to looks for in a good quality nut:

• A nut should not be brittle and dry. A good nut is moist and springy- if you squeeze it between your fingers, it will break apart and leave a trace of oil on your fingertips.
• The meat inside of a nut should be consistent in color.  There should be no spots or dark areas – if there is it is rotten.
• While I have heard that a rancid nut emits a foul odor, I have never associated a smell with a bad nut.  Maybe my nut just wasn’t rancid enough.  Don’t use your nose as your guide.
• If you’ve had your nuts in storage for a while, a simple taste test will tell you if they are stale.  A stale nut doesn’t taste horrible, just stale, so don’t be afraid to try it.  Never feed you parrots anything that you wouldn’t find fit to eat.
• A parrot might show a disinterest in nuts which he knows are bad.  If he won’t eat them, there’s probably something wrong with them.

How to store and freeze nuts:

Many people buy their nuts in bulk.  It’s economical and ensures a constant supply.  Here are some facts and tips:

• Nuts are susceptible to light, heat and moisture.  Store them in a cool, dark and dry place.
• Remember that nuts pick up and hold the odors, so be careful to store them in airtight plastic or glass containers.
• Never store nuts in metal, they react badly to it.
• In  the shell nuts last twice as long as a shelled nut.
• Peanuts, pecans and walnuts spoil the fastest.
• To freeze your nuts put them in a zip lock bag and put them in the freezer.  Simple as that!
• It only takes about 10 minutes to thaw a nut, so only take out what you intend to use.  Don’t thaw and refreeze nuts.

Note: We don’t recommend feeding your birds acorns or peanuts.

PDD is a disease that causes a failure in the parrot’s digestive system. While it is also called “Macaw Wasting Syndrome”, it is absolutely not exclusive to the macaw.  In fact, it has been seen in many species of our companion birds and their wild counterparts.

So that you can better understand the impact of this disease, first let me describe the parrot’s digestive system:  The bird breaks down food with its beak and passes it down to the crop.  The crop slowly delivers food to a two part stomach.  The first part of the stomach is called the proventriculus, the glandular portion which secretes digesitve juices which help to break down food.  The proventriculus is connected to the muscular portion of the stomach called the ventriculus (or the gizzard) which grinds up the food.  From there, the food goes into the intestines where enzymes dissolve the food into separate components for absorption into the blood stream.

In a bird that has PDD, the nerves at the base of the proventriculus are attacked by a virus causing it to swell and become paralyzed.  While the bird may maintain a healthy appetite, the parrot is unable to properly digest its food and support its nutritional needs. This is why it is called a “wasting” disease.  The undigested food in the digestive tract gathers bacteria.  In cases of severe dilation, the proventriculus can burst and food will spill into the abdominal cavity causing serious infection and often death.

Some of the clinical signs suggesting PDD are weight loss, lethargy, regurgitation, the passing of undigested food in the droppings and sometimes seizures.  A bird with PDD may have all or just some of these symptoms making a clinical (symptomatic) diagnosis very difficult.  Once the symptoms have manifested in a bird that does have PDD, the bird will typically die with in several months to a year.  It is a fatal disease – there is no known cure.

Unfortunately, it is unknown at this time how this disease is transmitted.  It is known to be contagious, however, and complete isolation of the diseased parrot is required.  Stringent measures need to be taken following contact with a bird known, or suspected, to have PDD before you handle any other birds, including a change of clothing and thorough disinfecting.  No healthy bird must come in contact with anything that has been in the presence of a bird with PDD.

Up until very recently, the only method of diagnosing PDD was a biopsy of the crop, proventriculus or the ventriculus. This is a very invasive, and expensive, procedure.  For years, the avian community has been very excited about  a diagnostic blood test being developed at Texas A&M’s Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center.  A couple of years ago, they were able to isolate a brain enzyme present in birds known to have PDD.  Not too long ago, this blood test was made available.  As far as I know, there is only one lab that is handling the new PDD testing, but it appears that the results, which take 3-4 weeks to come back, may be unreliable at this point.

A parrot known to have been exposed to PDD might test negative.  False negatives results occur frequently in testing of any kind.  While not all exposed birds contract the disease, you are aware of the exposure, and know that at some point testing may come back positive and can respond accordingly.  With a false positive, where the tests conclude that the disease IS present, a bird might be euthanized.  One bird that I read about tested positive, then later tested negative.  This is a concern.

PDD has been a worrying disease for a long time.  With so little understanding of the agent that carries it from one bird to another, it is very important not to bring your bird around other flocks.  When you have come in contact with birds other than your own, wash your hands, change your clothes.  Never share your birds toys with any other birds.  I don’t buy toys from bird fairs that cannot be sterilized at home.  There are a lot of birds passed around at these and other birds related events.  It was strictly against policy to bring your bird to any meeting at my former bird club in Austin for this reason.

When purchasing a new parrot, be sure to keep him quarantined for at least 4-6 weeks. During the quarantine period, it is assumed that any disease will present itself in the form of symptoms.  Although this is not always the case, it is a very good practice. Even a reputable breeder may not be aware of disease in his aviaries. Pet stores sometimes purchase their birds from bird mill type breeders because they get lower prices from them.  Bird mills are horrible places, and often disease ridden.

I was reading a heart breaking account on one of the bird forums the other day that prompted me to write this article.  One of the members on this particular board purchased a cockatoo from a pet store.  It became ill following its quarantine period and all of the clinical signs point to PDD.  Not only have the rest of her flock been exposed to the new bird and have had to be tested, but everything the new bird may have come in contact with that cant be sterilized, had to be thrown away.

For those of you with multiple birds, consider this:  everything made of rope, wood, or fiber must go.  Any food not sealed in zip lock bags must go.  All cages, toys and parts, including the quick links,  made of acrylic or metal must be taken apart washed thoroughly with bleach and water.  The infected bird must be isolated and put on a separate air system, which is not even possible in some households.  You cannot travel freely between this bird and your flock as showering, disinfecting and clothing change are imperative.  This is a daunting responsibility and a great deal of hard work and financial loss.

We all want to show off our birds and share playtime with our friend’s new bird, but this is how disease is passed on from one flock to another.  Since we don’t always know from appearance that a parrot is sick, think carefully before taking this risk.

** PDD UPDATE – JANUARY, 2010!!

At the recent Houston Parrot Festival, Dr. Sharman Hoppes from Texas A&M shared with the public more information on testing and dealing with the virus.  Recent updates include:

• PDD in the environment:  While PDD does permeate the environment and is highly contagious, UV light kills it.  This means that to eliminate the disease in the environment, NOT the bird, we will roll our cages and toys out into the sunlight. This an amazing finding, proving once again that there is nothing quite as healing as sunshine!
• Testing accuracy: Crop biopsies had been our chance to properly diagnose this disease, but are only 65% accurate.  Serological testing (blood serum) now has a 90% accuracy rate.  Fecal tests are also proving to be of value.  In a small study, the testing of a fecal sample three weeks in a row came back with accurate results.  The tests were done on droppings, meaning a vent swab is not necessary.  There is a need for furtherstudy before this is considered a reliable means of testing, but it looks promising.
• Collecting specimens for testing: A very small study has shown that a fecal sample is best kept refrigerated, or in saline.

This is a huge advancement in a disease we know little about.  I’ll continue with updates as information becomes available.

Breakfast time!  There are four macaws, four cockatoos, three parakeets, two cockatiels, one congo african grey, a swainson’s toucan and a quaker waiting patiently for their breakfast every morning.  On the menu today is fruit pasta blend, fresh broccoli, beets, sweet potato, and kale.

Breakfast time is always one of my favorite parts of the day.  I really enjoy the preparation of foods and I love seeing the birds watching everything I do in anticipation of their first meal.  I often let one of the birds be my “helper” for the morning. This day it was Linus, and he “helped” himself to the corn that was actually on the dinner menu.  I learned the hard way to only allow one bird to “help” at a time and to never let my quaker, Libby, the resident bowl flipper, “help” from anywhere but my shoulder.

As much fun as I have in the morning, the kitchen can be a dangerous place.  Hot stovetops, boiling water and sharp knives are often present and create all kinds of potential for accidents.  It’s a good idea not to allow your birds into the kitchen when you have the stove on or have open pots of water boiling. Always be aware of birds toes when you are chopping and don’t leave your sharp knife available as a toy.  My “helper” is often unwilling to sit patiently by while I am chopping and filling bowls, so I have to be very vigilant and careful.

I always try to serve a variety of foods and I cut them up differently everyday to keep it interesting for them.  I try to serve an orange vegetable and dark leafy greens everyday because they are so high in nutrients. I also try to feed favorite foods later in the day.  This way, I am more likely to get them to eat, or at least try, the foods that are in their bowl in the morning when they are the most hungry.  It’s a good strategy for ensuring a nutritional balance.

A couple of my birds are very finicky eaters and sometimes I have to be clever to get new foods into them.  Here are a few tips for getting your picky eaters to try new foods:

• Make food fun! Placing food around the cage, woven or wedged into the cage bars, strung onto skewers, or tossed in whole is a good way to get them playing with their food, which is often the first step to eating it.  Try buying a stalk of Brussel sprouts, a head of cauliflower, or a green pepper and letting them have a ball.
• Make foraging toys out of foods. Try putting nuts into a halved head of cabbage or beneath the leaves of an artichoke (with the pointy parts snipped off).
• If they don’t like it raw, try steaming it and serving it warm. This worked well with Linus, my umbrella, cockatoo.  It was what started the ball rolling and he will now eat his veggies raw as well.

These are ways to let your bird find out that something unidentifiable might be a food.  Unlike a dog, a hungry bird will stay hungry before it will eat something it doesn’t like or recognize.  Eating fresh foods is the most natural thing in the world for your parrot and it should be considered the most important part of her diet.  If you have some picky eaters like I do, give them a fighting chance for a healthy life.  Use your imagination, have fun, and show your parrot the variety that’s available to them.

Meet “Cash”. He is a 5 year old military macaw who was clipped before properly learning to fledge (fly at a young age). When we got him 4.5 years ago, he came to us at just 6 months old and we immediately let his wings grow out in the hopes to teach him to fly properly.

Letting wings grow out on a bird can take a long time, and usually takes almost an entire molt so that the feathers fall out naturally and re-grow back in. This can be anywhere from 6 months to a year long, and usually that time frame goes down the smaller the bird.

Cash stayed with a friend of ours who was interested in getting a military macaw herself. I offered to let her bird sit Cash for free instead – to see what a military macaw is really like. After 5 months, Cash came back to me from Missi’s house and Missi got over wanting a military macaw… hehe… however, he also came back clipped from Missi. She had clipped 5 primary feathers on each wing to make it so that Cash couldn’t get to her smaller birds faster than she could.

Although we joke that Cash “flies like a rock” because he can’t get any lift under his wings from lack of feathers being there, with a little help from some outside wind, Cash CAN fly!

Most people take their clipped birds outside because they THINK they can’t fly because they’re clipped. They may not be able to get very far inside the house, but outside with outside elements, they can go as far as the wind will take them.

It’s MUCH more dangerous to take a clipped bird outside (free of a harness or any restraint) than a fully flighted bird. The reason being, a clipped bird can’t maneuver as well and has an immediate handicap against predators in your area. A fully flighted bird can at least get away and have a better chance at using predator avoidance skills because it’s feathers are fully intact.

Most pet parrots have a problem going outside because they aren’t desensitized to outside things like noises, wind, people, cars, and everything else you encounter outside that could spook a bird unused to it. Once spooked, that pet bird will immediately ascend higher… and higher… and HIGHER. And because it never learned how to descend (the hardest skill to learn) and it knows nothing about flying in wind, it ends up far, far away from the owner which it probably never intended. It just didn’t know how to COME BACK TO YOU. It was never taught!

Check out this video of Zoey, a blue throated macaw, taking her very first exploratory flight and notice how high she goes!

Because Zoey was taught how to descend and all the other necessary skills for a good and solid recall, she was able to figure out the wind (it’s windier the higher you go up) and come back down to Jeanne, her owner. Think about the disadvantage an untrained, clipped bird is at in this situation.

If you want to take your bird outside untethered, you CAN, by joining the Freestyle Flyer’s Club and getting one on one personal coaching from professional bird trainer Dave Womach. To find out more about this elite club and how you can learn to train your own bird for freeflight, simply email info@birdtricks.com to find out more.

Now I do want to point out that Cash was trained at this location among others when he was fully flighted. Here is a picture of him flying at this exact location months ago with us:

You can see more of his freeflight photos here.

I was looking through you tube videos and came across the title Funny Biting Parrot.  I thought to myself: what can possibly be funny about a biting parrot? and I watched the video.  I did find it funny.

When you watch the video, there are a few clues that tell you this is not aggression, but a game between parrot and owner.  First, the owner is encouraging the bird  and  is clearly unafraid of a serious bite.  Secondly, there is no aggressive body language in the bird – just the lunge to connect with the owner with no intention of inflicting harm.  And thirdly, no one in their right mind puts a truly aggressive bird in a well traveled area of the house leaving only a foot of clearance.  Is it a good idea to encourage a game like this?  Maybe not, but different parrots will find different ways to play.

When I come home from work, one of the first thing I do is collect and clean bowls from the cages.  It never fails that when I am bent over reaching my arm into the cockatiels cage to get their bowl in the back of the cage, my quaker comes charging across the top of their cage, straight at my face.  When she arrives within a fraction of an inch, she throws her wings out, gives a loud call, turns, and runs away laughing.  Anyone witnessing this from behind would expect to see me missing an eye when I turned around.  This is hilarious good fun to her, and me.

A friend of mine tells me her scarlet macaw routinely engages her boyfriend a mock “attack” when he comes to visit.  He is barely inside the door when Georgia runs to him and pecks furiously, but harmlessly, at his calf.  Then she runs away, screeching, down the hallway. This is Georgia’s way of initiating play with him.  For the next 30 minutes or so, they are chasing each other all over the house.  Then he realizes he has yet to say hello to his girlfriend.

Linus, my umbrella cockatoo, is wonderful when it comes to independent play.  He can, and does, entertain himself for hours on end in his cage.  There are times I open his door and he prefers to remain inside with a favorite toy.  I would not like to be reincarnated as one of his parrot toys.  He can be brutal with them.  He yanks, bites, and batters his toys with everything he’s got.  Sometimes he just stands there and yells at them.  But yet he loves them, sleeps next to them, and sometimes just quietly watches them.  It his own style of play.  A co-worker, after observing a particularly loud and rowdy play session asked me:  “You don’t ever let him out, right??”  I laughed, but could fully understand why she would fear for my safety.  He did look like the embodiment of evil that day.

When you think about the way young parrots play, or any animal for that matter, there is a lot of rough housing going on.  Rolling, biting, growling – all in the name of good fun.  Mutual trust between the two players allows it to be unthreatening.  If one player goes too far, the other quickly lets him know and boundaries are established.  Bonds between humans and animals are maintained the same way.  Many people have accumulated such trust with their parrots that they can do nearly anything with them.  One friend can hold her cockatoo’s feet in one hand and swing her around in huge circles.  This is a favorite game.  Another friend will sneak up on her parrots and yell: “BOO!”.  Of course, they fly off in every direction in an uproar, but then they return to the same spot to do it all over again.

It is bonding and trust that make it understood that these are not acts of aggression, whether the instigator is human or parrot.