Are Your Parrots Strictly Your Pets? Or More?

Well I aquired my first bird when I married my husband. Lucy, our Servre Macaw was a second chance bird. Her original owner was in a bad car accident and was unable to take care of her. My husband took her in and she bonded with him. (well we thought she did) When we started dating, Lucy was very aggessive with me and would strike out at me when I entered the room. When we bought out house and I moved in, I would spend time with Lucy every morning and evening feeding her fruit and nuts. One day I noticed she needed clean water, so I opened her cage to get the bowl. What I forgot to do was close the door. When I came back in the room, she was on the door saying “step up”. I was kind of nervous, but I could not leave her out all day, so I stuck my fingers out and said step up and she did. I worked with her for about 2 weeks, and one day I picked her up and took her into the livingroom. My husband was surprised to see Lucy on my hand. We have become so good together that she goes everywhere with me. Now I am not saying she still does not bite me, because she does, but she is my baby now. I ask her who is my girl and she says Lucy. Over the past 3 years our flock has grown. We have a 3 1/2 yr old Timneh and a 3 yr old Blue and Gold both of which we are alos the second owners. I love all of our birds, they are a big part of our family.

hi we got our african grey parrot from a local breeder. we saw him just after he hatched , hes so lovely great talker now but only likes female to go near him. but hes a great bird a part of the family.

My 15 y/o African Grey named Matadi picked me out when she was only two months old. I was walking thru an avairy where there were about 10 baby greys; all of them politely ignored me but when I came to Matadi’s cage she started going crazy, the owner came over and said she wants you to get her out. I did and she cuddled with me right away. I went back the next day and the same thing happened. Needless to say she was mine. She is a delight. She talks all the time and I can’t imagine life without her. I used to have her out of her cage all the time but unfortunately I rescued a dog (half westie, half scottie) and he would eat her in a second. It makes me so sad that she can’t be with me more often. I do have her cage in an area of the house where she can interact with us and she seems happy. No feather picking or other problems.

My website will explain a lot quicker than I can about whether my parrots were just pets or much, much more….

i was 12 when i started looking into getting a parrot, when i turned 13 my mom bought me a cockatiel she was an aviary bird, but after a few weeks my grandad fell in love with her so i decided to let him look after her, they got along great, and is semi tame she had a great personality, but the next door neighbor complained about the noise when they wernt well, so then as much as my grandad and i didnt want to, we sent her to a home that had other birds there. but inbetween this process i bought a timneh grey but i found out this was a wild cuaght bird, or a breeding parrot, the people i bought it off wernt breeders or anything they were just the owners of him. but anyway, i had contacts with people that new about a woman who had a knack for wilder parrots, but she said that it would be best to give him up, she new of a indoor outdoor private aviary where i sent him, hes now as happy as anything and really settled in, so hes got the best deal out of this. though when i turned 14, i had saved enough money to look for a parrot again, and knowing what to look for, i found a parrot breeder, i sometimes speak to him today, that was three years ago, now i have a great parrot orange winged amazon, not just for a pet, but as a family member who has a great personality, we get along great, he sees me as a second mother as i got him from a young age were inseparable, as ive been his first owner, but he is sociable with other family members too, i wouldnt ask for anything better, well apart from when he starts to shout, but thats because he something, hes not always too bad though, hes great

my bird is called felix an african grey he is 5 yr old i also have 5 dogs 1x german shep 1x belgian shep 2x springer spaniels and 1 x norfolk terrier and guess who rules the roost?? yep felix!! he shouts at them swears at them flys at them walks between them as if to say right whos next? yet not one of the dogs have tried to hurt him any way he know at 7pm every night he comes out from his cage because thats his time he loves watching tv he has his own beaker and when he wants a drink of water he tells me bye kissing my lips he is my baby

Igrew up with my first bird Smokie(she was in her 20s/30s then) I first remember her when my mum would come into the room and Smokie was on my cot! all through my school days Smokie was with me even when I joined the Army Smokie was allowed to stay with me in camp (Not when I went abroad) any way I am now 48 and Smokie died Christmas eve 2007, I now have two crimson Rosaelas and a pennant my ex wife (who incidently lives next door to me and still does my housework and cooking )has three of my cockatiels two rescues and a baby I had to feed myself using Chets methods!! my friend looks after a cockatiel and a Pure white cockatoo again a rescue(I pay vet bills and foodstuffs etc )My Smokie was a timneh I really miss her too much still !! my birds are not Pets they are friends and companions!! The trust and friendship you could only describe if you were military or ever been trully in love

This is my second small Parrot. Kiwi is a 4 year old mail that I found in a newspaper add. I am his 3rd and last owner. (would not let him go for anything, other then my wife’s health).

He is a very loving Senegal Parrot with a bright activity. Gets along great with every one but my wife, Kiwi will get off from his cage and follow her around the house, he has bitten her toe once and pretty hard at that. Kiwi will talk to my wife and do tricks for her more then anyone else, then turn his head her her to scratch the back of his head just to entice her in so he can take a nip at her.

My wife had Parrot fever when she little living in Wash DC from a bird they had found flying loose in there neighbor hood, so we have been watching very close for any coughing, so far so good, doctors can’t tell us too much about what to watch for.

Kiwi is part of the family, not a pet, he will eat dinner when we do, at his cage. with a little sampling of what we are having minus anything we have read and studied of not to let him have.

He plays with my son’s pet dwarf rabbit and will copy any and every bell sound in the house, it took awhile to stop going after the phone or checking the door alarm sensor.

Haven’t found any bird clubs in Oklahoma City area yet, but a couple of the bird shops have help out a lot along with my vet for his check up.

I do keep his wings trimmed for his safety as long as my peace of mind, as we keep ceiling fans going to reduce the cooling costs.

I had budgies as a child, as an adult I had a couple of cockatiels, but nothing for long periods of time. Then 12 years ago my son found a young lovebird in our yard. While shopping for supplies for it, we encountered a lady who wanted to give away 2 cockatiels. That started my new venture into birds. I retired from my job, joined a bird rescue group, became their cockatoo coordinator. Now I have over 50 birds. A few are fosters that will be placed in good homes, but most have been adopted by the family. I have 3 outside aviaries that I put the different birds in during the day in nice weather. They have misters so that even hot days can be enjoyed outside. I have 2 CAGs, a Pionus, 7 Cockatoos, 2 foster Cockatoos, 12 budgies, a Blue mutation Rosella, & 27 Cockatiels. All come inside at night into a bird room. Keeps me busy, retirement is a busy life. Filled everyday with new and exciting things that my babies do. They are my grandchildren and not just a hobby. Luckily my son feels the same way, I don’t have to worry about what will happen to them after I’m gone. I know they will continue to have a good home with him. They require so little from us and give back so much. The unconditional love is abundant. I have a foster Rose Breasted that comes from a stressful home due to loss of job, house, and future prospects. He is my most needy bird at the moment. He was harrassed by a former live in companion and is now fearful of coming out of his cage. We are working on his confidence and just letting him get used to our busy household. He seems to like hearing the other birds and watching me interact with them. I hope with time and love he will become the happy bird my own RB too is.

We were just about to buy a Blue Macaw while living in Florida but Hurricane
Wilma destroyed our home and cars and we had to leave immediately and decided to return to Chicago after living in Florida for 13 years. As soon as we get into our house in the next 60 days we will again try to purchase a Blue Macaw locally. Since i am a 4 mile a day walker either outdoors or on a Treadmill I want to be able to talk to this macaw while he/she sits on my shoulder and in general just enjoy the macaw has a pet. But to fully enjoy any pet we have to know how to take care of it and keep in a healthy environment.

Having always loved birds for their beauty, I was fortunate to become a volunteer at a wildlife rehab center 12 years ago, and learned how to care for injured or sick birds, and raising abandoned baby birds. State laws prohibit non-licensed rehabbers from keeping wild birds as pets, so I decided to take the step towards owning parrots. I began my feathered family with 2 baby cockatiels which I hand fed till they were weaned — Skyler and Daisy are now 10 years of age and are sweet and funny, very friendly to everyone. Then 3 years ago I found Joonie, a 6 week old umbrella cockatoo at an exotic pets store. Joonie had what is called scissors beak, but his condition has improved greatly over time as I have learned how to properly groom his beak to coax it back to a normal position. We have a wonderful friendship based on trust and love — he lets me trim his beak and nails without my having to towel him. He talks, sings and goes crazy over songs by The Carpenters. My husband and I adore him, Joonie even goes on vacations with us. Then along came Sammy. Sammy the Timneh Grey, 30 years old, and had outlived her previous family. At the rate she’s going, she will probably outlive us, too. She knows over 250 words and phrases (still learning new words!) and has an eerie understanding of the English language. She bosses Joonie around and tells him when he’s being bad. One thing I have learned about African Greys — they are not good at keeping secrets and will rat you out every time for just a cookie. I can’t imagine life without our birds, they give us so much love, and we do everything we can to return that love to them and provide them with a happy, healthy home.

MY VERY FIRST BIRD WAS COCKATIEL, TWEETY WAS THE BEST, I GOT HER AT 8 WEEKS, SHE WOULD FOLLOW ME ALL OVER, IF SHE FELT LAZY ONE DAY SHE WOULD SIT ON MY SHOE, AND GO WITH ME. SHE WAS MY BABY, SHE DIED ON HER 11 BIRTHDAY, THAT WAS SO HARD. I TOLD MY SELF NOT AGAIN, BUT THEN I SEEN A QUAKER PARROT AND THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK. I NAMED HER TOOTSIE, I RAISED HER JUST LIKE TWEETY, SHE IS MY BABY, FIRST THING SHE SAID WAS ” IT IS ALL RIGHT BABY” THAT WAS AT 9 WEEKS, SHE SAY’S FEW MORE THINGS, BUT NOT AS FAST AS THE FIRST SAYING. I HAD KNOW TROUBLE GETTING HER TO STEP UP OR DOWN. I ALSO HAVE A CHOW AND THEY GET A LONG FINE. IN FACT TOOTSIE KNOWS THIS ONE SCREAM OF HERS, WILL GET THE DOG BARKING AND SHE DOES IT JUST TO BE A BRAT, LOL. THERE IS TIMES WHEN SHE REALLY STARTS HER SCREAMING, I THINK NO MORE YOUR GONE, BUT THEN SHE DOES SO MUCH TO MAKE YOU LAUGH, WHICH SHE DOES MY LAUGH. CHET SAID WHEN THEY START SCREAMING JUST TO SCREAM LEAVE THE ROOM, TILL THEY LEARN THAT IT IS A NO GO. I HAVE TO SAY CHET HAS HELPED ME A LOT. I AM SO THANKFUL I FOUND HIS SITE. I HAVE GOTTEN EVERY DVD HE HAS PUT OUT. I AM A BIRD LOVER FOR SURE.
THANK YOU CHET, FOR ALL YOUR HELP.
JAN AND TOOTSIE

I have 2 Scarlet’s & 2 Blue/Gold’s that I acquired 3&half years ago. A freind was transferred and couldn’t take them with him. They have become my life and my children. Never having a bird (not even a tiny one) this was definately a learning experience and a challenge. However, we bonded right away and no one has any problems. The only issue is the one male in the group (the youngest) is now about 7 will let out a screech that will make your ears hurt when he wants attention. They aren’t caged nor clipped: we built them a glass aviary where they can enjoy the sunshine and still be with the family. I do not belong to any clubs, but would love to find one in the Charleston SC area. I would love to find out more info on breeding them, but would end up keeping every one. My husband is a softy and can’t bare the thought of breeding to sell. We have two springer spaniels that have a mutual respect for the birds (the birds will pluck at them if they get close to them or us when they are with us). The birds are a major part of our lives for companionship and love. The only impact has been on the amount of time I spend with them and we now have to have a sitter when we go out of town.

I am not a member of a club or business that has to do with birds, but my bird is more than a pet. She is a part of our family. As a matter of fact, I call my 14 year old son her brother. I got my first bird when I was in my early teens. I got a parakeet and taught it to talk. After parakeets I moved on to conours and finally, Sheila, my cockatoo. Unfortunately, she is a flirt and will leave me in an instant to see my husband or my son……both of whom pay much less attention to her. We even got her a traveling cage so when we go on R.V. trips she is always with us.

Our neighbors were moving, and could not take their bird with them.
She came over and asked me if I wanted to take in her bird. It was a little
finch. I took him in and name him Churpie. We had him for 4 yrs.
When he was gone, things were not the same. I didnt realized that he had made that much of an inpact on our lives, but he did. We had an anniversary comming up so my husband got me a cockatiel. Nine months later he got me another one for my Birthday. Well it wasn’t long before
they had a clutch in out kitchen. So we got them a bigger cage, and had to move them out to our patio. Before we knew it, become a full blown
hobby. That next summer we were building an aviary for them. That was 8-9 yrs. ago. We have about 100+ cockatiels and 7 other different kinds
of other birds now. We are now empty nesters ourselves now so they are why I get up every morning.

I have two birds: one a Sun Conure and the other an English parakeet. The English Parakeet is in a large cage on the patio. I started with seven birds, but over the years have lost all but the youngest. I hope to get additional birds after October. The Sun Conure is the indoor bird and as I call him “my two year old”. He’s adorable, but he wants my attention 24/7. If he can be with me, he’s fine, but if not he’ll hang to himself for a short time and then begins to squawk or should I say screech. I love him, but he can be overwhelming sometimes. I did not realize the time and energy a conure takes when I bought him…..did absolutely no research.

I was always a horse/dog/cat kind of person. I was afraid of birds, even ducks! Two years ago, the horses were gone, and within 18 months, I had lost both dogs and both cats to old age. It was really a hard time for me. My boss raised bird for years. She kept after me to take a Cockatiel, it needed a home. After much pleading, I brought Sammy home. What a dear. She was scared and distrustful. I read as much as I could and soon she was eating from my hand. She soon ruled the house! Since then I have rescued another Cockatiel and a Sun Conure. The conure was supposed to be a male, but after I had it for about a month, I told my boss (who knew the bird for years) that I thought it was a female. Sure enough, a week later, she layed an egg!! She hates my husband, but loves me and likes my sons. Sammy has passed and we bought a parakeet. So our 3 are extensions of the family. Birdie the Tiel and Duckie the Conure, take turns being loose on their playgrounds or sitting with us on the couch or computer. Deego the ‘keet, we can’t seem to get tamed yet, still trying. I’m not sure what rescue groups are in my area, I would be willing, I guess, to work with them. I do foster dogs thru a rescue. My birds have opened up a new world for me. I never guessed the personalities and moods they can have. Or the love they can share. Wow, who knew??

I have three African Greys. The eldest talks up a storm. I built a nice aviary outside under a fruit tree. I noticed that his talking ability has declined since he’s been out there! It’s been about 8 months. He screams and whistles and talks less! Any suggestions to fix the problem?

Thanks,

Bruce

I first got an african grey parrot which is a wonderful bird (we saw him as an egg) and a year later got Corky, a blue and gold macaw, the most wonderful creature I have ever had the pleasure to share my life with…..however, very sadly he died almost 2 years ago, aged only 10 years…….the post mortem showed he had died of a large tuour in his adrenal glad with secondaries in his stomach….nothing anyone could have done and, as he was young the cancer was aggresive and fast spreading……..from me feeling he was not 100% to his death was only 4 weeks….. I would dearly love another macaw but am too afraid he would not be the spectacular, clever, flamboyant creature that Corky was. He starred in a children’s TV series and just played to the audience being the show off he was……I have a pet shop and my parrots travelled with me in the moring and evening….Corky sat on the headrest and watched what was going on…… if anyone has a real interest in any of thesewonderful creatures I would urge them to have one……I often hand rear babies for customers and I know how everyone that has one just adds another person to their family……I dearly miss Corky and hope one day another macaw will come into my life

hi i bought my cockatiel 15yrs ago when my son was one ,my son 16 in november and yes we still have joey the cockatiel we got him a partener to keep him company but unfortunately she got egg bound and passed away,my brother decided to buy an african grey parrot but he was working away a lot and his wife wasnt to keen on him so i adopted him while he went to work,when my brother got back home he took flash the parrot back but flash wouldnt settle so my brother decided it can come back to us .flash loves me he kisses me and lands on my hand but really hates my partener when my partener comes close he fluffs up and really goes for him,he talks a lot and speaks 2 languages welsh and english,i dont think i could do without him now hes really a part of the family

I started out with raising budgies then moved to cocatiels, now I have 1 blue and gold macaw named Daisy. She was 12 when I got her but I soon realised she was a rescue bird with a lot of behavioural problems (plucking, screaming/squawking, and biting) I’m trying the stuff on the video taming and training but it has been a difficult progress and unfortunately there is no specialist where I live and the closest is an hour and a half drive from here. I love her a lot and she is very entertaining to have. She is more than a pet to me she is my child. I don’t belong to any bird clubs and I don’t have or work for any buisness that deals with birds. I am thinking about volunteering at an animal sanctuary cause they also deal with rescue birds.

i got my blue fronted amazon for my birthday from my wife 4 years ago his name is cracker he is a very talkative bird and very friendly bird i am finding it very difficult to get him on to a pellet diet i would like some advice on this please . i would love to get another bird could advise to wot would be a good choice to go with my blue fronted thank mike

The first bird that I ever owned was a cockatiel (Tuna) that I received from my brother-in-law back in 2002. I hand fed her from the time she was about 3 weeks old. The parents were plucking her feathers so my brother-in-law rescued her from the nest and gave her to me. I had her for about a year and used to walk around the house with her on my shoulders. One night I walked out to my car to get something out of the car and realized that Tuna had lifted off my shoulder. I had forgotten to clip her wings and she flew off into the night and I was devastated. A couple of months later, Tuna’s parents again had a new baby that they were trying to get out of the nest, plucking his feathers (Taco). I took him in and hand fed him for about a month before my brother-in-law decided to sell him to a co—worker. Taco was more lovable and whistled a lot more than Tuna did. Once all the babies were gone, my brother-in-law’s parents gave us both the mom and dad cockatiels. The mom passed away last year and the dad now has a new mate.
A year and a half later I saw some baby Half Moon Conures in a pet store. I wanted to buy one, but the owner convinced me to buy both a male and a female. They were barely a month old and I had to hand feed them every 2-3 hours. I actually would get up in the middle of the night to feed them. Coco and Moco are great parrots, but would bite me every once in a while. They use to sit on my fingers, talk, and give me kisses on my lips. Years later, it came to the point that they depended on each other more for companionship than playing with me. I still have the two of them, but can hardly get them off the cage to sit on my fingers anymore. I can’t seem to give them up even though they have gotten slightly wild.
In 2007 I met a loving man (Alan) who has a special way with and loves birds. Last Christmas he found a pigeon (Pigy) that was cold and hungry following him in a Vons parking lot. He gave her some crackers and she walked right into his warm hands. He brought her home and she has been his loyal follower since then. Even with the house doors wide open, she would not fly away. Whenever we are outdoors and she sees us walking back into the house she flies and heads into the house ahead of us. A month later, we found a 6 month Green Cheek Conure at Petco (Tiki). He did all kinds of tricks to attract Alan. He played with him for over a half hour before we decided to purchase him. The store employee wanted to use a net to get him out of the cage, but Alan said that he doesn’t need that, placed his hand in the cage and Tiki stepped onto his finger. Tiki loves his daddy and loves to sing along with him when he plays his guitar, cuddle, laugh, and play in/out of his shirt. Four months later, while buying supplies for the two birds, we found a 3 month old male Eclectus (Mackey) in a bird store. As soon as the store employee handed him to me he cuddled up to my neck and would not move. I fell in love instantly and I had to bring him home. Mackey is now 7 months old and loves to sing along with Alan and talk up a storm. He is my big spoiled, loving baby that I carry around the house. He hangs out with me and tries to repeat what I say to him. A couple of months later we attended a Bird Mart/Show at the fair grounds. While walking through the building, a 3 month old Bare-eyed Cockatoo jumped onto Alan’s shoulder. She would not let anyone else at the show get near/touch her, but as soon as Alan started to rub her head she would not leave him. Alan fell in love and could not let her go so we ended up bringing her home. She cuddled and slept on my chest the whole 45 minute drive home.
So all in all, we have a total of 8 birds, 4 at my house and 4 at Alan’s house. All the birds are a big part of our family, aggressive or not, I love them all and can’t seem to give them up.

I had 2 electus parrots 1 male and 1 female i purchased them from an avairy the owner passed away and 2 parrots were left. I purchased them for my office the female was raised by human trhe male was wild. The female did not get along with the male she used to bite him all the time. The male died a yr ago, the female is still in the office she runs free and plays with the customers. She is getting lazy and doesn’t want to talk, she only squeals when there is too many ppl in the office. But she also lays 1 egg a week, which are no good she doesn’t like male parrots as i borrowed
one for her to mate, she would bite him all the also. I wish i can breed her
and don’t know what to do with her.

I am not a member of a club or business that has to do with birds, but my bird is more than a pet. She is a part of our family.my son wanted an african grey for his christmas in 2005. i wasn’t sure as we didn’t know anything about birds so any way we went to a breeder and she showed us what she had (2 out of 6 were taken) so she brought the other 4 out of the cage and let us sit with them a while. there was this particular 1 who had a different colour of ring round his leg and after asking why she said the original had slipped off and she couldnt find it so that was the 1 wee choose and named him zeus we picked him up the following week 23rd dec 05 he was 11 weeks old. buy god we loved him so any way my son passed away on 28th sept 06 he was 20yr old and i have been left with zeus who i could never be without now as he keeps me company and now i just wonder why my son wanted a parrot as animals were out of the question as wee both worked and i didnt think it fair to have a pet that you cant spend time with

I operate a rescue in the Greater Kansas City area. At present I have cockatiels, sun conure, parakeet, Gouldian finch and a cockatoo. I adore each and every one of my flock. They came from across the city, each with a sad background. It is heartwarming and heartwrenching at the same time when I rehome them. I cry every time and am prayerful I have chosen wisely and they will have long and happy lives. I always offer the new parents the opportunity to return their new pet if it doesn’t work out. Via craiglist I have met others who are also operating home-based rescues in our area. We reach out to each other and share success stories. We have recently discovered we know a lot of the same people from whom we received birds, reluctantly admitting not everyone is truthful with us.

My birds are my family. My children are grown with children of their own and when I come home at the end of each day, I am welcomed with song and whistles and excitement. My life is richer because of my rescue work and I feel I am giving back.

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
No I am not apart of any bird program, have many books that I THOUGHT would help me with my parrots.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
I would love to join something, However, I am disabled and home bound. If I was a bit more able to bye your program I would! I love my African timnah gray, one day I went into the bird section of the pet store, not unusual for me to do as I always wanted a parrot! When I saw him or her, it was heart to heart so that day he came home with me. I so enjoyed holding him and just spent hours holding and cuddling with him, after we had a bad accident with the dog and him, I was unable to let him just hang out on his cage for fear there will be a war and he would not win I can’t get him out but maybe twice a week now. My son bought a blue fronted Amazon which bonded to my husband and him . . . he hates me and will lunge at me or bite if I get anywhere near him. I thought he and my african grey could be friends when I allowed my son to bye him, not happening, when we tried to let them come out together, they just flew at one another attacking, it was an awful experiene and I was so sad about this. One day I would love to fix an aviary for him, I think he would be happier. He has bit my hands and fingers to scaring and bit through my lower lip tearing it off leaving me with a mess on my lip now. I love him or her so much, he will only let me take him out of the cage, I try to spend time with him but he flys up to the fans and I can’t get him down. I can’t take him out when anyone is around as he will fly off and attack and bite others. He bites really hard and hates my husband and anyone else that even dares go to his cage. They are happy in their cages, next to one another, just enough space to keep from lunging at one another and fightying.

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
I am not interested in the business, I am disabled, if I could I would love to raise them, but not unless somehow I can find a way to fix the problems I have right now with the ones I have.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
My parrots are my world, I just wish I could hold and cuddle with mine without being bit, or him flying away from me and I can’t get to him do to my disability.

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
Petsmart is where I got my African grey, and we bought our blue fronted Amazon from an exotic bird breeder.

How have your birds impacted your life?

My Afrian grey changed my life, he really loves me and makes my days alone so much better. They both sing with me, and mimic every sound they ever hear. My Afrian grey calls the dog for me with the whistle we use to call the dogs in, mimics and answers the phone or anything we do down to my sneezing, caughing and the manner inwhich I speak. He loves to whistle the Andy Griffith song and so much more! I miss being so close to him and feel that I am not the best friend he needs but am afraid to get another afrian grey as I am not sure if he would accept a bird friend or not and try to hurt the new commer. Any help out there for my birds, I welcome it . . just don’t have the money to pay for programs and things.
My dream is that everywhere I go he could go with me in my scooter inside and out without loosing him or taking risks that he would attack anything or anyone. Hes afraid of the bird vest or the gloves, well he is frightened by just about anything that is different. Maybe oneday he will be able to just be safe and hang out with me . . I’ll keep hoping. see my website and you can see pictures of my baby and my husband and sons parrot too.
God Bless

Hello Chet and Dave thank you for asking me to share my bird information with you.

I got my first bird in 1996 and he was a parakeet named Buddy. He lived 8 years. I didn’t know anything about birds back then. I didn’t know how smart and lovable they were. I had 2 cats, also. But, I decided I only wanted birds because cats were too dangerous for them and I grew to love birds in a very special way.

One year after having Buddy I got a natural grey cockatiel named Baby as a bird companion. I still have Baby!!! Baby is 11 years old now and after Buddy died I got Beenie to replace him. Beenie, a pied cockatiel is 4 and half years old now.

I don’t have any cats now and love my birds so very much.

I have learned so much about birds and still learning in the past 11 years! I have grown to adore them and get excited about any articles I read about birds or videos about them.

I would love to make a living somehow having something to do with my passion, but don’t know if it’s possible. The best thing I can do now is write a newsletter. I should spend more time with it and getting it ou t there to the bird lovers.

I am not happy now with the Internet marketing I am doing now. It is not working and I am sad. But my birds make me happy!!!

I need to work at home which my family does not understand and will give me any moral support with.

My birds are my pets and my babies. They are my best friends They have helped me through so much depression and any physical pain. Taking care of them heals me. I look forward to getting up every morning to see them, feed them and clean their cages.

I support the Audobon Society and I wish I could give money to all of the parrot sanctuaries but I can’t. I don’t have a whole lot of money and I am financially stuggling all of the time.

I am 55 years old and have suffered depression since I was a little girl and, now I have alot of trouble with arthiritis in my hands and wrists, an old lower left hand back injury and mono vision that keeps me from wanting to go out and get a job in public. So if you know of any way I could generate some income please let me know.

I have been trying to promote my newsletter with your affiliate program in it, but maybe not eniogh.

I read about Serenity Bird Sanctuary this week and just love it! They take in abused and unwanted parrots and the war veterins with post tramitic stress go there to help the birds, bond with them and get better. This is just so wonderful. I sure wish I had the money to make a sanctuary like this. I would love to be in a place with birds all of my life, not worrying about my family getting after me and helping other birds and people like in the Serenity Sanctuary situation.

I was feeling sorry for myself today and wishing I could just go live at Serenity Bird Sanctuary and have some peace of mind.

Thank you so much for inviting me to share Chet and Dave!

Barb
Baby
and
Beenie

I have always liked birds and feed the wild birds year round. One day I saw an ad in the paper for a Sun Conure. I didn’t even know what a Sun Conure looked like, but we went to see her and fell in love with Vinnie. The original owner’s wife did not like Vinnie and they said he was too loud (little did they know that Vinnie is a female) We have had Vinnie for almost 4 years now and she will be 9 in February. We also have a 9 year old female Quaker Parrot Mickie that I rescued from our avian veterinarians office when taking Vinnie in for a check up 2 years ago. Mickie only likes me and will not let anyone else handle her. It took me 4 months of just spending time with her everyday in my office (that’s where I kept her when first bringing her home) until she began to trust me. Now she talks and chatters all day long,and steps up when I ask her to. They both have their cages in the main area of the house so that they are aware of everything going on and get lots of attention. In the summer months every evening we go outside and sit on the patio and listen to music and they have snacks and juice, just like little kids. They are alot of company as we are empty nesters now. We also have Finches Sammie, Joey and Frankie.

I started out with 2 cats.My husband was working at some ones house that has 2 Lovebirds in their own cages ans he opened up one cage and put the bird on his shoulder. The women said that bird bit everybody and could not believe my husband could just pick up the bird. Over the next 2 week of working on the house he let bird our of his cage and on his shoulder everyday. When the job was over the women gave him the bird with the cage.
Mt cats did not pay any attention to the bird, but then I got 2 dogs and that bird showed who was the boss from day 1.
Well since then that Love bird and the cats have passed away, but I still have the 2 dogs and now a Quaker Parrot, that is friendlier, but the dogs know better than to bother it. She sits on the top of her cage and when the dogs beg for our food, so does the bird. She starts squawking when she hears us cooking in the kitchen, when we give her a little tidbit she has this special thank you chirp that she only does after we give her soemthing.

I started out with 2 cats.My husband was working at some ones house that has 2 Lovebirds in their own cages ans he opened up one cage and put the bird on his shoulder. The women said that bird bit everybody and could not believe my husband could just pick up the bird. Over the next 2 week of working on the house he let bird our of his cage and on his shoulder everyday. When the job was over the women gave him the bird with the cage.
Mt cats did not pay any attention to the bird, but then I got 2 dogs and that bird showed who was the boss from day 1.
Well since then that Love bird and the cats have passed away, but I still have the 2 dogs and now a Quaker Parrot, that is friendlier, but the dogs know better than to bother it. She sits on the top of her cage and when the dogs beg for our food, so does the bird. She starts squawking when she hears us cooking in the kitchen, when we give her a little tidbit she has this special thank you chirp that she only does after we give her something.

I started out with 2 cats.My husband was working at some ones house that has 2 Lovebirds in their own cages ans he opened up one cage and put the bird on his shoulder. The women said that bird bit everybody and could not believe my husband could just pick up the bird. Over the next 2 week of working on the house he let bird our of his cage and on his shoulder everyday. When the job was over the women gave him the bird with the cage.
Mt cats did not pay any attention to the bird, but then I got 2 dogs and that bird showed who was the boss from day 1.
Well since then that Love bird and the cats have passed away, but I still have the 2 dogs and now a Quaker Parrot, that is friendlier, but the dogs know better than to bother it. She sits on the top of her cage and when the dogs beg for our food, so does the bird. She starts squawking when she hears us cooking in the kitchen, when we give her a little tidbit she has this special thank you chirp that she only does after we give her something. I have had this Quaker since she/he was 6 months old but she does not say any words yet and she is now 3 years old. Any tips or tricks?

hi.
thanks for the email. I would love to reply your queries. Infact I am grateful to you that you send emails to me regularly which are proved very useful to me and help to tackle problems pertaining to my pet.
As far as your questions are concerned, I do not belong to any local bird rescue. I am also not a member of any local bird club. And it is not my business. My parrots are not just my hobby but they are more to us (for me and my wife). We consider them as our family members. Specially one which is an Indian green parrot with red marks on his neck and shoulders. He also loves us and we can not live without him, and we love him as our son. I bought him from the local market when he was just one mongh old. Now he is one and a half year old. We also had two other parrots one mail and the other female but one day they manage to flee. But now we have this one and we both love him so much. We are grateful to you for your cooperation and hope you would continue guiding us to enable us to take care of our parrot properly. I also like to ask some questions regarding his feed and some behaviours etc. Hope you would allow me sometime to ask the questions through the email.
Regards,
Moosa

I have an African grey named Moses. He was “born” on July 4, 2001. I had done much research, and had a house full of toys long before I got him. He was the sweetest little baby, but he has always been painfuly shy. He hides in his cage when company comes over. Once he feels that its “safe” he will start chatting away from the safety of his cage door.
He loves to be a part of the dinner table scene, and loves to tease my three dogs. Moses is a spunky little guy, but for the most part, he keeps his wanderings to the top of his cage and his T stand.
Moses is my baby boy. Without him, who would yell at the dogs when Im at work?

First thing, when you say birds, do you mean my parrots, or birds in general.
Strictly speaking I guess my first ‘birds’ were fowl.

When I lived in South Harrow, in the UK, the local vet used to call me up when wild birds were brought into her. I had rescued a fledgling blackbird that some local children brought to me, took it to the local vet who said as it was a bank holiday, that I had as much chance of keeping it alive as she did. After the holidays I took it back, it was alive and well and in (her words) excellend condition. It was sent to a bird sanctuary, but after that she used to phone me up.

Some years later, I was asked to take in a couple of young Mallards,which I did. Next I was called from a local vet, a member of the public had found, what she believed to be ducks, and the vet wanted to know if I would take them on. I did so, it was a pair of Muscovy ducks. I was called up some months later from a vet at the other side of London, asking if I would take another pair of duck. I did so.

I have three parrots, a pair of African Greys and a little Senegal. The female African Grey was passed to me from a very close friend who was dying on cancer. She loved BJ like a child and felt that I was the only person she would trust her with. BJ had, due to Chrissy’s illness spent a long long time on her own, in her cage and had started to bite. She still bites a little sometimes. She is unable to fly due to damage done to one of her wings in an accident when she was young. She was about 4years old when I got her. However, she will try and usually walks to me if I am in the kitchen too long.

The male came to me from someone who was afraid of him, because she used to let him out of the cage and he would go for her when she tried to get him back in. He would not step up, and tried to bite her if she tried to feed him from her hand. He is very loving, he steps up when I want him out of his cage and will go in of his own accord when I fill his bowl up, or he steps us and allows me to put him back in the cage. He is called Pongo, we decided Not to change his name when we got him.

The little Senegal was out of an aviary, when I saw him I was almost in tears. He was a little bedragled thing, he had dull feathers, with none on his head, he had a lot of scars. When anyone entered the room he was in he used to bash of the cage walls he was so nervous. When I started letting him out of the cage, and anyone came in, he would turn his back.

He is now a beautiful bird, fully feathered, and his colours are amazing. He does not step up yet, but he will eat out of my hand. He is very calm and like to chat, though he does not talk. He is amusing. We call him BB

They are all kept in the same room. BJ and Pongo share a cage, which was their choice. BB the senegal has his own cage, though he does now and again go into the other one.

They are part of the family. They are fine with the other animals we have indoors. Pongo often calls for Bobby, the dog. They are the only birds we have indoors, other than in the winter when a pair of Serama’s come in.

joolz

I have an African Grey, which was duely called misty, because of his/hers markings. He was a 50th birthday present from my husband. He is now 4yrs old.
We get great pleasure from him, love to hear him sing “I saw a mouse”. He does naughty things then shouts, Jacko you b—-then he laughs.
He is like a child to us, but we wouldn’t be without him.

My first bird was a budgie I named Dickey. I bought him in Winnipeg, and brought him up to Alberta. I had him for about 10 years. He was a good friend. Then I bought a couple more budgies, wich I had for about the same length of time. After that I didn’t have anymore birds for quite awhile. Then around 3 years ago a lady where I worked said she was going to give away her Hahn,s Macaw. So I thought what the heck, I’ll take the bird. Little did I know how this little bird would help me through some very hard times. Not long after I had Kilo I was surprized to see that he was a she and found that she laid an egg. Her previous owner thought that she was a male. Also Kilo is a rescued bird and I’m her 3rd or 4th owner. To me she is my little angel. She helped me through the passing away of both my parents in the past year. I don’t know what I would have done without my little angel. I hope I have her for a long time to come, even though she is around 20 years old. I love her dearly.

I never was much of a bird person. My sister had a parakeets when I was in my teenage years. Then when I moved out and moved in w/ my fiancee I got a wild hair to buy a lovebird. I bought my lovebird, which I named Kiwi, when I was about 23 yrs old. When I went out to buy her cage, the salesman told me that cage would hold 4-5 lovebirds. But I wanted her to have all the room possible when I couldn’t have her out. She was SO beautiful, she was mostly green which is how she got her name. She loved to cuddle w/ me and how she sang. She was just beautiful all the way around. She had this toy w/ bell on it and she use to slam it against her cage, it was SO loud.
The whole while I had been reading up on CAGs as well. I wanted one, I bought a cage & toys. But I just kept reading to make sure it was really right for me. After reading on African Greys for so long after 4-5 yrs of reading up on them I finally bought one. Man are they different from a lovebird!! I never got my CAG tested for what sex she is but I named her Angel and have called her a female since I bought her Jan 2007. My Kiwi, the lovebird, died suddenly this year. I don’t know what happened to her but it was so sad.
So Angel is now alone w/ my 3 dogs of course. She has learned to bark & whine just like all 3 of them. Her vocab is just starting to really take off. She says “Paco” all the time. Paco is the largest of our 3 dogs. It’s always “Paco” “Paco come here” “Paco hi”. My poor Paco doesn’t even acknowledge his own name any longer.
I love having an African Grey and it is sure true that they are just like a true human child. The way they age/grow/learn is so human like.

Where do I start?
My wife wantes an African grey.I never knew she loved parrots!!
We went to pet stores and looked&looked&looked!!!!!!!
Finally(thank God!!)she found and fell in love with Zak!!
I think people shoul try to find a bird that they can really relate to and vice versa!I’m talking big parrots not the little guys.
Remember that they will live sometimes as long as you!!
Getting a parrot is a long term comitment….don’t be like so many people and buy them on the spur of the moment and then because they are slobs and messy(and God knows they are)you give him to some one else and the circle begins!!!!!!!
We got Zak in 1992.I’m going to abbreviate my story ’cause it would take a long time to write the whole thing!!
Zak was my wifes bird(for now) and I wanted a buddy too.We found a sweet gorgeous female budgie and I fell for her.Problem was she was not tame and quite old(8 months)
It took me for ever to tame her and I really never got her totally tamed.Meanwhile Zak got this big love for me!!(wife not happy!!) We wnt out and found a little Severe Macaw at a breeders.Dylan was crippled in one leg so the breeder offered him to us at half price.I know my wife would have paid full price(she loved him!!)
So there we were our,3 dogs,3 parrots and a cat(old)
A phone call comes from the dotter!!!!
“Mom I’m raising budgies” So we go see and the babies were adorable.
Guess who’s raing birds too??
Fast forward a ways(1 year or so)
We now have 100 budgie(50 males and50 females)
My wife became an expert on budgie genetics!!!! She had some of the most beautiful budgies I haver eve seen.
We had 4 pairs of love birds,2 pairs of cockatiels,and a pair of moustache parakeets!!
I have to say those were great times I loved hand feeding the babies,every batch we took to Super Pet we bawled.The nice part was the little gals at Super Pet were so excited when we came in.They get(got) all their birds from a huge breeder that ran a business.Our little operation was a labor of love.My wife would only breed her girls once a year.Then they rested and played.
In 2002 my world came crashing down.My wife had lung cancer and passed away in October.
We had stopped breeding birds because of the horror storie we used to hear about humans treatment of birds!!!!!!!!So we stopped and our birds would just play and fool around till….
It is now 2008 and I am down to 3 budgies,4 cockatiels,3 love birds Zak(thank God)Dylan(ditto)and 4 ring necked doves(I rescued them)
Morty(male mousetache) flew out the front door years go and we never saw him again.Maggie(Morty’s mate) I think had a stroke one day and died in my arms.
Zak continues to be the love of my life(1500 word vocabulary)
Dylan is and always will be a very cute precious little bird(even more so if he quit the bloody biteing!!)
Every day I pray God to win the 649.
I would build a huge avery(sic) and rescue birds.They would have trees and water and sunshine and lots of good food!!!!!!!
Anyway that’s my tale.Hope I didn’t bore you

Terry

My husband went into a pet shop and saw “Rita” an African Grey. Six months later he went back to the pet shop and saw she was still there. It turns out that the then 8 year old Rita had been with the same owner for 6 years and then sold her. She had been to two other homes which in quick succession did not work out. When we took her home she was shaking like a leaf. She has been with us the past 7 years. She is a part of our family which also consists of 2 cats. Rita loves to whistle her arias to our old cat “Trollan”, who at the ripe old age of 20 is stone deaf. Since Trollan doesn’t respond to this she resorts to waving at her.

Rita is definitely a part of our family. She goes everywhere with us, if possible. Sailing is an activity she has had to get used to and sometimes leads the curious Grey to unexpected heights, at the top of the mast. But with out being able to fly but can glide fly she managed to get down herself. We have now fixed that mast so she can’t climb up the ropes. We want her to be out of her cage as much as possible and when she is tired she climbs in herself and says, “Good-bye”(in Swedish) and then wants to be covered. She is constantly learning new things and is an expert escape artist.

I never thought a bird can be so cuddly and loving. Rita has taught me they can be.

Marti in Sweden

Is my pet more than just a pet? I would have to say, yes. I have had Cookie all her life and she is today 26. I don’t have any kids, never wanted any, nor did my wife. We have been married for 20 years. Cookie took to my wife right away which was strange as she is not an animal person. When my wife walks into the room Cookie shows off ringing her bell for my wife. Once I counted 30 hello’s she said to my wife. Cookie has her own room which l share with her that where the computer is
along with 2 TVs. Cookie stays in her room all the time. There are no other pets in the house. We know the charm birds have.
They say Yellow Napes have are more playfull than most birds
and are more charming. I don’t know, she’s all I have ever had. Non bird owners don’t get it to them its just a stupid bird in a
cage. The thing I hate the most is having to leave Cookie with somebody when we go away. It seems no matter where we go
theres a reminder of Cookie and if we go somewhere where there’s Parrots you can bet I’ll be there. I worry all the time while we’re gone and when we get back the first thig I do is get her home, wait till the next day will never happen. She always makes us laugh. Shes behind me when I’m at my desk and whenever I turn around to look at her there’s that one eye look we call the Cookie look. So yes shes more than a pet, shes me and I”m her. Oh, one more thing. She also has her own frieg in her room, nothing in it but beer but its still hers.

I always was surrounded by animals, even while growing up, but never any birds until I moved to my own apartment. My roommate and I casually bought a couple of parakeets and kept them in our rooms… They were pretty, but I never knew that parakeets could be hand held… these two were wild. One day while I was at work, my roommate let in a stray cat that knocked down the cage and killed the keets… it was another year or so before I got another keet. I missed the chirps. Again wild, and a canary. Then My kids came along… so I had these lovely birds, but on hindsight, I could have done so much more for them. I fed and cleaned and talked to them, but never actually held them (other than taking them out of the cage for cleanings and let them fly about a bit)… to make a long story short, they eventually died and a friend told me to get a cockatiel instead of a parakeet, so I did. I walked into a small pet shop, asked for a cockatiel, the guy says ” sure these ones just came in today” they looked all alike to me, so I told him to just pick one. He reaches in and one immediately hopped onto his finger and he hands the bird to me. I was nervous holding her, but she was so friendly… she put up a battle going into the take home box, though… Shadow and I bonded immediately. She’d call me the minute I came home from work and was with me all over the house (except when I was cooking or cleaning, she didn’t like that) after a yr, I worried that she was lonely while I worked to I bought another cockatiel for company. Sunny was not handled well at the pet store and so was wild and frightened, she eventually settled with me, but never to the same extent as Shadow… Next thing you know cockatiels were coming out of the woodwork, so to speak… peple would someone who knew someone who was trying to rehome their cockatiels, so before you knew it, I had 5 cockatiels. then the babies came along… Now I replace eggs with fake eggs as I have 9 cockatiels.

I also have 2 parrotlets and a Meyers parrot.

My birds are more than pets, they are family members.

I do have a commercial website devoted to cockatiels and as I am crafty, I incorporate cockatiels into whatever I make… I sew stuffed cockatiels from my own designed pattern, bead cockatiels from pattern, draw cockatiels (but not as well as I’d like)and take pictures of cockatiels, they are an integral part of my life, especially as the kids are 14-20 and have their own lives. I work outside my home as a Nurse and appreciate the effect the birds have de-stressing me after a hard day. Birds pick up moods, so I have to relax or they get nippy/feisty…

We also live with a dog and hamster and Guinea Pig… so my life is full.

I’d love to volunteer at a santuary, but there are no bird santuaries near me, but My own family (feathered, furred and skin) and work use the bulk of my time. I have several of chet’s and Daves’s videos and really enjoy the emails as well

My husband and I work 10-12 hour days, 6 days a week and we don’t believe in having a pet just to leave it at home without attention. Our cockatoo travels back and forth to work with us. . We both had smaller birds, parakeets as children, cockatiel, and a conure, but it’s just Indy and our cat, Stormy now. Indium was purchased through a wonderful lady who raises all sorts of birds. My husband had expressed a desire to own another bird. As my brother had owned several parrots, I asked him which would be the most affectionate and he suggested the Cockatoo. I located this baby – fortunately – close to our city and took my husband to see her. This was his birthday gift and, since it was a lifetime commitment, I wanted to be sure he was committed. A cockatoo can’t be just a hobby. With their energy, they must be a part of the family. If we had only known….the mess, the noise (lots of screaming – must address this soon..) and the attention!!! But we couldn’t possibly give her up now. She offers so much affection and she keeps us laughing with her antics. She loves to play with my husband. I think she has dubbed me her “mate”. In addition to going to work with us every day, she travels by car with us to Oregon once a month. I must say that Cockatoos are much better travelers than kids. It is an 8 hour trip one way. How is it that a parrot can poop once every 10 minutes in the house, but hold it for 2 hours on a trip?!! Not that she doesn’t have the space to go, but she prefers to wait until the gas, food and rest stops.
I would be interested in a cockatoo club in the San Jose, CA area.

Hi

Well let’s see. I am not a member of any bird club, rescue or anything. I do not know of any around this area where I live. I used to raise exotic animals (we had many) but my health deteriorated. How I missed all of them since we had to sell them all. My husband works shift work and my sons are grown and moved out so I am home alone alot. I am a people person and I get lonely real easy. I had always wanted a parrot so my husband told me I could buy one. Well before I dove right in I did alot of reading on the different types of parrots. My husband had been looking in different ad papers and he saw an ad for a moluccan cockatoo about 45 miles away. In fact we seen the ad on the internet. We went the next day and fell in love with her.Her name is Laughter and then she was 3 years old. She is now 5. She didn’t like me to much at first but she loved my husband and he didn’t even ask me if I wanted her.lol She is so much fun. Moluccan’s have quite a fun sense of humor. She talks quite a bit and is she ever spoiled. /Well we decided we had room for another. I decided on an african gray. There is a pet store about 25 miles from us so my son and I went there one day and they had a baby african gray. She was adorable. I brought her home and finished hand raising her. She is a wonderful bird. She talks and counts and sings and makes all kinds of sounds. Yesterday her new phrase was “Good Grief”.Gabby is now 2 years old. Well guess what . That wasnt enough. When we took our two birds to the vet at the pet store they had a baby goffin cockatoo. Well my husband got that look in his eye again and we brought him home. Gizmo loves to do flips hanging by one toe and he is just starting to talk. When I walk in the door he says Hi Gabby in his squeaky voice.. It is so cute.
Well I thought this was the end of our parrot clan but not yet. We decided on one more and we saw another ad for a severe mini macaw. We called right away and went to meet him. Well he is a member of our home now too. He is 3 years old and his name is tango. Tango can talk and loves to hang upside down. Our parrots are not our pets . They are a part of our family. We take them shopping and on outings and on trips with us.We are still hopping to get a rose breasted cockatoo in the future too. I love all of my parrots so much(each with their own personality) and they are the best companions a person could have. I don’t have time to be lonely any more

My daughter bought a cockatiel at the local pet shop & that’s how we got started with birds we have a subscription to “Bird Talk” for info & started to get info from you guys also on raising & keeping birds. We now have 2 birds acockatiel and a love bird wich are just kept as pets .

My husband and I wanted to experience the relationships we had heard about between people and their birds. I bought your tapes to help with training and discipline.
Our first bird, Chiquita had a word or 2 under his belt when he arrived home at about 12 weeks. He has never needed extra training to speak or do several of his tricks as I believe his motivation is love and acceptance. (especially from his Daddy). He has a lenghty vocabulary and tries to speak often in small sentences and usually makes sense. We have since added 3 more birds (one every year). A Hahn’s macaw, an Amazon and a Cockatoo. Oddly enough my Amazon speaks the least! He occasionally whispers under his breath. We think he has a confidece issue. My Hahns’ also can say a few small sentences and many words quite well. When one of the other birds does a trick or puts their wings up on command my Gizmo says “Good job, you did a good job. My Gizmo also sneezes and Chiquita says” Oh, bless you” They all love SpongeBob and we watch every day that I am home. My Cockatoo is trying so hard to sing the song. They have extremely different personalities so each is motivated differently. My Cockatoo will do anything for treats although she loves it after she does something and we say Yaaaaaaay- she says it also.
The challenge is to spend enough quality time to really effectively train them as I have not gotten full use of the course because I travel a lot on business.
I do a little “Round Robin” training. I gather my treats and I say “who can tell me what a doggie says” Or who’s going to say hello. I will then click and reward.
Whoever doesn’t answer I will go over and ask for a high 5 or a kiss so that everyone gets a treat but I hope this rubs off and they all learn. My Cockatoo ,I think would be a serious performer if I had the time to really work with her as she pics up really quickly. He started to wave hi after just 2 tries. I know with more consistency they would do well. My Hahns is a little nippy but I have been doing what you said. Confusing him by NOT putting him back in his house. I will stop now cause I could talk about them all day. Most people do not understand what we see in our birds.

I have a quaker parrot who started plucking his feathers, moping around and stopped chattering and talking to everyone after I got married moved to another city. All the members in my family tried to bring my bird back to his normal self, but nothing seemed to work much. A month later, I came to my family to visit, and as I entered the front door of the house I yelled out my birds name, “MITHOOOOOO,” as I always did before I got married, and he chirped right back. I came running to his cage to greet him as I always did before I got married and he came running to me. I started saying, “who’s my pretty bird, Mithoo, who’s my pretty pretty pretty birddd?????” and as he always did, he started talking right back to me with the same high enthusiasm he used to have before I moved out. Me and mithoo had a good conversation for a few minutes as my mother watched and was suprised she was seeing Mithoo act like his old self again. It was weird for me to realise that not only was I attached to my bird and missed him like crazy, the feeling was kind of mutual. Mithoo may not live with me anymore, but I come home every 3 months or so, and while he only allows 2 people in the house to touch him, he seems to never forget who I am and allows me to play with him. Strangely, sometimes I think I miss him more than my family!!! I can’t believe we can have such strong bonds with our birds!

1. No I do not belong to a rescue facility.
2. yes I belong to the Canberra Avarian club, associated with other clubs in Austraia.
3. No.
4. No. there is nothing Casual about “Oscar” he is my constant companion. we go to the Library, Shopping, Restaurants, Car trips etc. In fact he loves the car trips more than anything and he goes to the top of his Car cage on the back seat and talks and whistles to the radio as we go along. He loves to meet other people. Says hello and bye bye to them and often hops on to their shoulder if I allow it.
5. my first bird was given to me by my daughter in law as he became so attatched to me and was lost (attacked) when my wife left to go to work and he tried to follow. I now live seperately and have acquired Oscar the only one in my life.
We love each other.
We have a harness but Oscar doesn’t like it much. He is full flighted. I don’t want to clip his wings.
6. I guess my companion “Oscar” is my greatest love. We do everything together. Time for our shower, gotta go.
Ian

My birds are just a little more than pets – they’re totally part of the family, and I couldn’t picture this house without them now. We got our first African Grey, Mack, almost 2 years ago. That came about after a visit to my sister-in-law in Durban, and seeing her African Grey, Pecki. I remember waking up one morning and wondering why Paul, her husband, was not at work – and then realised it was the parrot! Unbeknown to me, my husband Colin has always wanted a parrot, and he really took to Pecki. We started looking at African Greys in pet shops, both while we were still on holiday and when we came home. Eventually we made the decision we were going to get one, and went to one of our local pet stores. There were two African Greys, about 12 weeks old. The store assistant brought the one out on his arm, but the other one immediately climbed around the cage to the doorway. I put my hand out to him, and he immediately jumped on and all the way up to my shoulder. I knew we’d found our bird. We brought him home mid-December and, far from having to worry about the cats chasing him (they’d terrorised every budgie we’d bought for the kids) the cats were absolutely petrified of this monstrous bird!! It didn’t take Mack long to settle in and start imitating noises – the first being our youngest son’s electronic toys, and then the telephone. Now, he’s still “my” bird, but he speaks with my husband’s voice, which I find very amusing. I know when I’ve missed a phone call on my cellphone or on the land line – I hear him “answer” it for me, and it always goes something like “Colin, hello? …. All right, and you? ….. (belly laugh and incoherent words) …. okay, bye!!!” Then I know to check my messages!

Our second bird was more of a miracle. She arrived in our back yard on Easter Monday – much like my sister-in-law’s bird, Pecki. We actually thought Mack had escaped, so my son asked my daughter to check the cage, and Mack was still there, playing with his toys, wondering what all the fuss was about! We lost sight of the bird, as she flew from the fence she was sitting on, and we eventually found her in our avocado tree right outside the back door. She flew from tree to tree, until I finally coaxed her down from our fig tree with a handful of nuts. She landed on the ground beside me, and I picked her up to let her eat the treats in my hand. She honestly ate like she’d never eaten before. We decided not to advertise because I know, certainly in South Africa, because of the price of the birds, there would be a lot of chancers who said they’d lost a bird, and we had no way of knowing if they are genuine or not. So we kept her, the pet shop donated a second-hand cage, and we just kept our eyes on every single local paper, the internet ads, vet waiting rooms, corner shops, lampposts – anywhere where there would be a sign to say a parrot was missing. In four weeks there was nothing. The only missing African Grey in that time was one that went missing three weeks after this little one had landed in our garden. So she’s still here! She’s much smaller than Mack, so I’m assuming she’s female, and with the black still on the tail feathers, I think she’s still quite young. We called her Syd after someone in our church, because my daughter said that Syd’s arrival reminded her of the bible verse that not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing about it. He’d guided an African Grey parrot to the one house in our street (probably) that is equipped to handle it, with food at the ready. We just found that amazing and heartwarming.

Syd’s totally part of the family, and extended family – everyone loves her. She’s just got such a lovely, friendly nature. If you happen to pass a bit too close to the corner of her cage when she’s out, she launches herself on you, climbs up to your shoulder and nestles in at your neck. We’re trying to teach her to “step up” but it’s a slow process! She doesn’t talk as yet, but she’s got the cat’s meow and the dog’s bark down to a fine art! Her one problem is that if a strange man comes in to the house, one she doesn’t know, she gets all defensive and starts growling. She has no problem with women, but men terrify her – strange but true!

As for belonging to bird clubs, no, I don’t. I’m on an African Grey Facebook group – that’s about as far as I go! I speak to a lot of other African Grey owners that I know, especially when I need advice. Our pet shop owner, where we bought Mack, is a fantastic wealth of knowledge, and works with a number of reputable parrot breeders in the vicinity. I’ve got no desire to breed the parrots – I really don’t have the spare time to do that. Our local vet is pretty good at seeing to their claws, beaks and wings, and giving them a check over. If he thought there was a problem, he’d refer us to the specialist who is about 30 miles away.

And that’s our story! Thanks for all the great mails and advice.

My husband brought back a yellow-headed amazon parrot from Mexico as a baby. I fed this bird by hand for 6 mos. He is now 30 yrs old and for the past 15 or so yrs. this bird has attacked me several times, will go after me whenever I go neat his cage and will whistle and squwak until my husband enters the room. I hate him,(the bird).

I got my first bird a cockatiel named Toby. He was the lovey bird at the pet store until I got him home. The first thing he did was bite me which was displeasing, he absolutely loved my grandfather so I gave Toby to him, and he later sold him to a coworker. After my first experience I was hesitant to try again, but I soon missed having a bird. After a few years I decided I wanted to try again with an African Grey. Unfortunately they cost 1500 and being unemployed at that time was just way to much for me. I then saw a bright green and red parrot, from the first glance I had to have him. He was 900 dollars and was an Alexandrine Ring neck that was still being hand fed, the store called him Monty. I had a strong fear of being bitten by birds and never tried to pet any previous conure or quaker they had outside the nursery. Again Monty bit me and I didnt flinch it was more of a curious bite and I surprised myself by not reacting at all. Monty couldnt come home for a few months which worked out perfectly since I only had 400 just enough for a down payment. 2 months later I had a great parrot. I do not belong to any parrot groups, just some forums. I only have one parrot but that is the limit right now until I can afford a larger house, and then bring in the flock! My future bird consist of macaws specifically a hyacinth and a green wing, cockatoos, alexandrines, african greys and an amazon. Monty is more than a pet he is like my child I love him very much. Last month was the first time I ever cut his wings, for the first time. It was like doing open heart surgery searching for blood feathers cutting the right amount of feathers making sure he could land safely. I was sweating the whole time no blood no fuss one happy human. Parrots are amazing animals and I couldnt live life without one.

1. My husband and I don’t belong to the local bird rescue organization as we work full-time. I’m also concerned about bringing wild bird diseases home.
2. We belong to the local bird club though we haven’t attended meetings in a while as it doesn’t work for our schedule. We do read their monthly newsletter and get discounts at local businesses and our vet because we are members.
3. Nope, don’t have and aren’t interested in having a bird-related business, at least not now. Maybe when we retire in 20 years.
4. Our bird, Titan, a macaw, is a member of the family. He is out of his cage when we are home. I spend 15 minutes every weekday morning scratching his head, preening his head pinfeathers, and talking to him. Then I hand him off to my husband and he perches on his shoulder while he reads the paper. There are perches in every room and on our back deck. My husband even made a table perch so he can eat meals with us. We knew when we got him that it was a lifetime commitment. He could outlive us and we have him as a beneficiary in our wills.
5. Our first bird was a cockatiel that flew into our backyard on July 4th weekend, 1995. We kept him for a few months and read every magazine and book we could find about birds. We eventually decided we wanted a larger bird. As it happened, a coworker with kids and other pets told us she was looking for a bird so she adopted the cockatiel. We spent a couple of months visiting local bird breeders to pick out a bird. We settled on a scarlet macaw but when we went to pick her up, she would have nothing to do with us and ran off in the outdoor aviary. As the breeder was trying to chase her down, another macaw on a perch at our head level pecked my husband lightly on the head. It was a harlequin macaw. He was a year old. We took a liking to him and bought him.
6. We discovered we are bird people. We’ve had some challenges with Titan as he rarely but occasionally bites very hard. I’ve got two bandages on my hand from when he bit me yesterday. He was all excited and I didn’t heed the warning signs and chomp! When he first did this to me when he was 8, after we’d had him for 7 years with no biting, a parrot behavior expert in the San Francisco Bay Area said that maybe it was hormones and he was entering puberty. Great, we don’t have kids, other than the furred and feathered kind, and now we have a teenaged parrot. He is well-behaved otherwise, 99.9% of the time. He’s a companion, not a pet. He’s smart, talks a lot, and is fun to hang out with. Our lives would be boring without him.

1. The nearest rescue facilities are at least two hours away. We have adopted several special-needs birds over the years and try to always have room for one more, should a need arise.

2. I am Secretary of the Mid-American Exotic Bird Society in Columbus, Ohio. We put on the largest bird fair in the state every year — the next one will be on Sunday 1 March 2009 at the state fairgrounds.

3. We have thought about breeding or finishing but really do not have the extra time to do it right. We are honored to possess specimens of two rare and endangered species and recognize the potential future obligation to breed them for the conservation of their species.

4. I cannot really imagine birds being a casual hobby — not psittacines, at any rate. Each of our birds is a feathered person. Some are really part of the family and none is less than a full member of the household.

5. Our first bird, whom we still have, is a special-needs Blue-Front Amazon named Max. Having been severely neglected during the first six months of her life, she has incompetent eyelids, corneal ulcers, and an enlarged heart, but she is a very happy bird. She has a best friend (another Amazon) and a large vocabulary.

Right now we have twelve birds. From largest to smallest:

Jesse, female Catalina macaw, three years old
Rodrigo, female Blue and Gold macaw, wild-caught, ex-breeder, >= 30 years old
Ferdinand, male Scarlet macaw, wild-caught, ex-breeder, >= 30 years old
Candy, female Scarlet macaw, wild-caught, ex-breeder, >= 30 years old
Kazoo, male Blue-Throated macaw, two years old
Juliet, female Red-Fronted macaw, ex-breeder, ten years old
Max, female Blue-Fronted amazon, eight years old
Ruby, female Mexican Red-Headed Amazon, two years old
Pakshi, male Hahn’s macaw, six years old
James, male cockatiel, six years old
Lucky, female cockatiel, age unknown
Bugly, female cockatiel, one year old

6. It is endlessly fascinating to play with all our birds, teach them, and watch them interacting with each other. We have a downstairs flock and an upstairs flock. All are flighted. Each one has a perfectly distinct personality. They have also been extremely valuable therapy for my wife, who had a stroke eight years ago.

I aquired my first parrot 2 years ago. He is a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and is 14yrs old. The previous owners did not want him. I had no interest in parrots but could not see him be given to just anyone. So we took him in and have learned alot since then. He was very quiet and they were feeding him cockatiel feed. He never made any noises. Now he talks alot, waves hello and loves his fruit and veggies. Since then I have been given 2 Alexandrians that are 12 and 13yrs old. They are hand tamed and quite friendly. Their owner had no more time for them. I would never give any one of them up as they are now my children. They get lots of free time out of their cage every day and lots of attention from us. For now 3 is enough but you never know what the future holds.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
My birds are my babies!!!
5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
6. How have your birds impacted your life?
I have always wanted a furry pet (like a dog). But I am allergic to dogs and cats now. Plus, I lived in the dorm that didn’t allow any dogs or cats or pets EXCEPT fish and “caged birds”! I got my first baby bird when I saw a cockatiel at the school president’s house during an xmas singing concert I participated in. It was a male cockatiel stuck in a cage, asking for attention to anyone in the house. When I went over there and whistled to him, he whistled my tune right back! That’s when I got interested in getting a cockatiel. I knew absolutely nothing about birds and was actually a little terrified of them because when I was little, I remember going to a zoo and one of those biiiig parrots bit my baseball cap I was wearing and wouldn’t let go. =O
I went back home, went on the internet, and looked up more info about cockatiels. Then I found a place near me that sold hand-fed cockatiels. I finally convinced my parents to buy me one for christmas that winter. At the store, the owner brought out a small glass fish tank that was turned into an incubator for the baby cockatiels they were taking care of. One of these babies then stuck its head far out to “sniff” me. That’s when I knew I wanted that baby cockatiel. We thought the baby 6-week still-somewhat-bald cockatiel was a boy… but once it grew older, we found out he was a girl!! That’s how I got Jojo. I got her used to sleeping next to me or on me at night (I don’t move around enough to squish her so it is safe). Now, she will scream for me or come into the bedroom when it is bedtime for her or just climb on top of whoever might be lying on the floor!
I bought your trick training dvd package about a month after I got my baby Jojo and taught her to do “hi” after changing her diet. She now nods her head “yes” and can pick up her toy and place it in my hand or the box it comes with. And she will do “hi” or “yes” whenever I have something she wants. She used to eat my food all the time (the non-fatty stuff at least, like rice) and I would let her eat my rice with me. I know some people say it is bad to let your bird eat your saliva, so I usually give her a part of my food that I didn’t touch. These days though, I try to keep her on just her pellet food and then occasionally will give her treats when I am practicing tricks with her. She tends to scream for the treats for days later though.
After a year with Jojo, my school commitment turned into 12-13 hr days. So, I was worried about Jojo being lonely. She never played with toys much, despite my trying to find toys she would like. She always liked to play with anything else (and destroy it of course). The only quality time I had with her was when we slept. And I didn’t think that was enough for her. So I went to the petstore trying to find her a male cockatiel. None of them were friendly though. So instead I found a parakeet that seemed friendly with us. I always wanted Jojo to talk or imitate me but she never does. So I thought a parakeet would be nice. I ended up getting the runt in the group (it was the smallest and stood a little differently on my finger than other parakeets… all hunched over). When I brought Melon home, I thought it was a girl. Turns out, it’s a boy! HAHA! Anyway, Jojo was terrified of Melon at first and would hiss at him and run away with her head feathers all sticking up. Melon was terrified of us once he came to our house and followed Jojo everywhere and stuck right next to her. Jojo didn’t like that much. But eventually, she got more tolerant of him and allowed him to groom her and she started to groom him. Jojo still doesn’t like it when Melon comes sitting right next to her, but sometimes she’ll tolerate it. And now, Melon talks a lot, making lots of unknown noises and I got him to say “whatcha doin?: and you can definitely hear him say something unintelligble and then “Jojo” (i’m guessing he’s repeating what he hears me say to Jojo and when I call her name). He loves looking at his reflection and talking to it. So they seem very happy.
Of course, Jojo still thinks she’s a human or is at least more bonded with people than birds. She’ll come to me and ask to be petted. She’ll nibble my finger and try to raise it. Then she’ll place her head under my finger and wait for me to pet it. LOL! SO CUTE!
I’ve added a bunny to my family as well… and with my experience, it’s not a good idea to let your bunny near the birds (I didn’t know that and Melon and Jojo taught me that the hard way. boo).
So I love my babies and have been able to convince my parents and friends that birds are SMART by showing the tricks they do and showing them how my birds recognize people and will look at you with more human-like expressions! They’ve been the happiness in my stressful life! I hope they are happy too!

I got my very first bird when I was born, he was a Parakeet named Terry.
He lived 18 years and passed on, I also had at this time a pet crow named Joe and he could talk. My problem with Joe was he repeated EVERYTHING my Dad said and boy that was bad. My Pastor came to the house for lunch and we had to keep Joe very quiet as he turned the air “blue’.
Off and on my whole life I had Parakeets, Canaries, and Cockatiels.
I was fortunate to have a Dusky Conure for a few weeks but my husband said it was him or the bird…so I miss the bird. I now have 2 cockatiels and 2 Parakeets, soon however to add 4 more birds to the collectionas my son is sending me his Cockatiel and 3 Parakeets from Alaska. He will claim them when he gets stationed stateside he is in the USAF.
Well you asked and I told you in a few short sentences. I love my babies and hope soon that my Cockatiels will mate and I will have Babies!

My birds are many my time is few I am a hand feeder that is into rescue and education with parrots to children and adults so how do you do?
I care for all birds both wild and tame I don’t like pet horders with an Aviary name. So many people don’t know the facts so subscribe to all bird tricks has and your birds will have a happy life. We are adopting a Congo with a neck problem to teach about exploited animals in the country of Africa his name is Egor and I have cockatiels I rescued and hand fed from an Aviary that has on going psitticosis they are better and my IRN Silver who loves Jesus and is prophetic and a Senagal who likes to play tricks on people ringing like the phone to make you chase it. Our birds are family we’ve had them several years they keep mom going she’s on dialisis.

My birds are my world, like my children to me. I make shore they get all there needs, toys, good food and love. I do help out with a rescue centre and I am a co-ordinator here in Australia. I also have my own forum to help people with care and training of their loved ones. SmileysBirds it’s called.

My very first companion was when I was working for a zoo. They would have a few un-wanted pets there. I had birds for years, but never knew the potenial of tame ones.

You mite say they have taken over my life now lol.. I don’t mind that I cannot travel like most people do. I would have over 200 birds, but only about 13 large too’s are tame ones and about 50 of the smaller birds. Most are re-home ones I have.

One part of training I realy love is clicker training, it works very well. Beening doing this for many years now. Have a few that will do tricks..

You could here all day long, but I have birds to tend to now, so I’ll leave it short and sweet.

Take care,
Smiley

Hi,

When I was a young girl, my mother had a couple of cockateils. I remember the joys of hearing them sing.

A few years ago, I was checking out some birds at a bird fair and saw the most beautiful baby ever. She was a female eclectus. I went home and did a lot of research on the bread. I learned of their sizes, colorings, general traits, and social skills. Since I have two kids and drive a truck with my husband, these social skills really caught my interest. So, I began asking breaders and pet stores what they knew about this bird.

I now have a female (Cherry) and a male (Joe Green). They are the most wonderful friends. They go in the truck with my husband and I and are with us all the time. We even take them into the truck stops for showers.

Cherry and Joe love my kids as well and look forward to playing with them when we get home.

I am very pleased with my feathered friends. They have taught us a great deal of respect for birds in general including the wild critters.

They are more than pets to us and are treated like part of the family, even at meat times. They are never caged, except to go to the vet, go inside to take a shower, or other needed times as such. The birds love the truck and enjoy meeting new people. They get offended when a new person comes into our truck and they do not get to meet them and make a new friend.

I always loved looking at the birds in the pet stores. I have so many (11) animals, I didn’t think I could have a bird. Wow was I wrong. I walked into the bird aviary at petco and there he was…. Sunny a beautiful sun conure.. Out of all the birds in there his color caught my eye. Then he screech at me to get my attention. I went over to his cage and he reached for me with his feet. As I bravely put my face to the cage he kissed me. I came back to see Sunny 5 different times. I then decided to talk to the manager. He said he wasn’t tame and they were trying to work with him. It was hard for them to catch him and take him out of his cage. So I tried…. After 5 min. he was hang out on my finger then to my shoulder. So I guess you can say he picked me. He has quiet the personality. He is total my bird and as my husband says in love with me. I am a home body so we are together almost 24/7. He travels on all our vacations. He has a bird harness so he can go on the boat and go fishing with us ,which he absolutely loves. He gets along with all my other animals. I have trained him to say Hi, Shake, and hang like a bat also he plays peek a boo and kisses. Thanks to your training video’s. Still having trouble with the talking though. At night he sleeps inside my shirt until i go to bed. He is much more then my pet he is my terrible two’s baby.

I’d always been a dog person, but as I got older, my interest in birds grew stronger. I’ve also been dabbling in animal communication, and became curious about how animals thought and felt. I get along well with cats and dogs but never understood life from a birds point of view, so I decided the best way to start was to adopt a lovebird. My boss at the time, about six years ago, had daughters that were raising baby lovebirds, and asked me to take one. When I got her home I had no idea what to do with her, but with the help of the internet and a couple of books that I found, we bonded beautifully. I named her Bebe, because love birds in my view should have French names. She had free range of the house when I was home but stayed happily in her cage when I was not, and my dog learned easily enough she was not a toy, so we had a great life. Through her I found that birds are capable of a range of emotions and personality traits just like any dog or cat and their little brains are always ticking. I got hooked on the energy lift Bebe gave us. I enjoyed staying home and spending time with her. When she died after a tragic accident, I went through a terrible withdrawl and adopted another bird to fill the void she left us with. I now have a Myers Parrot, Charlie, who is a joy, but a big challenge. There are still many things I have to learn about a bird’s point of view, and the holes in my arms and chin are testiment to my ignorance, but together we are figuring things out. I’ve adopted another dog, who seems to get along well enough with Charlie, and Charlie seems happier about being part of a bigger “flock”. I hope she stays with us for a long and happy life. I can’t imagine ever being without birds in my life. I’ve learned to respect all of my pets and consider all of their needs with every decision I make. Even a bird needs to feel appreciated.

Well my partner and I bought our first bird “MAC” 3 1/2 years ago he was 4 months old when we bought him. He is a Derbyan Parrot. we went into the cage at the pet shop and he flew down onto my boyfriends head! he whas so cute! We had to have him!

My Boyfriend has always grown up around birds he had cockatiels when he was younger. I have always loved them, but it took me a little longer to feel confortable with mac! Because when we got him he didnt stop biting us.
Mac only about a year ago has grown into a lovely pet bird he loves me TO BITS…always kisses me says “hello brooksy” and loves having a shower with us! he flys down from his cage and always finds one of us in the shower , he taps on the door with his beak and we open the door and he hops in wings out lays down closes his eyes. The only problem is trying to get him out of the shower He just whants to stay in !

Mac never bites me at all anymore I can scratch him under the wing Head and down to his tail! My boyfriend can pat him on his head and back But bites him if he trys to scatch him under his wing. He does different things with the both of us ! Like with my boyfriend mac will go up to him and kiss him for food all the time and says” what are you doing ?” “hello Rooney” “is that good?” “hello You” “hello Mr” He is very spoilt by my boyfriend!

When I walk into the room Mac gets so excited he says “hello macca hello macca hello macca !” and then I go up to him and he says “helloooo: and then taps his beak on the perch about 6 times then stretches over for another kiss and scratch on his beak then he turns and taps his beak again some more (about 3 more times) then he starts strutting himself walking along the cage! He is so funny We love him very much!

We have now purchaced 4 Blue and gold macaws 7 months old we are looking forward to getting to know them (they are at the breeders still until we find some property) we are looking to start a breeding business.

Mac is part of our family love everything about him ! Birds are wonderful pets so cuddly and very smart!

Thank you for all of your interesting e-mails love reading them! Love the Training DVD

Leanne

How wonderful to read these items. The devotion, passion and love for a species of animal that I myself have grown to share. I have a sun conure named Sole meaning sun in Italian. He is 2 years old. He acquired me at a pet store while on a short trip. My mother and I were so charmed by his personality and beauty that we had to take him home. Daily, I look forward to see him and hold him and be with him. When we’re apart I can’t help talking about him while smiling and laughing—he’s quite the character.
What can I say, he sure is dear to me and is surely my dad’s little boy.
My dad’s taught him to sing, whistle(my mom mistakens his whistle for my dad’s that’s how precise it is), he’s picked up on our laughter too, amongst other sounds. He enjoys when I sing him his favourite song—You Are My Sunshine.

I have a bird shop in Gulf Breeze Florida…so I have many, many birds! My personal pet/feathered family members are 2 CAGS, 4 Solomon Island Eclectus’, 1 Double Yellow Headed Amazon, and 1 Greenwing Macaw. My shop, sponsers a bird club, Emerald Coast Exotic Bird Club…and we would love for you to speak to our group!!! We work with our birds every day all day long! Our shop is more like a daycare center than a bird shop…we consider them all our kids! Practically, all of them will do anything to get your attention, whether it’s talking to you, singing to you, laying on their back playing with a ball, or hanging by one toe. We have two that sing “Here I come to save the day!” one that sings “Happy bird day to you!” and a few macaws that sing a little “La la” song. Sometimes, our babies are talking before they leave our nursery. We love them all! And, they sure seem happy!

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?

I don’t actually, though if there was any in my area I would certainly join. The closest one is about 2 hours away.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?

Not a “club” per say, but we do have a bird store in the area that on Saturdays they have get togethers and everyone brings their birds in and share stories etc. with each other. It is a great wqay for us to share information and get to know other bird people!

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?

I actually have been thinking about this more and more lately. I would love to make my passion for birds a generating business I just haven’t decided in what way yet.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?

My birds are much much more than a hobby, they are my life!

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?

I actually got my first birds when I was about 12. I got 2 love birds and enjoyed them. I didn’t have birds for a while after they passed until my aunt could no longer care for her Congo African Grey. This bird absolutely changed my life, forever! I had never owned a big bird before and I read every single book I could possibly get my hands on. Unfortunately Gracie did not come from the best circumstances. My aunt really didn’t know how to care for her properly and Gracie was left alone in a cage for about 2 years. She did not like hands and she did not like to step up. She was extremely fearful! It took a lot of trust building, love and training to get her to the happy healthy bird she is now. She does still bite on occasion, but most of her fear is gone. She is also one of the best talkers I have ever heard from any parrot! She talks so clearly and can pick words up just hearing them once, not to mention her various noises. She has whole conversations with herself with different tones for different “people”. She has a very wide vocabulary and probably says about 70 words. She also uses phrases in context. Luckily, she is also not a feather plucker and a great flyer (most of the time when she isn’t being a clumsy Grey)! I actually am also getting a baby Pineapple Green Cheek Conure tomorrow that I am so excited about! I can’t wait to love the new little one

How have your birds impacted your life?

I can not even explain to you how owning birds has changed my life, especially my Grey. Gracie has changed my life so much! About a year ago I was going through some really rough emotional times. She truly was the reason that I got up in the morning. Without her, I wouldn’t have made it through and I say that with all my heart! She has brought me so much joy and laughter I just love her so much. About a month ago Gracie had an accident with her beak that required me to rush her to the emergency vet. Thankfully, she is fine and fully recovered. During the ordeal I realized just how much she means to me and how much of my heart she truly has (lets just say about 100%). I am so glad birds live a long time, because I truly could not ever imagine my life without her!

I’m not part of a wildlife rescue or rehabilitation group – while it’s something I’d like to do in the future I don’t have the time, money or facilities at the moment to be able to do it realistically.

I’m interested in joining a bird club, but I’ve not been able to find one in my area. I’m also interested in working with birds or running a bird-related business in the future.

My birds are far more than a casual hobby for me. I dedicate hours a day towards them, and while I could get away with not working whilst I’m at Uni I choose to in order to be able to spoil them more.

We had two budgies as a family when I was younger, but ‘my’ first parrot was Squee, a rainbow lorikeet. He was picked up after a storm with no tail or flight feathers. We called various wildlife carers, but were informed that if he was handed over he would have to be euthanised, so unless we wanted him put down we would have to either find him a home or care for him ourselves – so we did. As we found out more about lorikeets we learnt about PBFD, which is what Squee had.

He required a lot of work – his cage was scrubbed down and cleaned thoroughly every day, and he was allergic to commercial food mixes so I had to handmake his dry and wet mix. As a student living out of home I was on a very tight budget, but I always managed to pay his vet bills even if it meant living on noodles.

He died almost two years after we took him in, due to a fast-moving infection. I used to check his response times each morning and night (how quickly he would grip with his feet and how tight, his breathing etc) and discovered that his grip in his left foot was a little weak. Made an appointment for the vet first thing in the morning but it was too late by that stage – the infection had gotten to his brain and caused swelling and brain damage. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as in the week after he died.

My second bird was Jedidah, a green-cheeked conure. I was her third home, and she was a feather mutilator and very aggressive. I only had her for six months – she was stolen – but in that time she went from being aggressive to never biting and loving attention, and her feathers were starting to grow back in and she wasn’t chewing them up. Losing her was a hard blow, especially since I was having other issues in my life at the time.

Now I have Anath and Trouble. Anath is a mauve dominant pied budgie who has some health issues due to poor nutrition when she was in the nest. She’s a very active and happy bird though, and despite not actively liking people would be the bird that I would let meet other people, because she is very easy-going and gentle.

Trouble is a green-cheeked conure, and a bit of a ratbag which we’re working on. He’s learned some tricks and picks them up very quickly, and at the moment we’re working on getting him into full-time foraging. It’s a challenge, because he tends to work out the toys that I can get him that are good for his size very quickly and not be able to operate the more difficult ones because they’re too big. We’re persevering though, and are both very happy.

My birds are my life. Most of my decisions revolve around what is best for them, and what I want to do in regards to bird-keeping in the future. They bring me more joy than anything, and my goal is to keep them as happy and well-adjusted as I possibly can.

Hi,
I am currently owned by 7 precious fids. I got into this with high hopes. Now I’m in love and the hopes doesn’t matter as much. I’ve tried several programs to find out that I’m only out more money with no results. So I’m scared of all these guarantee’s I hear about.
I want results but just never seem to get anywhere. I do not belong to any volunteer or bird rescue (as far as I know there isn’t one in this area) I don’t even know of others personally that own birds.The only “club” is a chat forum I found on the internet. Thought I’d talk to other people to see if I can get results that way. I guess I’m tired of paying out money for things that don’t work.
I do make toys for my babies, and thought of getting into it for others. Its really hard to find “BIRD SAFE” toys in this small town. If there was a way I could tell others about my babies and have them fall in love as i have I would love it. FIDS are so HUMAN like. They are my kids. And they make me feel loved too. They have taught me so much. I’ve also learned to control my temper and voice. It calms them when I’m calm. So they are far more than a hobby for me. They are my life, and my family.
I got my first bird from a friend (a pair of keets)….. about 6 months later I wanted to step up to a bird i could handle. So i got a tiel from a pet store. Then I went to a bird show and bought a second tiel. It didn’t take me long to realize i was ready to step up again. I found a Jenday conure 7 years old at a drs office that they were looking for a home for her. She’s my life. Then i heard of a woman a couple hours away that captured a bird in a clothes hamper on her front porch just moments before it became a cats dinner. It turned out to be a blue crown conure that had terrible feet and beak, but no more, he’s all fixed up and a true clown. Next was a white eyed conure that was being malnurished and slapped at with a cap. She’s now one of my favorites. Then lastly I had a dream to step up again. I looked high and low. I did my research. I learned that my conures couldn’t learn many words, tho a few and they do speak. But I wanted another bird that I could work with and teach to talk more. I decided to look for a timneh african grey. I found one. He captured my heart. The previous owner didn’t know anything about birds and was scared of him for the two years they owned him. They just had him to show off to their guests. They never spent time with him. He didn’t know what a toy was. He now plays and steps up once per day to me. This is all we’ve accomplished since april of this year. He talked to my friends one day but never did more than quack to me. I love this bird. But I’m at wits end on getting him to speak to me or do more than what he does. He’s my “dream” bird and all the programs I’ve tried, and nothing worked. I need help. I need someone to take him and me and show us how to work together. I can’t seem to follow instructions to get it right on my own.
I’m a single person that works a full time job, a part time job and runs a home business. I always have a bird with me no matter where I am. I spend lots of time with my babies. They are my life. Without them I would be lost. I just want a little conversation and don’t know how to get it. Would love to learn tricks. “Cash” my blue crown conure dances and says thank you after a kiss. Sweet Pea my white eyed conure says Hello and a few other less desirable words that he learned from a previous owner. Bo – my african grey doesn’t speak to me but he does to my friends. And KIWI, she’s learned to ring a bell on command to get out of the cage, and she WHISPERS her name KIWI, and says step up and cookie and what what what……… i know she can do more, but don’t know how to teach her…….. can anyone help me without just taking money for nothing?????????????

In my opinion my bird is more than a ‘hobby’ or a ‘pet’ to me. She is one of my non-human children. She is the first and only bird I’ve ever had. She a beautiful (almost 2 year old) Green Cheek Conure. I have worked at a ‘big box’ pet store for the past year and that is where I found her. I got her when she was 3 months old. I was present during her hand-feedings and weaning and played with her everyday. I’ve only ever had a dog and was actually terrified of birds until someone I worked with told me to give them a chance and slowly introduced me to a gorgeous and loving African Grey, Mimi. She was patient with me and soon I loved birds. I finally talked my parents (whom I live with) to let me get a bird and it was then on that I started my journey to find the right new birdy baby for me. I had a few birds I’d bonded with including a budgie, a parrotlet, a lovebird and my current green cheek. All of the birds were named and loved by everyone of the staff members including myself. Well, it finally came down to it and I chose my baby, Ruby. We fell in love with each other. We cuddled, we played and I taught her to say her name. We had 3 other green cheeks at the time but she was the one I wanted. I loved her to pieces. People cautioned me that “green cheeks bite a lot” or “they don’t know how to talk and probably will never learn” but I didn’t care, I didn’t mind if she talked or not, that isn’t why I wanted her. I wanted her because I had a strong bond and connection with her. And I’m proud to say today that she is happy, healthy, rarely bites and has a vocabulary of about 10 phrases. I love her to death and I’m SO happy that she choose me to be her mommy!

1. We don’t have a local bird shelther but if we did I would be there volunteering!
3. Currently I don’t run any bird-related businesses but I am planning to eventually. Both online and maybe with my photography.
4. My birds are my life, they may be a casual ‘hobby’ but they are like children to me.
5. I had always wanted a bird and we found a lost cockatiel when I was 8 years old. We couldn’t find her owner and that’s when it all started… I currently own 26 (6 are parrots).
6. My birds are a major part of my life. My rainbow lorikeet has been one of the main reasons for me overcoming social anxiety.

I have an African Gray that is 7-8 years old. He is my buddy and very much a companion. I live alone and work all day so don’t get to spend as much time with him as I would like.

Well I can’t answer yes to any of your questions, I don’t volunteer, It’s not a hobby and she certainly doesn’t generate any income. She’s just my baby. That’s it! I’m a HUGE animal lover and I had wanted a bird for a while and one day I just saw her and took her home. She’s added so much to my life, I never knew how affectionate a bird could be – my only other bird experience was with parakeets my mom had when I was little and they weren’t very sweet but they were also not handled much, that I remember. Zeke is wonderful (I thought she was a boy so that’s why the strange name) she’s loving, affectionate and all around just wonderful. I think we both equally look forward to our time together each day and she’s just a wonderful companion. She has funny moods and you can read them on her face, certain noises I’ve learned mean different things, I can tell an “I want you in here now scream” from an “I’m scared” scream and her “I shut the door to my cage and can’t get back in now” scream – I can honestly say I never would have thought I could tell something like that but I definitely can. She has all kinds of moods, some days she’s playful and hornery, some days she just wants to snuggle and some days I am glad I don’t know what she’s saying because I know it’s not nice. Lol, she actually tries to scold me, if I tell her “no” she’ll start telling me exactly how she feels about that. She’s amazing, I’ve been a lazy owner and not taught her any tricks but we have definitely bonded. She loves our baths together, she loves to shred whatever book I’m reading and she loves to snuggle up under my chin and watch tv. She’s made me very happy and I hope she’s happy too.

the first bird I ever had was when I was about 10. I rescued it from my cat. It seemed to be doing pretty good, but died a few days after I rescued it. I was pretty heartbroken. The next bird I had was many years later when my nephew brought me a baby bird that had fallen out of his (her?) nest. He begged me to try and save it. I did some research, found out what kind of bird it was and its diet, so I could feed it. I got up all hours of the night to feed it. I names him freak. Cause he’d freak at me when he was hungry. He’d come out of his cage and walk up to me squaking at me til I fed him. It was pretty funny. Obviously I had more success with this rescued bird than the previous one. I think it was because it was a young bird and could adapt. The first one was an adult, and couldn’t adapt to a cage. Either that or it was more hurt than I realized. I had freak for about a year. My daughter left the window open one day and out he flew. I’d like to think he flew off into the life he was meant to have, but Ill never know. There was a couple of times when a bird that looked like him came to my window, but everytime I went to open the window, he flew away. I got parakeets for my daughter a couple of years later with pretty much the same result. She released them into the wild when my back was turned. I felt really bad about that, but she was just too young to realize they shouldn’t have been released. My next bird was a cockatiel. I had him for 5 yrs or so until he died. I’m not sure how old he was as he was another foundling. I was at a gas station when he just walked up to me and climbed on my hand. I really loved him. I was devastated when he passed. Many years later I bought some Pacifica parrotlets. I had them for almost 2 yrs when I had to move and couldn’t take them with me. I’d love to get another bird someday. Another cockatiel would be nice, but I’d really like to get a macaw. I’ve always wanted one of them.

I got my first bird as a Christmas gift for my husband, it was an Umbrella cockatoo(phoebe}. She was my only one until my birthday about a year and a half later when my husband took me to a pet store and told me to pick out a bird. I wanted the Blue/gold macaw my husband wanted the Congo grey. We got the grey,[Twinkee] That same year I got a Scarlet macaw[King Tut/Tutiepoo] for Christmas. We stayed a flock of 5 for about a year then I went to our local bird fair and my husband fell in love with a Severe macaw[sweet pickle/picklepuss],a couple of months later I was at a flea market and saw a cockatoo in deplorable conditions and bought her.She is a Molbrella[mariah] half moluccan half umbrella. Took her to vet first thing and ends up she was very ill with e-coli,a crop infection and 3 more infections. Vet said she won’t make it ,so no use to give me antibiotics. I said you don’t decide life and death give them to me. For 3 weeks every 4 hrs, I got up and hand fed her and gave her antibiotics and she is the sweeted thing ever. Then my daughter ran across someone who had 2 Double yellow-head amazons[polly & cha cha they abused and both their legs broken[I was told it was by a dog but I don't really know] they can’t even walk on a floor without putting their beak down for support, they kind of waddle. They are in their mid 40’s and they have lost their trust in human flock members. Cha cha absolutely hates me , he will fly to attack me,if his cage door is closed he will throw himself at it in a attempt to attack me. It actually took them almost a year before they would come out of their cages with me opening their doors every morning. I have had them 9 years and am hear broken because I can’t handle them. I wish I knew what I was doing or not doing so I could change it . Polly doesn’t attack she just bluffs so I don’t mind. I can still change water and clean her cage but my husband has to do cha cha. the day I got them their claws were so long they had curly q’d 3 times. I then ran an ad in our local newspaper that I would take any unwanted exotic birds and got a blue/gold with a cage that my husbands 3000 lb pressure washer would not clean. then I had a friend that had a Citron cockatoo that was terrified of her wheel chair so he[?] became a flock member[[Milo]][I was his 5th home and he wasn't even a year old. Unfortunately he also dislikes me with a passion. He will even hide behind things then jump out and bite me/we do have a game we play though,keep away; he tries to take my fingers off and I try to keep them away. I have cried many a tear because I can't handle him. then I had a garage sale and a lady came to it and had a cockatie she didn't want and ask me if I would take it so Baby joined our flock. I went to another bird fair and fell in love with a Hawkhead so Hawk is now a flock member. I go to schools,churches etc and give bird programs. My granddaughter made me a flyer on the computer and I keep them in my car to give to people. I gave a program at a local high school and a studen had a bird she couldn't take care of so Buddy a Patagonian Conure joined our flock/ In June 2007 I lost a cockatiel we had had for 31 years[my husband had him before we married] we think he was at least 34/35 .That should make 13 birds that own me. I do some bird rescue, if someone had a bird they don’t want I try to find a good home for it. I am a member of our local bird club. casual hobby????? there is no way a bird could ever be a casual hobby for a true bird owner. No one understands a bird owner except another bird owner. They are loving,playful,affectionate,intelligent with personalities out the wazoo. No one ever “”"owns”"”a bird , they bring too much joy to a persons life They will change your life style and your life There is no perfect pet but they are as close as you will get. One of my greatest rewards, I found a baby hummingbird on the ground in my yard last October and hand fed and raised it for 15 days and let it go. What a rush. Who needs drugs when you have birds.

I got my first parakeet in 1956 and had parakeets until 1978. In 1993 I got a cockatiel, Pecker (after Woody Wood Pecker) who is still going strong today. Eight years ago, we paid $1000 to rescue a Moluccan Cockatoo from a couple who due to a newborn baby had put it outside in a cage covered by a blanket in the Arizona heat. After we rehabilitated her, we found her a good home as the only pet in the family, which is what she needed.
Being imressed by how affectionate the Moluccan’s are, we purchased a baby and hand feed it ourselves. Simba is 8 yeas old now and still the most gentle and affectionate bird we’ve ever seen. Shortly after, we rescued a Galeh Cockatoo that we call Cookie Dough Dough since she had some issues and needed much work. She’s finally a sweet, affectionate member of the family but still gently nips when she doesn’t get what she wants.
Then, one day, a neighbor knocked on the door and said that they knew we had birds since they had heard them while passing the house. They were getting divorced and leaving town immediately and wondered if we could help them by taking their 8 year old Blue Fronted Amazon female and 6 year old green Parrotlet. The Parrotlet was kept only as a caged bird by them but soon had the run of the house with us. He actually became best friends with Simba, our Moluccan (kind of Mutt & Jeff). The Amazon, called Rosie by them and Sweet Pea by us, decided to love me and hate my husband and showed him her feelings on the first day by piercing his nose! It’s taken two years but she has finally stopped biting him and mostly tolerates him or flies away from him. The Parrotlet, Piglet, broke our hearts last spring when we woke up and found that she had passed away in the night.
Broken hearts need to be mended, so, we bought a baby Goffin Cockatoo. We hand fed him and since he was born on February 14, 2007, named him Cupid. His name seems to fit him well as he is the cuddler of the group. As he’s getting a little more mature, he’s starting to nip when he gets excited or annoyed.
This past spring a baby bird was given to us by a coworker of my husband. It barely had feathers and was the smallest thing I’d ever seen. It was touch and go for the first week trying to hand feed him. He had leg damage and a scar on his head. We began working with Wildlife Rescue but he further injured himself. We awoke one morning to find his leg broken and holding on by just a flap of skin. He was nearly dead from loss of blood. Some Vet care and medicine and he was shortly a happy little guy again, jus hopping around on one leg as the other was amputated. We call him Lucky. He’s a Verdin and about the size of a Hummingbird.
Then came the problem child. As we work with the Best Friends organization, there was a couple in toen who devoted themselves to saving big dogs. They had come upon a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Bali) that needed rescuing. They tried to work with him for three years but he was isolated in an upstairs bedroom to safeguard him from the dogs and he bites everyone. When they heard about us, they asked if we could take him. Bali is now part of our flock and it was because of him that I purchased your course. He’s only been with us for a few weeks but my husband and I have both been bitten badly many, many times. He’s inconsistent. One minute he’s your best friend and wants to be cuddled and scratched under the wings and the next minute he wants to tear you apart. He’ll even fly after me to attack me! He has more fear of my husband and some days will do whatever it takes to get away from him and later wants to be his best buddy. This one I can’t figure out but I’m hoping your course will give us some good insight to enable us to make him a loving part of the family.
All our birds (except the Verdin) talk very well, mostly in sentences. They even seem to know the meanings of the words they use as they use them approprietly. For that reason, we didn’t purchase the Teach Your Bird To Talk part of the course.
We just recently received the course and have not yet started to work with Bali on any of the training methods. We have great hope as we are desperate at this point. We’ll let you know how it goes and contact you if we have any questions or are having trouble with any oart of the training. Wish us luck and thanks for having such a great course available. It’s not easy to find help with problem birds.

I am owned by two pet budgies; Buster a Yellow pied male and Harry a yellow and green male. They are house pets and have the run of the place. There cages are close together and they enjoy a sqwark and a sing together. Buster talks and I think that Harry is starting to pick up a few words. Buster is very tame and comes when he is called. He has a nasty medical condition (the vet did not detect at his pre purchase medical) called Avian Gastric Yeast (Formerly Mega Bacteria). It is a condition that stops the absorption of nutrients from the stomach and the affected birds loose weight and condition. It is treatable through the use of an antibiotic. Many birds especially budgies have this condition and do not show any signs. It shows up when they are under any sort of stress so the key is to eliminate stress as much as possible. I use vitamin suppliments and a special product called KD which changes the PH of the water. I live in Australia and my vet is Dr Rob Marshall a bird specialist. He is awesome and has developed fantastic products that have virtually eliminated any boughts of mega. He gets maby 1 per year. Robs website is http://www.birdhealth.com.au. He is really friendly and has helped me understand my bird, his behaviour, health conditions and as a result he is happier and healthier. I have had birds all of my life as pets and really enjoy how smart and inquisitive they are. People think that the smaller birds are not as smart as the big ones ie budgies but this is not true at all. Bouncer pick up things like if I am tired or in a bad mood and acts up if I dont give him the attention he requires. He doesnt like change at all particularly moving things around in HIS home. So changes are slow. He understands that when His person comes home it is out of the cage time and time for running on the floor and free flight. He gets really vocal if I dont give him attention after the first five minutes when I get home.

Cheers
Clay

Thank you for asking my story, I Have three parrots, the first one i recieved was a Malacan Cackatoo it was a gift , Jack whose age i don’t know was not handled at all and i believe he was put in a bedroom and just fed, on a strictly a seed diet. I am sorry to say he was a problem and a conversation piece until i got dixie a Senegal parrot 3yrs. old, she forced me to edgucate myself, and i realised throught reading that i was doing everything wrong with Jake, wrong food, wrong cage, cage too high in the air, and no interaction, so i started making my adjustments, it’s amasing what little efforts bring great things, now i have a 4 yr old Bue and Gold Macaw she is a great bird , and recently am going through a feather plucking situation with Tuaca, new cage seems too have triggered that, i am watching and it seems like she is starting to back off on her chest plucking, have more and will keep in touch, thank you so much Chet, and will greatly appreciate your advise, your service has been unmeasurable and will make sure you are compensated for your information, thankyou again , Mike

I do not volunteer at any rescue – I would love to, but it would be very dangerous for me. I would not be able to resist bringing them all home. I am such a softie when he come to critters. My husband tells me I treat the animals better than him.

I have always loved animals of all kinds. Our local zoo was located just behind our high school. My senior year, I think I spent more time at the zoo than at school. I really learned a lot from the zoo keepers during that time.

I have always had dogs, cats and fish. I had a budgie in high school. When our boys grew up and moved out of the house, my husband and I really noticed how quiet it was. One day duirng a trip to a neighboring city (larger than where we live). We visited a pet store that raises baby birds. Our Pedro started talking to us and we fell in love. We did buy him right away, but talked about it over and over during the 50 mile trek home. The next day, we went back and brought him home. He was only 6 mo old then and now is a robust 3 year old.

Pedro is a Yellow-Naped Amazon and fills our house with the noise level we missed. He is definitely a talker and a sweet -talker. He will butter you up with the “I love you”s. Especially, after he has been scolded or if he is trying to con you out of what ever it is you are eating. He is quick to tell you he is a “good boy” and that his “momma loves Pedro”.

Pedro is part of our family as is our dog and cat. Of course Pedro rules the roost and the other animals are deathly afraid of him.

He is always out of his cage when we are home and locked in it for his own safety when we are gone. I enjoy making him new toys to play with and destroy. He seems to like seeing what I can come up with for him.

My oldest son affectionally calls me the “Bird Lady”. I am always walking around with him on my shoulder and of course always have the tell tale signs down my back that he has been there.

I love my Pedro and couldn’t imagine life without him. He showers me with kisses and is the center of the household.

My husband loves to talk to him; however, he is more afraid and won’t work to be able to hold him. I could go on and on, but won’t take up any more of your time.

I thank you for your insights and of course the opportunity to brag about my boy.

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
Not at this time, I am taking in another Caique and re-homing a Sun Conure for another member of the forum I belong to.

2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
No I don’t and haven’t looked into finding any local clubs yet. It’s been a little over a year since we bought our first bird.

3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
At this time, no. If and when my Caiques breed successfully I might have handfed babies to sell, but that will probably be through the store owner where I bought the first Caique. I didn’t get them just for breeding. The same goes for the Conures.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
They are like children to us. I’ve had many pets but having birds is a whole different experience.

5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
It all started last year when our daughter wanted a Cockatiel she couldn’t keep where she was living but had to have her before she changed jobs, she worked at the pet store where the bird was. We took the bird to care for her until the time our daughter could have her, interested in possibly getting a Cockatiel for ourselves we went to two local stores that sold hand fed baby birds. Not impressed with the first one we went to the second one that was a wonderful place for birds. I ended up looking at Cockatoos, I had one many years ago, not Cockatiels. Then we started looking at the other species there, Sun Conures, African Grays even an Eclectus…but I was entertained by a little multi-colored parrot. I didn’t think we would or could get a bird but on the way home my hubby said we could get one, he liked the Suns since he had been handling one and thought that was what I had been playing with too. I called the store to find out what species the bird was and I had to get the spelling because I never heard of it before…he’s a White Bellied Caique! We read everything we could find online and decided to buy him and Cai has been a joy!
I feel that if you can have two birds so they have companionship it’s a good thing so I found out from the forum I’m on that a store in another state had Caiques so I called and picked a WB female as close in age to my male as possible, Caia is only 11 days younger, and when we went to pick her up a few weeks later the two of them took about 30 minutes to get to know each other and have been bonded since…and it didn’t affect their interacting with us. We have so much fun with them when we have them out.
A couple of months later while at the original store, visiting, there was the last Sun in a cage that was very scared and would go all around the cage to avoid stepping up. The owner said she thought someone traumatized the Suns she had there, one had sold and the other was with a helper who was re-socializing it for a future sale. I offered to work with this last scared bird (I named Tequila) and brought him home a couple of weeks later, I had him stepping up in about four days. He got along with my two Caiques and I became very fond of him so I wanted to buy him, and she sold him to me for less than two customers would’ve paid for him because she knew I’d take good care of him. He still has issues but he’s doing a lot better.
I thought, of course, that he would be happier with a friend…he looked lonely in his cage…and I mentioned to the store owner that I’d like a Jenday and in a couple of weeks she had one at the store. The baby was 8 weeks old and needed her shots so after she was inoculated I was able to bring her home, still hand feeding her after the owner made sure I could do it. Poquita is the sweetest bird and she made Tequila happier having a friend to be with. She’s encouraged him to play a lot more and all four birds can be out playing together, in fact she acts a lot like a Caique since Cai is a type A personality and so is Poquita and they’ve wrestled and played together. Caia and Poquita are girlfriends and sit and preen or gurge to each other while Cai will sit with Tequila and they preen each other. When they all go back to their own cages they have a good time with their respective friend, the Caiques share a VERY large cage (they can use all the room they can get) and the Conures have a good sized cage for the two of them.

6. How have your birds impacted your life?
I have new friends to share the joy with and I love being with my babies, and miss them when I’m not with them. When we go to visit our daughter we take all four with us!

Hi guys…
I have a 5year old African grey called ‘Alfie’ and he’s some boy,i absoluutely adore him.I got him when he was about 12weeks old.He’s a great natured bird and has a fantastic vocabulary too.I can’t imagine not having him,we invlove him in everything that we do at home…he’s very much a big part of our family and to be honest he’s totally spoiled!!He’s so layed back he just wonders about the house,usually tormenting our 2year old King charles spaniel!!Probably like most bird owners,i could talk about both of my birds all day and bore you to death,so i’ll spare you’s!We have a 13year old cockatiel called ‘Tommy’and she’s quite a character.If your wondering why we called her a boys name it was because when we bought her we were told she was a boy BUT then she started laying eggs and by that time it was too late to change her name!!She has no cage as she refused to go into it,so we removed it from the house years ago.She spends her day walking about the house(her prefered mode of transport!),she must walk miles a day!She sleeps in the bathroom at night,on top of the shower cabinet door and we keep her feeding dishes on the work top in the kitchen.Oh and she usually has her bath in the dogs water bowl!!She’s mad but for some bizzare reason she’s happy living this way.It’s a mad house sometimes but we wouldn’t have it any other way.I’m a member of the RSPB(UK)and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.I contribute financially to both charities but i don’t do any hands on stuff with them i’m afraid.
I must admit i do have a soft spot for birds and regard them as my kids!
Catrina

1. There is nothing like that here, but all of my birds have been rescued in one way or another.
2. No I don’ t belong to any clubs , yes I am interested.
3. No I don’t run a bird related business.
4. My birds are family, They all needed better homes and i love giving them a happy, healthy life.
5. Our first bird was a pair of lovebirds. My husband was at someones house and they had these 2 lovebirds in a room where everyone smoked, their cage was very dirty and the birds not well. My husband asked if they didn’t like the birds and why they were in the smoking room, the owners didn’t want the birds, they had been given to them, and they had no interest in them whatso ever, or their proper care and health. So my husband brought them home.Now they are my daughters babies and she has made them very tame and loving.
About a year later I saw a female lovebird in a pet store that was very sad and had lost two mates and had given up completely, she hadn’t eaten for 3 days , I bought her and we eventually put her in with the other 2 lovebirds, they are now all buddies and very tame anf friendly, something we were told would never happen with 3 lovebirds together.
I also have a cockatiel that wasn’t wanted by her family anymore and was very afraid of everyone her owners told me she was a biter and always hissed at everyone. I took her home and she sits on my shoulder for hours , she is shy with other people but we clicked right away, she lets me pet her face and is a very sweet bird now, just needed someone to try.
My 5th bird is my biggest challenge, she spent her first 7 years in a pet store and hated everyone, a very unhappy green ring neck parrot. I bought her and after 2 years she finally whistles at me and occasionally sits on my arm, still not friendly with alot of people but a much happier bird, she had never had fresh fruit or vegies before now she gets them every morning and loves it.
6. I love all my birds as if they were abused children and have helped them come along way, their happiness and watching them become trusting birds is a huge joy for me.

Mookie, my Umbrella Cockatoo picked me out at the bird store. I always wanted a big bird but never had one. I always went into stores or locations where there were birds. I walked into the store with hands behind my back (Many bites taught me that). Mookie was on a stand, I walked over to him and he moved over to me. He ducked his head which I had learned meant “scratch me”, I did. He looked up at me and said, “Hello”. I replied, “Hello”. Then he looked up at me again and said, “I love you”. Ten years later he still tells me that he loves me, and I love him.
He goes almost everywhere I go, but because of his prior experiences before I got him, he is very unpredictable, so I do not let anyone else touch him unless they know how to handle birds. He love to show off for children. My wife was a first grade teacher and I took him several times each year to show the children and educate them about big birds.

http://www.homeportdiesel.com/The_Flock.html

my birds are just pets, i have 2 cockatils they are both femails they are in a cage each. We are not in any club, i had a frend that lived here in cromwell that breed them, one of our girls is about 7 years old and her name in manu she is a pearl lace and she is beatfull i have not mated her or anything like that she just our bossie girl
, she doesnt like me much but she just loves my husband.
The second bird is a grey bird and she is about 3 years old my doughter gave her to us for chrismas thinking she was a little boy for manu her name is birdie and she is sweet. She came from a pet shop and doesnt like to be handled or she will not get out of her cage, but she will came up to you and chatter with you.
We love our girls

I met my first Quaker at a friends house who i bought reptiles from. He had a very obnoxious and heavily over bonded bird who had to be locked up when ever someone visited as it attacked people. I thought they were cute and asked if he could get me one cheap as at that time they were aroun $1200. He could, and so i got Doodad, the most beautifully freindly green quaker who is an absolute joy. She bonds with everyone who meets her. I used to have her on my shoulder from when i got home till we went to bed. About 4 months ago i got a call from another freinf who had someone giving up a quaker and cag for $100 so i took it. And here came Beebop. He loves only me and will attack anyone else. He is VERY noisy (Doodad is not) but he too is a joy. They both come in the shower with me every day but mostly spend time with eachother on there open cages. They both love a cuddle, but Beebop loves it more. He also likes to be rubbed with a towel and bobs up and down and whisles when i dry my hair. I was subscribed to the quaker net work but dont have time now. I go to our local, annual bird show, but have been told on no uncertain terms that if I bring any more animals home i’d best move out!!! LOL I love both my birds like kids and we do some training but mostly we just like to hang out. Bothh will cuddle up and sleep on me and at least then they are quiet !!! ha ha

About 38 years ago I bought my first parrot, double yellow head. It was 3 months old and I fell in love. Around two years old she began to display strong emotions.
It took 6 months to find her a husband and 2 months before she turned three she gave birth to twins and I was hooked.
I now am a breeder and retailer of all types of parrots. I hand feed every one of them and my goal is to produce the sweetest and well behaved birds available and
to see that they are placed in loving homes. I also do follow-up after the sale to
be sure bird and owner are off to a good start.
I believe in a pelleted diet with vegtables and fruit, a good avian Veternarian and a sensable schedule for” in-cage time” ” playtime” and “training time”. Thats where you come in and I do recomend your programs often.
I usually have about 50-60 large birds at a time ready to go to their new homes and yes they are handled every day and loved on. My favorite bird?
It’s the one I happen to be holding when you ask me that. I love them all.
I have had R. Arthritis for the last 18 years and I tell you if it wasn’t for these birds I don’t think I would get out of bed.
Even with all my health problems I really love working with people and helping
them select a wonderful parrot that I know will give them years of enjoyment.
I have made lifetime friends with so many folks and I am “Grandmother” to
so many of these beautiful, wonderful parrots. I am truly blessed.

Growing up I have had ducks, chickens and parakeets. Now I have two sunconures Sonny and Nikki. I got sonny from a pet store and he was such a sweetheart he loves to talk and dance. Me and my husband can’t have children so sonny was our little boy. I hate to say but he is spoiled rotten. About 10 months later I was on the internet when I found Nikki in the add on live deal.com she was adorable and close to where we lived so my husband bought her for me for my birthday.When we went to pick her up she was in bad shape. She was under weight,very agressive, and she had plucked all her belly feathers out. The woman who owned her said that the dogs had gotton a hold of her a couple of times and that she is very sickly looking thats why no one that has come to look at her has bought her yet. My husband asked me if I was willing to still take her with so many problems. There was never any doubt in my mind she was coming home with me. It has been 7 months now and she is a completely different bird all her feathers have grown back she talks now and dances to only country music which is funny. There is never a moment I regret getting them. My two little babies mean everything to me. As my husband could tell you they are both spoiled rotten. I don’t belong to any clubs or anythings . Everytime I see a bird on the internet for sale or in a pet shop I wish I could bring them home with me but since I can’t do that I worry and pray they get better homes than the one Nikki was in. These birds are my life they have never been a hobby. I would get more birds but they are very expensive , but I would love to have more conures .

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
NO
2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? NO
Are you interested in joining something? Maybe
3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? NO
Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? NO
4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? I dont see how anybody could call abird a “casual” hobby. There is nothing casual about owning any animal especially a bird.
5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? I aquired my first two birds from a good friend that didn’t want them any more because heer husband had bought them without asking her and she had cared for them for 10 years and was burnt out. We started off with 2 and now have one. The Goffins cokatoo only lasted 6 months before my grades in university started to fall because of the constant noise and disruptions. I don’t blame the bird …I just couln’t give it what it needed. I had taken the bird in and unfortunately both me and the bird were unhappy. I took him to an absolutely wonderful and enormous bird sanctuary near own city.
The second bird and Blue Fronted amazon I still have. He is now 13 years old and my dear companion. ME and my husband adore him. He goes most places with us. He is never locked away during the day, goes for walks, hikes, car rides, and to friends.
6. How have your birds impacted your life? My bird has impacted my life in many ways. 1. because he has a lot of needs and I cannot be complacent about owning him. 2. Because he brings such zest and fun and depth to our home. and 3. Because it can make life a little bit harder. Owning a big bird is not easy and requires a lot of time and effort. It can make it harder to go away and we have to plan out our schedules so we dont leave him alone for too long.

I will care for him until I cannot any longer and hopefully when that day comes i will still have loved ones around me who are willing to take him.

Hi,

All my birds are adopted from rescues (2 Quakers and a Moluccan Cockatoo). I foster rescue birds for the local bird club, since I moved here a year ago, a dove and 3 Macaws and another Moluccan so far until they can either be reclaimed by their owners or adopted to a good foster home which we check out thoroughly. I don’t run any business but have thought about it since I am so far away from the “lower 48″ and in Alaska it seems there are not so many things here and shipping is a problem. I might be interested – what do you have in mind? Having no children, my husband and I spend a lot of time with our birds and the resuce birds as well so they are much more than that – they are like our kids. We first acquired Jimmy, a half-naked Quaker from a rescue and he won my heart. Since then we got Tweeka, another Quaker who is a sweetheart as well. Then came Noodle the Moluccan – totally awesome bird. Impact? Well they take a lot of time not just with playing with them but cleaning, cooking for them, etc. Especially wen we have “guest birds” since we try to treat them all equally. One thing I forgot to mention is that I was nearly terrified of birds when my husband first brought one home 2 years ago – I was so afraid of being bitten. Now – no big deal and I look forward to coming home and seeing them every day. They are part of my life! Thanks.

Hi, i have been involved with birds for the past 20 years, my first being Bobby the Budgie. I’ve since progressed to breeding Lorikeets, cockatiels, galahs,
and canaries to name a few. Four years ago my best friend Bundi a Musk Lorikeet died which left me devastated. It was then i decided to that i needed more education with regard to the health of my birds and i needed to help other birds in need. Hense i joined a local volunteer bird and animal rehab centre. i only go once a week, given i still work however when i do eventually stop work i will go a lot more often as its the most rewarding thing i have ever done. We don’t always like what we see but it’s rewarding knowing we make a difference, especially when eventually the birds and animals are released. Some will never be released but they are given the best possible life whilst they are still with us.
As for me, it has taught me so much, first aid for birds, what to do for injuries and ofcourse illness witch can be a bit tricky. For any of you that have ever considered doing it, do yourself a favour a try it the reward is mamoth plus i figure we all owe it to our wild life as we are fast taking there homes from them.
Theres me on my soap box, i’ll stop now, and go a play with my baby lorikeet “elmo” who loves a tickle. Take care every one, Tina.

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
I use to volunteer at Liberty Wildlife in Scottsdale, AZ. I would take Hawks and Owls out on programs to schools, hotels and Festivals. We use to educate people on the safety of the birds, etc. It was one of the most fun I ever had.
When my mom got sick, I quit doing that though. Maybe some day I will go back.

2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
I do not belong to anything like a bird club. I really don’t have time right now, so I am not interested at this time.

3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?

No, I do not. I’m not sure if that would interest me.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
My quaker parrot “Bamboo” is my baby. I wouldn’t say he is a casual hobby.

5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
I don’t remember how we got our 1st parakeets (when I was a very young child), but Bamboo I got from a breeder. They weaned him at 2 1/2 months old (too young), but I worked w/him. He said his 1st word after about a week of owning him. Now he speaks both Greek and English. I recently lost a Crimson Rosella. He passed away about 3 weeks ago. I have no idea what happened. I came home from work after shopping for bird supplies, and he was lying at the bottom of his cage.

6. How have your birds impacted your life?
They have made my life more satisfying. I love to teach Bamboo new phrases. His most recent is” What do you think?” He has a huge vocabulary. I love him like crazy.

Chet and Dave, we love your videos and we’re continuing to work with our birds. They learned their first trick the very first day!!! I was amazed, but you guys are GREAT!!!

We do not have any shelters or rehab centers close to where I live. I sure with someone did. I be there every chance I got. The closest thing is my best friend!! She has a grey, a canary, 2 cockatiels (two were rescues), and 4 parakeets (two were rescues). I call her the bird woman. She’s such a compassionate animal lover. Anyway, I’d love to join a bird club if there was one near and would like the opportunity to make money dealing with the birds.
I have two quakers, a cockatiel and a parakeet (rescued bird). My quakers are the delights of my life – my “girls”. They are 5 months old. I’ve previously owned a sun conure. She was gorgeous and I fully intend to have another one some day. My husband intends to have a grey. He loves my best friends and loves to hear them jabber all day long. I know one thing, after I lost my conure, the house was entirely too quiet!! I went through withdrawl until we finally got the quakers. I bonded immediately with the conure at the pet store and we became inseparable. Unfortunately, there was an accident and she flew away before we could catch her. Now, “the girls” are my peace when I come home from a long 12hr. shift at the hospital. They are NOT peaceful by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure is music to these old ears when I walk through the door in the evening. I have just enough time to let them out for a bit and play before it’s their bedtime. Guess you can tell they’re more than just a hobby. I really love those little girls. If someone would have told me 3 years ago I would be this passionate about birds, I’d have told them they were crazy! I couldn’t understand how someone could love a BIRD. To me, then, I didnt’ know they had personalities/attitudes, etc. I am a believer now though!
Thanks for all the tips and information you guys provide – what insight to the bird realm! Keep up the great work for us!

The 4 macaws (blue and golds) are my husbands birds. He had a business for about 4 years called “Pollyperch” where he sold these unchewable plastic bird perches to stores and cage makers, who thought them amazing. The us goverment bought perches for Costa Rica as did several zoos. A company in Dallas recently bought the peerch making equipment and will continue manufacturing them.
George also was at the same time selling bird cages and traveled weekly to bird shows around the country. You may have met him. We ended up with these birds in his travels. Their owners had died and somehow got stuck with “mom’s bird” who didn’t like them or one lady found a 7 yr old blud and gold flying around with no band and rescued it only to decide the bird was a lot of work. So to answer your question, we sort of inherited each of these 4 birds from situations that could have been better. One guy could not afford cages so all his birds, so one he liked the least was living in his garage eating the drywall. Saffron, a 35 year old blue and gold, was white from the drywall coating,and the guy didn’t have much garage left. He traded George a cage for him. The bird has some respritory issues that have mostly healed, and quite frankly is lucky to be allive.
George reallly loves his pets, but trust me when I tell you that they are not my pets.
I just saw your website once while surfing the internet and thought it was interesting. I personnaly would love it if all the birds lived else where but George love them so thats ok too.

We are just suckers, I guess. Our first, Daniel the Eclectus won our hearts in the pet shop, and we paid their premium price to rescue him from what we saw as poor circumstances. He is a sweet gentle little darling who has a very strong mind of his own now, at 20 months old.
Daniel was very attached to my husband, so I wanted my own baby. We got Annie 6 months later, which Daniel was not too pleased about. But I have worked with them, using Chet’s methods – we have “school” every night when I get home from work. They are now at the age when they are learning to feed each other, all because of my training them to do things “together” (that is one of the catch words I use with training.

Next thing that happened, like other people’s stories: in a different pet shop getting supplies, and a young Sun Conure launched itself at the bars, begging my husband for a scratch. With busy working lives, it was a difficult decision, but as I said, we are suckers, and we paid the pet shop price again for Tico. He is absolutely gorgeous.

It’s like one of your others writers said; who would have thought how much personality, OPINIONS, and thinking a parrot could do, and how much love they can show. Far more than a dog, we reckon.

We now have an aviary full of Goudlian finches, 2 or 3 mothers sharing nests and raising up to 10 babies in a nest, plus a pair of wild blackbirds have built a nest and are raising 3 babies in a pot plant right outside our back door, where we pass by frequently. Our garden is full of wonderful worms for them.

Everyday we spend our free time preparing food, freshening water bowls, changing toys and all the other things they need. Whoever needed a hobby? We have our ‘children’. Mind you, our human children think we are possessed (or was that Obsessed?)

I can’t wait to retire, when I can spend every minute watching their antics and making myself a slave to my babies.

I had birds since I was 7 years old and was introduced to them by an uncle. Birds to me are more than just pets they symbolise everything that is beautiful in nature. I dont care whether it is a common old crow or a beautiful macaw they all hold a facination for me. We have a large variety of native parrots in Australia but I prefer to keep foriegn birds as they have been bred in captivity so our native ones can roam free. At the moment I have a nesting pair of Alexandrines and a pair of green cheeked conures also on eggs. Additionally I have two canaries that whistle from dawn to dusk. My philiosphy is that anyone who doesnt appreciate birds must come from another planet.

well i got my first bird 3 years ago when myboyfriend i moved in together after a month of getting to know about him and learning more about conures we have fallen in love with them we now have 4 conuress and a dwarf macaw.our birds are our family they are involved in every part of our lives.i feel lost without them and thats the reason we dont go on holidays any more i mean holidays that dont allow parrots.

1. We, per say, do not have a local bird rescue. I participate in taking rescue birds in from our local club.

2. Yes, I belong to a local bird club. Our club specializes in placing bird in good homes, etc.

3. I am not interested in having a bird business, but is tempting when I see little ones that just hatched.

4. My birds are my life. Its a joy to see the rescue birds impove and become part of the family. They are our children and we spoil them. Our latest, 1+ year old African Grey, Orion, can be seen at http://www.myspace.com/myafricangrey. He has his own car seat, personal stroller, and am teaching him comprehension. He talks alot and understands.

5. My first bird was given to me. Sadly, he passed away. We decided we just cannot be without a parrot in the house.

Currenly have 4 parrots. 1 rescue Patagonian Conure (12 yrs old), 1 rescue African Grey (28 yrs old), 1 Meyers (2 yrs old) he is purchased at PetSmart in MT, and, Orion purchased (1+ yrs old) at PetSmart in Apache Junc, AZ.

6. These birds are my friends and companions. I can talk to them, sing and laugh with them. My husband works out of state and out of the country. These birds don’t give me time to be lonely nor get depressed. They are an absolute joy! God knew what he was doing when he created the parrot.

My story doesnt seem as interesting as the rest. I was visiting a local pet shop. I noticed some shabby ratty looking pink and green feathers in the corner of he cage. there huddled together were a group of around 20 indian ringnecked baby parrots. I gave a little whistle and out of the group came a baby with hardly any feathers. When he reached the side of the cage. I knew i had to take him home even though i had no intention of buying a bird. He was around 3wks of age and i didnt think he would make it. I went on the net and read books. I had to feed him every 3 hrs. Joe is now 8yrs old and doesnt say a word. It doesnt matter to me if he talks or not. He knows when im there and screams until i talk to him. Hes mine and a big part of my family. life wouldnt be the same without him. He has a mate called jill and a baby called jessy. Since getting joe i have 20 budgies 1 love bird and 4 finches all included we now have 28 birds. My birds have impacted our lives greatly. Not only do we become there teachers but they to teach us to be reponsible for all animals. That each animal great and small if given the chance can be your buddy for life. I am not involved in any rescue centers or rehabilitation projects. I would love to open a business with birds and be able to educate others on the care and well being of their new family member. Who knows what might happen in the future!!!

Hello there, I work in my families Accountants Business & I now live with my parnter. When i first got my little bird Snowy it was Januray, 2007 & I was single. I have never had so much fun with something so small & beautiful like Snowy. He says so many words as I was teaching him as much as i could from your emails & DVD’s. I havent gotton him to do much on cue stuff but he is not a silly bird. He has adjusted to his new house rather well actually & as well my parter, whom Snowy says his name, or where’s Steve, & loves him as much as me.I am not in any club or anything but i dont call Snowy my pet, he’s my little baby.Snowy comes to & from work with me 4 days a week. Which he flys around & sits on the boses shoulders as well saying G’day mate. or I luv u, plus more. He loves more green vegies, or green colour foods, more vegie bird than fruit. He has his toys in his cage which he luvs but i also have a little play gym when he is out his cage that he luvs. He is sitting on my shoulder as im writing or sometimes on the keys board keys. But i do have to go now so i hope u liked what i had to say, & thank u all as i only no what i no because of you guys. I do tell lots of people the Bird lady & Bird Guy from overseas are excellent. I tell the local bird shop i go to as well. Thankyou & goodbye
Regards Susan

I do not belong to any clubs or volunteer at any rehabs for birds, but I do have a love for birds. My son has two parakeets, and I have a Senegal parrot, Kiwi. She is my constant companion. I got Kiwi from a local pet store when she was 4 months old. She is now going on 5. The employees were very kind to her and taught her to step up and she was allowed to sit on their shoulders while they worked in the store. My son and I frequently stopped by to “see the pets”, and soon I was taken in by her. My husband came along one day and saw how much she would mean to me and bought her for me. Kiwi has gone thru the nippy stages and has at times been squaky, but is now maturing into a wonderful bird. She does prefer me and my son, but will tolerate my husband pretty well, I think it’s because he doesn’t spend as much time with her as I do. She really doesn’t talk, but she does mimmic sounds and a few whistles that she learned from my husband. I also love to feed the wild birds in my front yard, I have two of the seven blue jays that will come and take peanuts from my hand. One will even sit on my kitchen door knob and look inside the house for me to come and feed him/her. Only other bird lovers can understand the wonder of holding and feeding and caring for our birds. They bring me joy!

1. I do not belong to any official rescue group but we have our own group of rescued animals (rats and two conures). It’s busy and rewarding!

2. I have no bird club affiliation, I have no time for this yet. I am glad I can read your information (thanks!)

3. Not yet…. but I am learning. I started a pet food business (www.onestaorganics.com) and am still a few species and projects away from bird foods and treats. But SOME day….!

4. Birds as well as our rats are definitely more than a hobby. They are our kids, friends, and buddies.

5. My husband stumbled upon Peppi, our first conure, on Craigs list of all places. Despite my strong hesitation (rats can hurt birds, and our rats have either a lot of free time or are full-time “free range” while any potential bird always was planned to be an open-cage bird), my husband convinced me to save this poor guy who was handed around from person to person for the first 3 years of his life. He’s a half moon conure and can be extremely loud. He likes to make noise at varying levels, softly grunting even when he’s happily entertaining himself or when he’s eating One year later we ran into our girl conure at a pet store where she was hiding obviously severely depressed in her single toy. The staff there was so untrained that they almost were unable to
get her out when we wanted to see if she’d be suitable company for Peppi. She is a gentle greencheek and is madly in love with Peppi. He however doesn’t seem to think too much about her; but he’s obviously content to have a real bird around for company when I am not there. I hope he’ll find her more important in a couple of years. I am both bird’s (and rats’) dedicated step mom or perch or entertainment center or what. It is humbling to have earned the trust ad affection of these delicate sensitve animals.

6. Birds completely changed our life! More planning to keep everybody happy and healthy, and more insights into a class of animals which I only knew from the wild.

Heidi

Well Chet and Dave,

you really have had a great response, I have read everyones letters with enormous interest. I notice that most people have gorgeous exotic parrots, I have two Budgies and I live in Sydney, Australia because out my door I can see Galahs (rosy breasted parrots), lorikeets and sulpher crested cockatoos flying around wild. just lovely. That’s not saying I wouldn’t like to have them as friends, but having just bought a brand new apartment I don’t think the Residents Committee is ready for the racket.

As we work full time, my husband and I can only do a small amount of Bush Regeneration work, ogle bird pet shops and own possibly the most expensive budgie in Sydney. Beady, a 7 year old Dutch pied Budgie, is going for a hysterectomy and hernia repair next week which will add to her vet bills (lead poisoning, infected womb several times blah blah blah). So, in answer to your question are your birdies pets or family members, I should think that everyone who has answered, answered the same way, of course they are family members; to responsible bird owners. (Both are currently sitting on me, they have never been clipped, fly round the house, Beady comes when i call…most of the time…. just like kids).

Thanks for letting all us Bird Nerds vent, even if they are only little, seemingly common but so far from, Birdies.

My first bird was a cocketiel from a local pet store, as birds or fish were the only pets allowed in our building. My daughter let that one get out and it disappeared. Replaced with another cocketiel. I bought a second hand quaker then received a sick congo that promptly died. We were given a parrolet and a bronze wing pionus, then another quaker and a conure and 2 lovebirds. We found good homes for all but the pionus which we still have. I purchased a yellow nape third or fourth hand from a local pet store and finally an umbrella cockatoo as the third owner. Our house now has the pionus the amazon and the cockatoo. Both of my daughters have multiple birds in their homes.
Our birds are members of the family and get lots of attention, but are not forced to “perform” other than just being friendly and stepping up on command.
I am not a member of any club or organization and have no desire to be. I don’t exploit my birds for profit nor entertainment any more than I would parade my daughter around for money. They get good food, toys, and medical care, as any member of the family does.
They are a joy to be around and have personalities all their own. Our lives are richer for their being in the family.
I purchased your training dvd and felt it was too high pressure for me and the birds so I never used any of it. I would love to have my money back, but it has been a very long time since I bought them, so no expectation.

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
I visit the birds at Bird Lovers Outlet in Spokane, which also houses a rescue. I just rescued a 35 year-old Red Lored Amazon, named Angel. She has emphsyma, but is adorable otherwise.

2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
I plan on joining the Spokane Parrot Society, as I know many of the members.

3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
I don’t own any bird-related businesses, but plan on practicing Animal Law when I graduate from law school in May. This is 100% due to the loss of my beloved Orange-Winged Amazon, Baby Bird.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
My birds are the center of my life. They’re my best friends.

5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
How have your birds impacted your life?
I got Baby Bird from my friend’s grandma, who couldn’t care for him anymore. Now I have Angel, the rescued Red Lored Amazon and Leilani, a 6 month-old Double Yellow Amazon girl.

Hi guys/ comrades, I started from and instinct, one day arrived home with a galah, made many mistakes, was unkind looking back thru ignorance, learn’t all I could, watched, grew as a person from natural behavior. Have 5 now 3 rescued the two larger cross corella galah the other west Aust galah, my babies, raised from two weeks, the leadng Australian bird vet P Mcwirter and Phil Sacks, ask me about mega bacteria after 2 years diff treatment ever 4 weeks for a cockatiel with mouth furr and blocked black beak and nostrils and thin as a stick, ardly breathe, cleaning out the beak 3 times a day down to evey year, so I soon learnt what cures it, ha not telling ( hint very diluted vinegar on an ear cotton bud and the same diet half the oil as usual, with vit a, milk thistle, dandelion, eucalyptus leaves ). They have changed my life so that I cant leave for holidays, so working on rectifying that now, I know they will be ok, but will I !, finding a new place or house sitter, yeah sounds extreme but I think how I would feel, common sense. Finding it hard to stick to a training schedule but when I do wow they are fantastic learners. Well how I got into was thru a couple of bad experience and this time I vowed they came first or at least their best interests are first, a committment I’ll never break, I am responsible. They are such characters I could not imagine life without them,the love they give is pure and they are purely true to themselves, the best lesson of life. They are my sanction and my flock, and they want for nothing, maybe the boy wants my hand sometimes for his own purposes. Bird tricks have changed their attitude, sure it’s a business but I suspect now you guys really care, at first I fought you guys, I know better, well some areas, but what you do is good, also S Fieldman on line course LLP, is a pre requistite for all and any parrot owner or even thinking about owning a parrot, those skills I use with my spouse my 3 princess daughters and all my customers, it’s too easy to train anyone. Now for my training, joke. I have an idea for a encloseure where parrot owners can come pay a small fee to keep it running and let they birds fly about with facilities to catch the rouges, many probs setting it up, re after been thru pssiticosis my self Iam very wary of beak and feather and assoc diseases, so if that can be over come then ok, maybe a vet check first then a quarantine period, ay no one steal the idea OK. So Chet thanks for asking mate, we have a voice and parrot owners are the best people on this planet, we have the spirit the heart the compassion, not only do we care we actually do someting about it, a rare breed. Best to all of you. Phil, Australia.

Hi ,
I have a white Cookatoo around4 jears old . I got him from an auktion in january this jear .
He screams and whisles and talk one word (hallo) all few weeks .
His name is Butch and he is my baby .
I do not belong to any clubs or volunteers .

Martina

I have a friend who breeds Indian Ring Neck Parrots and she was hand rearing one and asked me to babysit she brought me this shoe box with a tiny little pink thing with legs inside and I instantly fell in love I named him Wobbly Boot for obvious reasons, I didn’t see him again but kept asking about him and when Christmas came he was presented to me in a large mobile cage with a red ribbon on it, by then he had beautiful green feathers. I don’t belong to any clubs and get all my information from your emails he is an only bird very spoiled and screaches a lot driving us both insane even the dog gets annoyed with his screaching, but when he talks and askes for kisses all is forgiven until the next ear splitting screach.

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?………
My Birds are my babies and my pets. To my knowledge there are no rescue facillities around my area. There aren’t many parrot owners around I have to cross the state for a decent Vet that is knowledgeable about parrots.

2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?……..
I do not belong to any clubs in the area …know of none. As far as joining one I would not mind it. There are not many bird owners around here.

3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?…….
I am not really interested in making money with them. I do not recommend birds to people very often…those I do… I know the person well and believe they might take care of one. I hate sounding judgemental, but I know of people around me that really don’t care either way for parrots.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?……
They are strictly cohabitants of my heart. They make my days and evenings better. They literally add time to my life.

5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
I bought the first one, a Medium Sulphur Crested Cockatoo Eleanora.. she’ll be 10 in the spring. The next year, I raised one from a 2 week old.. Timneh African Grey…scariest thing I ever did in my life and I am a Veteran LOL. She is 8 years old. I do have one rescue parrot, an adult wildcaught Congo African Grey. He had been in the U.S. for 17 years, and was an adult when he came over from Africa, so I don’t know his age just that he has been here with me for almost 5 years. We communicate well. Its just I understand he communicates with his eyes and beak more than anything, and I have to be on guard. He even holds back his bites when he is just communicating his “space has been invaded” differently than when I have offended him in other ways. ie.. placing a strange new toy in his cage too soon. So I have 3 parrots.

6. How have your birds impacted your life?……..
They have taught me so much about being a more patient person, and a love for the weak and defenseless. Most of the time they are the best pets I have ever owned LOL. They have helped me through some very trying times with me being a disabled veteran. They give life a purpose for me not unlike children that I never had the chance to have. I never thought in a 100 lifetimes I could ever love a bird as much as I love these creatures.

I also started with budgies and a cockatiel. I now have 2 Lesser Sulpher crested cockatoos and a Jenday conure. I have had the male cockatoo for nearly 20 years and the female for about 15 years. They are the only members left of my original family in this country. I will not even emigrate to be with my brother in Oz, as they are considered vermin there. I cannot leave my family behind. I am known as the “bird lady” in the complex where I live. Everyone brings me their injured wild birds, which I take to a wildlife rehabilitation centre called Free Me. I also board my birds at a bird zoo. They have offered me birds as they can see how happy mine are, but 2 cockatoos are quite enough! I sent a tape to the BBC and they loved the tape, as the male is a real character and does a variety of tricks. Yup – I love these guys like my kids – they are definitely not just a hobby.

I’m just wondering… Are your birds strictly your pets? Or are they more than that? They are my feather children

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, because my brother Dave and I were talking the other day and we realized that we’ve never asked you this question before.

So I was just curious to know…
1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? No
2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something? No and not interested thanks – I love to read about other stories from birds and there tricks and how they talk.
3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? No business I was just looking at the birds before I decide which one is the best bird talker because I like birds who talk much
4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? As I mention they are my feather children one sleep in front of my bed every night (white eye conjure). My hobby is to visit pet shops having these birds and then go home again.
5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? I bought my first and the second I was not happy with the African gray so someone gave me and moustache for that. I bought myself and white eye conjure. I would love to have a Mac Caw but had not that much money for a bird. I LOVE big birds and those who can talk.
6. How have your birds impacted your life? I love them so much and treed them as my one children
… These are all interesting questions, when you think about it. Everyone has different motivation for getting involved with bird training and different dreams for where they’d like to go with it.

What’s yours?

Tell me your story by answering these questions (and reading other people’s stories) by commenting on my blog now. Yes

Sophie is around 24 now she came to live with us at about 22 years old. she talks well comes out of her cage climes all over the outside of her cage then sits on the top on a wooden towel rail. then tries to teach me to whistle which she thinks is funny as she can whistle a lot better then i can.

she use to bite a lot and i have a few scars to prove it, she seems to be getting over it now but i still take great care. sometime she will put her foot out when i am putting food in for her, as if to say i want to stand on your hand but as she then get a little nevus and i do she changes her mind. the bird belong to my friends father but when he died i was asked to take care of her.
Still i will wait for her to make up her own mind.

We were a little bit worried when she came as we have a cat. but a few worrying days but then all was ok I am sure that it would have been the cat that would need to be rescued. never knew that a bird could be so such a fighter. what is hers is hers and well be tide anyone that trys to take it.

I live in Western Australia and have a 9 month old Major Mitchell parrot – she is just gorgeous! If you havent seen one, google them – they are gorgeous Australian natives (or am I just really biased!!)
I had no idea what I was getting into when I bought her at 3 months old – how much time and love and care she would require – especially when she needed feeding 8 times a day as a baby. But I learnt really quickly and she is now healthy, happy and spoilt rotten!
One of her favourite things is to be taken on walks… I have trained her to put on the Aviator Harness and she just LOVES going outside and sitting in different trees (we have a 25 acre property) and digging in the grass! It took a while to get her to accept the harness (and she was very patient with me as I learnt to put it on and take it off without getting us both completely tangeled up) but she soon learnt to associate it with going outside. I recommend that bird lovers try this- but it does take a while for birds to get used to idea – and you have a pretty strong trust bond with them first so they don’t panic.
Mimi is very talkative – I taught her from early on that I would not respond to her screaming for me (thanks Chet) so she now calls her name whenever she wants me…and theres a limit to how loud she can say her name. It is really quite hilarious to hear the different tones of voice and inflections she uses to cajole me to come to her….
She also barks, says ‘what you doooing’ when she sees anyone new, hop up, makes kissing noises (and expects to rub beaks when she does this), says ‘walkies’ and ‘fly’ and has started to whistle the theme song to Winnie The Pooh. And she has conversations full of human words with me that I cant quite make out when the sun goes down….
I am an opera singer (she is named after a character that I want to play one day) and I’m hoping she will start singing opera one day…
A really cute thing she has started to do…is preen my hair after I have finished preening her new feathers…it is too cute – she really thinks that she is helping and I don’t have the heart to stop her…I now have an alarming number of split ends!!!
I was catious about her bonding too closely to me (I think she thinks she’s my mate) so I’ve made sure she is socialised with as many different people that I can. She now loves my visiting my mum and dad and she flew to her first stranger the other day when they (accidently) gave the ‘fly’ signal by holding out there arm! Brave bird – she looked at me as if she had shocked herself so I quickly went to her and told her what a good girl she was.
She wants to say thanks Chet for all of your invaluable advice which she definately benifits from- and I’m really glad there are other bird lovers out there – my friends are kind of fed up with me talking about her!!!

Heya

I have had the interest for birds since i was a little girl. I have an amazona aestiva aestiva. What set me of with the amazones were when they got one in the local pet-store. It was beautiful, but i cant remember which type of amazone it was. It was just beautiful. I kept telling myself, if i only had had the money to buy it i would. Then 1½ year ago i was in a bigger pet-store and they had a lot of parrots and i actually managed to make one of them talk.
After that episode i kept thinking about getting a parrot, so in january 2008 i contacted a well known breeder in Denmark and talked to them about what i looked for in a parrot. After a lot of thinking and research i ended up deciding which kind of amazone it should be so they reservated one for me for the coming season.
In may he hatched, and the picture of that little, pink, ugly thing that just got out of the egg made me love that parrot. He’s like a family member now. Everyone loves him and he’s truly mommy’s boy He’s a spoiled little thing but without getting too much. We do whatever we can to make him happy¨. Give him attention, talks to him, train him and play with him.

He’s my little “baby”

please do not send any more e-mails to this address!

i got my first bird at the age of seven it was a budgie

im now 13 and have a green cheek conure
hes great and a bit of a spsycho path i socialised him with everyone in the family but he still atacks them if i go to them with him on my hand or sholder

i got him to control his nipping and bitting and i can now ask him to bite as i would as to wave and its great against teddy bears and my brother lol

but i have no jobs related to birds i work at wool worths lol

I am hopeing to run a bird breeding business wen i finish school (which is soon yay) I just bought a pair of green cheeked conures that im hopeing to breed mayb this season but probably next, I hope that I can run my own breeding business wen im older ad my sourse of income coz its so much fun raising baby birds Breeding birds is just a hobby but keeping birds is something ive done since i was little, ive had birds as long as i can remember and do so because i love having them as many ppl do
I got my frist bird wen i was about actually i cant remember around 7 to 10 years old. So i started off with my first bird (a blue budgie called Bell) and now have and aviary full of cockatiels, 2 budgies and quails. I also had (rip) an inside bird hu resently passed away who was replaced with the conures, so wen i breed them i can again have a hand tamed bird inside to cuddle and love… thats my story hope u enjoyed

wow! I know us bird people are a special breed, no doubt! I don’t belong to any bird clubs or rehab/rescue organizations but I can honestly say that I am considered the “bird lady” and anytime someone where I live or work finds a bird in distress I’m the one they come to immediately. I even have a wild dove that has decided he’d rather hang out with me in my studio with my other birds than join up with his counterparts on the outside (yup, was rescued as a baby that fell from a nest that was unknown and as such was given to me. I took him home and hand fed him for about two weeks before he was on his own).
I don’t have any bird related businesses but love taking my Kiki out and about to teach people about how wonderous these incredible animals are.
My birds are my family, non are caged (unless absolutely necessary) and somehow we all get along in my ‘cave’.
I got my first bird when I was a waitress in an open air restaurant. It flew in and my customer reached out his finger and the bird came right to him. I immediately took the bird and claimed it as mine. It was a beautiful Cinamon cockatiel. Come to find out that it was barely 6 mos (estimating) and was out for a few days and hungry as heck. Obviously it’s owners didn’t clip the wings and the poor thing probably got spooked, took off and had no idea how to get back.
Well, as it turned out she died 6 mos later and I was devistated. The autopsy determined that she had an irregular heart and would not have lived no matter how good I was to her. My co workers hated seeing me mope around an bought me another baby cockatiel to help me get over the loss, oh well, that was that….led to me getting another one to keep him company and then a third for my ‘parents’ anniversary gift….
Time passed and I got bold and came across a Senegal in the pet shop, he was so cute and had such personality I couldn’t resist. Took him home. All was good for 2+ years and one day I came home and found him bloody and my most precious cockatiel bloody and dead. I hated him. Eventually I came across another baby ‘tiel thinking this would help. well, in the meantime I had been given two older ‘tiels’ to once again help me get over the loss. (That was back in 1999 and I still, to this day, miss that little guy). Anyway, after getting another one and the two I had adopted one of the old guys died and the one remaining went after my baby. Low and behold the manufacturing plant began.

All by accident. Since then I’ve had countless babies and given them away to good homes. Currently I have 9 cockatiels (and one baby) one Parakeet, that wild Dove and somewhere along the line about 8.5 years ago I got an African Grey.
I must say she (my Grey) is simply AMAZING!!! She comes out with me every weekend and meets anyone who wishes to meet her, and she’s NOT camera shy by any means. We are going to be in an upcoming Celebrity Pet Fashion Show for the second year this coming weekend. She’s not shy, animals, people, noise, what ever, nothing really freaks her out and she really is my baby.
I love my tiels, they all greet me in the morning, Kiki (the Grey) greets me daily when i get home from work and at times sleeps under my bed (another long story) but all in all I’d say that birds of a feather…..well you know…..
I can not imagine life without these amazing little lights that God has blessed me with!

Hi, I live in South Africa, I do not belong to any bird rescue group, but our Vet in town, a small town in South Africa called “Heidelberg” has a shelter for injured birds. I have one African Grey, he is not just my pet, but a part of my family. He is just over a year old, and talks amazingly. I have had some serious screaming, and very nervous behavioural problems with him, but by reading your emails and following your advise, I have solved most of these. “General” still somedays act very nervous, will refuse to climb onto my hand or shoulder, and wil scream when anybody comes near him, but the episodes are getting less since I have moved him from my bedroom into a seperate room where my house maid are not allowed. He seems to dislike her to such a decree that he is a nerves wreck when I come home and she has been near his cage. Thanks for all the tips and usefull information, both on your website and regular emails.

i’m form brisbane and i got my first bird for my 12th birthday and have had him for two years he is a Indian Ringneck he is a sky blue x silver and is gorgeous. i didn’t know what i was getting into when i first got him so when he went through bluffing i wasnt sure if he was the right bird for me.
his name is E.J. i’m not really involved in any groups or anything but he is more than just a pet he is one of the family. i only own one bird (for now) and he just walks round the house and plays with the dog and if not doing that hanging out with his wild bird friends so he fits in well and wouldn’t get rid of him for any reason. E.J knows how to tolerate different people just not men he prefers women more

My first bird was a budgie that I got for my birthday when I was 7, I spent all day with him on my shoulder but unfortunately our dog who was an Alaskan malamute let it out of its cage and he flew away. After that I had a few more budgies but luck didn’t seem to be on my side so I gave up with budgies for a while. My mum knew I wanted a bird so she bought Max a pink and grey Galah he was one of the best birds he was mine and my mums and he fitted in great with all our animals, he would walk around showing the 3 dogs who was boss and the goats left him alone they didn’t wont to be bitten, we had him for 10 years but then when we moved he got sick and died. After that we started getting lots of birds being only 15 my mum has to approve all my pets if it was up to me I have lots more, at the moment I have my budgie who is one of the best birds he has never bitten me, I have 2 cockatiels that bite one I found and the other we have for a friend, I have a pair of red rump parrots, 8 aviary budgies, a lovebird that I hand raised from 3 weeks old along with another one that my mum raised and my Sulfur Crested Cockatoo who is the most gorgeous thing I got him for my 14th birthday he is now 2 years old he loves sitting with me he attacks anyone who comes near me while he is there. We also have birds that belong to everyone these are a Quaker parrot, another 2 tame budgies, 2 sun conures and a green cheek conure, another pink and grey Galah. On top of that we have 2 cats that aren’t even bothered with the birds anymore, I have a mouse and I have 5 dwarf and mini lop rabbits. We have a wild rabbit that we are hand raising, a turtle and a snake. I love all the animals and we are forever playing with animals and having the birds fly around the house. All our animals are a big part of the family and I could not imagine living without all of them. All of our birds have impacted my life in a huge way, especially my cockatoo I love watching them in the wild and I have a really close bond with him, I also have a bird harness that he lets me put on him but I am too scared to take him outside because when I got him at 14 weeks for my birthday, I had to go down to my nanas a few days later and the owner had said his wings were cut and I could take him outside so at my nanas I took him out on the deck and he was sitting on my lap then suddenly he flew up to the telegraph poll I was so upset I tried to call him down but he didn’t no how to get down so he flew to the tree and sat there all day the whole street was trying to get him down, then that night there was a thunder storm and he had flown to the top of a huge tree you could hardly see him all I could hear all night was him squawking the next day I stayed outside with food and he was even higher now so he couldn’t get down suddenly he flew and just kept flying I followed him and he stopped and flew back then he landed in a smaller tree and I went to the base and held my hand out and walked down and climbed on my arm. We have the best friendship and I absolutely adore him he says my name and what are you doing, how are you, hello, goodnight, I love you, mum, shut up from all the times my family have told him to be quiet. My friends have all told me that they refuse to live in the same house as me when we are older because i love birds too much.

we just own a green wing her name is J J and she is a year old she is the greatest in the world very very loving and is getting smarter every day i just would lov her to talk more but i guess she still is young, she say about 5 words so far and if u know of any rescue groups in our area Klamath Falls, oregon pleae let us know thanks so much 4 all your guys help PEACE

oI have always had animals of every kind. I usually got them from people who know that I love them and rescue any and all that I can. Not just bird’s but all. I think the first one was when I was seven. It has just been that way all my life. I even raised a litter of skunks. They were supposed to be protected and the human society, the forestry service all the groups I could think of to call, were going to put them to sleep. I raised them and found them homes. Kept my skenkums until She decided to find a mate. Sorry to see her go but glad that she could make it in the wild.
My first birds were cocktail’s. A woman from church brought them to me. They were about a week old. She couldn’t keep up with the feeding so I took them in. Then a miniature MacCaw who must have been wild, I tamed him/her to my hand but he would bite my children so had to give him up. I then purchased myfirst bird a coniur, her color was mostly green and blue. I had her for years and my daughter then grown wanted her and she loved my granddaughters red hair. So I let her go where she wanted.
I had a dog for the next 5 years a Jack Russel who despite everything I could do would run out of the house as soon as he thought I couldn’t catch him, we also had another cocktail. My husband took my cocktail out on the porch and she flew. We were unable to find her. Later my dog ran out in the street and was hit by a car. I then purchased my first Senegal parrot and we are great buddies. She is 7 now and when out rules the house. We have at this time 2 sun coniurs, 2 Senegal’s, 1 green cheek, 1 double yellow headed Amazon who talks non stop. Sammy is so much fun. He calls the dogs and whistles for them. I have never had a bird with such a large vocabulary. He does it by himself. Then we have our blue and Gold MaCaw Delta. Our children are grown so we have our birds and our dogs. Sammy and Delta have the run of the house at certain times. Sammy loves to sit on the back of my chair and watch TV. I am trying to get him to sing. Delta lays on her side on my husbands shoulder and get scratches. They will both lay on their back’s on our chests and we “preen” their stomachs. They in turn preen our hair. Rather Sammy does. When Delta does she takes a mouthful and pull’s. Our in door dogs get along just fine with all of our birds. They live side by side with no problems. Delta might chase one of the smaller dogs for fun but there are no problems. They chase each other. We have 5 small dogs and 5 large ones as we live in the country. We also have a retired TB horse who thinks he is a dog. He loves to visit our dogs in their large pen. Usually Wind Chaser will follow us just like a dog with a few love nudges once in a while. It does take effort to get him out of the dog pen though.
Our animals and our bird’s are all ours, some are rescued some purchased. They are our family. They are well behaved and a privilege to know and love. We do have rules and discipline and rewards for the dogs. Our birds are trained and all will come to me. Some will come to my husband. I usually feed them so I believe that is why they all will come to me. Delta has bonded to Tim and partially bonded to me. I am careful not to let Delta get to attached to me. Sammy is all mine. Tim is working on Sammy to try to socialize with him. Kiwi my first Senegal will go to either of us, Herby use to be Tim’s but now comes to me as do all the other smaller parrots. We are working with our little green cheek and I would love to have her trained so we could give her to my sister. We have a very large play stand and we have all sizes of cages.

That is my story. Thank you for your interest.

I have always had animals of every kind. I usually got them from people who know that I love them and rescue any and all that I can. Not just bird’s but all. I think the first one was when I was seven. It has just been that way all my life. I even raised a litter of skunks. They were supposed to be protected and the human society, the forestry service all the groups I could think of to call, were going to put them to sleep. I raised them and found them homes. Kept my skenkums until She decided to find a mate. Sorry to see her go but glad that she could make it in the wild.
My first birds were cocktail’s. A woman from church brought them to me. They were about a week old. She couldn’t keep up with the feeding so I took them in. Then a miniature MacCaw who must have been wild, I tamed him/her to my hand but he would bite my children so had to give him up. I then purchased myfirst bird a coniur, her color was mostly green and blue. I had her for years and my daughter then grown wanted her and she loved my granddaughters red hair. So I let her go where she wanted.
I had a dog for the next 5 years a Jack Russel who despite everything I could do would run out of the house as soon as he thought I couldn’t catch him, we also had another cocktail. My husband took my cocktail out on the porch and she flew. We were unable to find her. Later my dog ran out in the street and was hit by a car. I then purchased my first Senegal parrot and we are great buddies. She is 7 now and when out rules the house. We have at this time 2 sun coniurs, 2 Senegal’s, 1 green cheek, 1 double yellow headed Amazon who talks non stop. Sammy is so much fun. He calls the dogs and whistles for them. I have never had a bird with such a large vocabulary. He does it by himself. Then we have our blue and Gold MaCaw Delta. Our children are grown so we have our birds and our dogs. Sammy and Delta have the run of the house at certain times. Sammy loves to sit on the back of my chair and watch TV. I am trying to get him to sing. Delta lays on her side on my husbands shoulder and get scratches. They will both lay on their back’s on our chests and we “preen” their stomachs. They in turn preen our hair. Rather Sammy does. When Delta does she takes a mouthful and pull’s. Our in door dogs get along just fine with all of our birds. They live side by side with no problems. Delta might chase one of the smaller dogs for fun but there are no problems. They chase each other. We have 5 small dogs and 5 large ones as we live in the country. We also have a retired TB horse who thinks he is a dog. He loves to visit our dogs in their large pen. Usually Wind Chaser will follow us just like a dog with a few love nudges once in a while. It does take effort to get him out of the dog pen though.
Our animals and our bird’s are all ours, some are rescued some purchased. They are our family. They are well behaved and a privilege to know and love. We do have rules and discipline and rewards for the dogs. Our birds are trained and all will come to me. Some will come to my husband. I usually feed them so I believe that is why they all will come to me. Delta has bonded to Tim and partially bonded to me. I am careful not to let Delta get to attached to me. Sammy is all mine. Tim is working on Sammy to try to socialize with him. Kiwi my first Senegal will go to either of us, Herby use to be Tim’s but now comes to me as do all the other smaller parrots. We are working with our little green cheek and I would love to have her trained so we could give her to my sister. We have a very large play stand and we have all sizes of cages.

That is my story. Thank you for your interest.

Hi Chet,

I’ve always have parrots as far as I live from very childhood. I adore them and my family never had anything against them. Now, I have cockatiel pair (10 and 9 years old) which is very bond to each other. They have laid many eggs and although they have hatched 3 birds several years ago. (Which my friends have adopted and they are leading good life with them). My cockatiels are tamed from very childhood, except my grey tymneh African parrot “Kuziko”. I bought her (him), (I don’t know the gender of my dear Kuziko and here I can not test the gender) 4 years ago in Tbilisi (Georgia) were I live. I doubt that such big birds are brought here illegally. The reason why I did this is that unfortunately, in my country there are no special clubs for bird pet keepers and here is no qualified vet service either (the situation with dogs and cats is OK). I think that people just love them but have lack of information how to treat with them. I was very sorry for the wild parrot that was sitting frightened and angry and having only sunflower seeds for food. My daughter and I decided to buy it and by doing this help poor creature to avoid farther troubles. By big help from your web site and others I learnt a lot how to teach and how to look after her (him) a lot, for this I’d like to thank you so much (Even though I couldn’t buy your special teaching program). Right now I believe that Kazak is quite happy. When we got her (him) it was about 2-3 years old and knew absolutely nothing. I think she (he) wasn’t allowed even out of cage. With us she (he) has her special diet, we let her out of cage when I come back from work, she (he) started talking and whistling and so on. But still I feel that inside she (he) is a little melancholic creature. Maybe it is because of her (his) previous life.

Now regarding your questions.
1. No, I don’t belong to any of them because here in Georgia no institution like this is exists.
2. No, because of the same reason, but I’d like to find such club probably some day, because here are many bird lowers and keepers here.
3. No I don’t run such business. Maybe some day I would run. I’d love to.
4. Keeping birds is not a simple hobby; it is something more than this. I can not imagine my life without parrots.
5. They impact not only my life but they are important for all my small family members (my husband and my daughter), she was the one who insisted to buy and help poor Kuziko.

Best regards,
Tamuna
03.Sept.08

A few years ago, I witnessed a tawny owl being run over by a car late at night. My daughters friend had taken up taxidermy so I picked up the body and laid it on the front seat of my car and continued the drive home (about 20 miles) Five miles from home, the unconscious owl came round, not dead at all! Driving a car with a owl flapping round is not advisable so I pulled over until she settled and rang my husband to be ready to receive the casualty. He was there with thick gloves and a big basket to put her in so that we could assess her injuries in the morning. She climbed out to the rim the next day and looked like a bird with a big headache. She let me handle and feel round her bones and joints for breakages, there were none. I offered her some raw meat which she took so I rushed 30 miles to get hold of some day old chicks so that she could have a proper diet. To this day, people put dead mice from their traps through my door ready for any other owls that pass through. She was with us for 3 weeks before fit enough to go back to her territory. Since then, we have had more owls, a kestrel, a fulmar (a small variety of albatross) for five months, various other large gulls, two swifts and we currently have a magpie and a pigeon. Four years ago, my husband bought me an African Grey parrot that appeared to be very fond of me in a pet shop. All the other birds end up going back to the wild, once they have healed and become strong but my grey is always with us. He is part of the family and travels very well when we visit distant relations. He is currently explaining what is going on in the garden to the magpie, who will probably be a permanent resident as her beak is deformed. We would not be without him, he is a good friend and fairly tolerant of the other birds who pass through this household

We have a Amazona autumnalis( Hope i write this good in English:) )
I live in the Netherlands
he/she is born 10-07-07 and we got him 18 sept /2007
he is a clown ha ha he can speak his own name and say come one and hello and he can laugh as the best with my son
we gave him porrigdge 3 tims a day and seeds and bix when we just got him
I got a real bond with him this way and he likes to twirl
we have a grey parrot from 3 years with him now for 3 months he/she is 3 years and is a great talker he picked his feathers out by the other owners because they divorsed but now he is here with us he is a great bird ok he need to get our trust but he go on my hand when i asked him and go back when i want that
i wonder the e mail from you that they are not alowed to be in 1 cage
but i have my cage open from the moment i come downstairs till 9 at the evening at 8 i take them both to twirl with me and when i put them back i close the cage it goes great with them both
and in day time they get attention from me each appart
ok i am home all day mayby that is differend than put 2 birds in a cage for hole day
so i can say they are more than a pet
we have 3 dogs also the big dog is a handy mate to clim up or go to sit on here back the little ones we have to handel good in the begin so they like the parrats to now
the grey one is calling 1 of the little dogs all day
hope you like this mail

I had always wanted a talking bird, so when I retired and moved to a mountain village in Italy, I had mentally given up this dream, when, to my surprise and delight, I found an African Gray in the local pet store. Geppo had been returned by some people who bought him, and ignored him, he had pulled out all of the feathers he could reach, and still I thought he was adorable. I would go and visit him at the pet store, and after awhile he would wait for me to come, looking down the street where I would walk. One day he was on top of his cage outside, and I pointed to a spot on the cage near me and I said “Geppo, Come” and he came! I moved all around the cage and did the same thing, and each time he responded to my command. If I wasn’t in love before, I was now. It wasn’t long before geppo was in a car on the way to my house where he has lived ever since.
He is an absolute joy. All of the neighbors call up to him on my balcony, and everyone knows his name, so his time on the balcony is spent whistling and calling to his friends below.

He is so smart he amazes me. He has learned to exactly duplicate the sound of my alarm clock, so when he thinks it is time to get up, he will sound off, and if that doesn’t work, he will ring his bell. He identifies my two cats not by their names, but by their meows, so I never know if one of the cats is meowing, or if it is Geppo. He has also learned to call me by my name, which I find charming.

I do not think that I would ever breed Geppo. As many on the blog have said, I would want to keep them all. I do not at this time belong to any animal rescue agencies, however I informally take care of the stray animals here in the village, and have recently adopted from this number a male white cat who is deaf. Neve (snow) in Italian, has blended into my family in the same way as Geppo. I think animals who have no homes, will go to the homes that they sense have the most love to give.

My bird was my best mate and the trust we had together was unbelievable. In winter time she would fly into my bedroom and sleep under my chin and moved as I turned to stay under my chin.
Her cage was for eating and if she wanted her own space. When visiting the library, she would wait for me outside under the gutter, and land on my shoulder when I returned.
She loved rides in the car and waited for me in the car if I could not take her inside the shops as some shops did not allow her in for health reasons.
She talked and was completely toilet trained. She was obedient at all times, except if I were to go out. She then used to hide until I was outside and then I could hear her and feel her on my back.
People say I have an affinity with birds. I read it was a good idea for safety reasons to clip her wings. However when I did clip her, she could not fly away from a snake who ate her in her cage.
She was a yellow breasted lorikeet and I had her since she was a baby. I still miss her. I also have a cockatiel named Aura.
I love to be involved in rescue work but alas have no spare time left as I already do a lot of voluntary work. I love Chet’s tapes.

Dear Chet, In response to your request. I am now 68 (born 1940 with cerebral palsy but made my mark from 1975 – 2000 as a performer with miniature trick dogs on stage, circus & TV.) I also included a Sulphur Crest Cockatoo in my show. 2006 I boaght a Blue Quaker I named Elvis. He is an exellant bird, very loving & talks well (WHEN HE WANTS TO.) But when I got him I cut his wing so I could train him. BUT instead of allowing it to grow out & eventually letting him fly (for excersise inside) I NEVER AND NOW he has kidney trouble I am told – because his droppings are white & watery always! “Is this normal for a bird suffering kidney problems & will it improve if he can fly?” How can I cope with watery poop all over my home? How can I make him speak when I WANT HIM TO? Sincerely, Len.
From Exeter (near Pt.Adelaide South Australia.) “Good onya Mate!”

I am not a bird person – or I wasn’t! We took on our first African Grey in 1988 when friends produced three children AFTER getting Monty and from then on the children were THE ENEMY…. It became too dangerous to let Monty out and we were offered the opportunity to buy her. She immediately bonded with my husband but I became THE ENEMY even though I was the one always giving treats. She was a wonderful talker, and would even talk and call to me if I was alone in the house, especially if out of view, but would bite me if given any opportunity. My husband was the only person able to handle her. She entertained us for 22 years and her sudden death, at the vets, was devastating – we both grieved but after 18 months ‘without’ decided we would buy a hand-reared chick – ostensibly so we might get a bird who would like us both. We waited 4 months for our ‘turn’ to buy a ‘baby grey’ at huge cost! We had requested a cock bird but when suddenly offered a chick because the buyer ahead of us was going on holiday, we jumped at the chance. The owner said they ‘thought’ it was a cock bird…..of course, it was another ‘girl’ AND she bonded immediately WITH ME! Anyway, without 24 hours Fifi had bonded TO ME….I’m still in shock

well i got my first bird about a year and a half ago . Hes pnly a cockatiel but hes a really great pet and became part of the family very quickly .I was in the pet shop when a lady came in with a cockatiel and asked if they could take him in because her mum Whos bird it was had died a few weeks ago .The pet shop kept him for a few weeks to make sure he was ok and then i adopted him .he was nervous at first and it ook a long time to train him but now hes absolutely fine

#1.Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?

A. no

#2.Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?

A. No
#3.Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?

A. no but yes i would

#4.Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?

A. No I have a ducorps cockatoo and she is part of my family I love her she is one of my baby’s

#5.How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?

A. Well I bought her at a pet store i hade went in to buy something smaller but when i saw her she was pretty and she was screeming at me try to get my attention and the owner of the store said I would’nt want her because she bite and i told him that i wanted her so I took her and she’s is one of the things i wake up in the morning’s for. oh and I only have her but want more alot more i love birds!!!

#6.How have your birds impacted your life?

A. I love birds and i am so happy now that i have one and she fits my life just as i fit her’s and I wish to have much more maybe 4 i really would love a Blue and gold macaw.

Hi there,
I’m a Bird Lover since I can remember. My first bird a little budjie when I was in 2nd grade. When I was 10, I picked up a baby Mouse-bird that was kicked out of his nest because he was sick. We gave him an enema and I hand-fed him, he was the tamest bird I ever saw. Would come when you call, never clipped his wings. After that I had lovebirds and later a cocketiel. Live in NZ now and a friend brought me a baby Song-Thrust that her cat had got to. Hand-fed him and later set him three, he found a mate and vissited a couple of times. I also hand-fed a Pukeko (Swamp Hen), We specially built him a big Avery for him when I found out that he was blind, and when he couldn’t handle life anymore had to put him down (one of the hardest things to do). Now I have a Ringneck Parrot, who really gave me a hard time. He was very young when I got him and however the breeder told me that he was okay on his own he was not, didn’t ate a thing. So I went to talk to a guy at the Parrot Place and show him my baby. I started feeding him baby-food then. After a couple of months he suddenly became wild and was really scared of me, as if he was abused. That’s when I got Chet’s Training DVD’s. It took me a couple of months to start winning my birds affection, and thats where I am up to now. I think if I new how difficult this little one would be, I would rather have settled for something smaller. Maybe another Lovebird. My Ringneck is now 13 months old and talk heaps, since yesterday he lets me touch his head now and then. He is part of the family now and he also walks around and climb onto my husband and teenagers.

I’m sorry, I pressed the wrong button!! Fifi is now 2 years and four months old – very intelligent and playful but obssessively loving to me – more than I need! She will fly anywhere in the house to find me, perch on my head and swing around on my hair – thank goodness she no longer catches my eyes and nose with her beak. She tolerates my husband, will perch on his shoulder and has stopped biting his ears! She allows both of us to pet her and she particularly likes ‘rough love’ from me – rolling her around in my hands. She whistles and makes kissing and other noises and can obviously imitate because she whistles ‘half a pound of tuppeny rice’ and ‘happy birthday to you’ and the Greenwich time signal ‘pips’ from the radio BUT SHE WILL NOT ATTEMPT ANY WORDS!! I bought the Bird Tricks talking course and play the CDs but no response – maybe she will only ever whistle. Of course we try not to compare her to Monty but it is inevitable, especially on the talking front. Monty just talked and laughed, without any help and picked up any word she fancied. The more of Chet’s messages I read, the more we realise we have spoiled Fifi – I accept that we are the problem but we just don’t like to restrict her seed food and she just drops Zupreem pellets into her water where they swell up like sponges. After months of getting her used to the harness, I decided one calm day to do it up and take her outside!! She completely freaked out, didn’t notice she was outside, just struggled and struggled to bite the harness on her chest. Since then won’t go anywhere near it and I’ve given up. She did escape for 30 hours and it was a miracle that about a mile away she landed on another woman’s head, who luckily knew what she was and didn’t panic. We were so lucky! We have taken to giving her more sleep, after another of Chet’s messages, and that has worked wonders – she is much calmer. One special thing – we have a 10 year-old cat – very laid back. Fifi is fearless – she lands right in front of him. We are watchful but Freddie is always the first one to leave! Keep up the good work, we’re improving although all we learn is how many mistakes WE make! Love the site, love the messages – thank you for everything. Christine

I live in Oakdale Minnesota and have two birds, a parrot who is a black headed caique named buddy and a yellow and gray cocketiel named molly, and a choclate Lab named annie. My wife bought molly from the local pet shop about six years ago and my son rick and her have been good friends ever since. Then on my 50th birthday they suprised me with a three month old black headed caique, he was full of energy, buddy and my wife would play together all the time then one day he bit her on the hand and she became a little leary of him. well for some reason he’s crazy about me now and we have been good friends for about the past five years. he talks and whistles all the time, I guess what I am trying to say is birds are really great companions.

i have only three birds left after once having nearly 50 at one time. i’m 61 so i don’t want to make further commitments by acquiring more parrots and just dying on them, you dig? i am a parrot body guard there to protect a very fine eclectus male name of vivaldi and of course his lady companion. we go into the woods every week to see wild cockatiels in manoa valley, oahu. vivaldi calls, and they respond sometimes. wild cockatiels are spectacular. these were escaped parrot-show parrots who have colonized the arboretum. my cockatiel and budgie are very much humans and they are my home life companions. i could never make them tamer with a regimen of training. whatever they pick up is fine.
happy parrot!
vaughn

hey, i`m still only young at 16 yrs of age but for as long as i remember i have always had a huge fascination for birds starting from around the age of 7 or 8 when i got my very first budgie which became like my best friend..it was the whole family`s pet but i solely looked after it and trained it i loved it that much. Since then, i`ve had two cocketeils, which i trained from a young age to stay sitting on my shoulder when i walked outside, my second one ‘Mikey’ i even used to place in one of the tall trees outside in the garden and he`d sit on the branch and eat leaves..he`d stay close to me though as he knew he wasnt allowed to go too far away, and they learnt different whistles and tunes as well, sadly though during training my first cocketeil ‘angel’ escaped coz i was outside starting to train her to stay on me while im outside, i was only a few days into the training and some kookaburras were laughing continuosly and she must of got scared and flew away, and ‘mikey’ noone knows exactly wat was wrong with him just one day he was on the cage floor and not moving the next morning he was dead. it took months to get over losing them, especially mikey as he was a very special bird.
At the moment, we have a family pet cockatoo called ‘Rocky’ who we took in as his previous owner didnt want him anymore. He`s very talented and he;
Sings, Dances, mimicks and copies sounds and words, you can literally have conversations with him sometimes..its so kewl!! and strangely enough, he barks-ALOT! coz we have a dog who barks everytime we have a visitor so now everytime a car pulls up, u guessed it-he barks!

well i dnt realli know what else to say except i am atill really into birds and the training of them, particulairly parrots and green and gold macaws are my absolute fave and would love to own one, one day:)

Our bird Ozzie is defibately a intregral part of our lives and he is more than a pet for sure, we we’re given Oz and his mate Sadie about ten years ago by a neigbor who could not care for them anymore. Sadie passed away about 6months ago she had an egg caught we tried everyhing to help her but it infected her insides the Vet said there was nothing we could have done more, she passed in my hbusbands hands we were devasted but Oz is still here and seems fine, He seems more sociable and adores my husband he calls hin “JHi Guy”. It seems my husband and I are always aring for hurt or distressed animals we have raised baby squirrels, abandoned kittens, and just recently we were given two baby geese and a duck. We do not belong to any bird clubs or other organizations. I do make toys for Oz out of whatever his new favorite toy is a leather string I tie nuts to with knots and he has a good time undoing them one by one.
He is a member of our family and we love him very much.

To your first 4 questions, i have to say “no!”
I have a quaker, i bought him more than 4 years ago in a bird shop.
He actually picked me! He just came flying to my shoulder & tickled me on my neck! It was love at first “bite!”
He’s much more than a pet! He totally belongs to the family & we couldn’t imagine life without him anymore!
Funny that i say that, b/c my husband never wanted a bird, but you should see those two together now!!! They’re one heart & one soul!
“Jivu” is a great talker & extremely affectionate. Loves to cuddle & be petted like a dog! He outrightly “demands” it! We always say now: “Jivu’s the main person here!” He rules the roost!
We just love him so much & really hope he’ll outlive us, b/c we couldn’t bear to lose him!
I could actually write a book about him, since he’s been in so many adventures in the 4 short years of his life!
It’s unconditional love for sure!
Irene X

hey Chet!
we got our grey strictly for a pet, but now I am considering breeding her…. what a treat. we love her so much. She is only 14 weeks, and the kids hold her, but cannot pet her, she is not so hip on my husband, but will let him hold her.

I have 2 parrots- a blue fronted pionus, and the grey. I had to get the grey from a breeder in arkansas because trying to adopt a bird is like pulling your dead grandmothers teeth out. what a pain.

this bird is amazing- talking(5 words) already, and I’m sure more coming soon. thanks to your tapes and videos, we have made a ton of progress with the clicker and continue to train 2x/day.

I am, however, worried, because when I go out of town for 2 weeks, is the bird going to freak out? II have heard they get mad and are never quite the same when you get home. I know it’s a lot to ask the house sitter to handle her every day. she can feed her, but is not really a bird person.

I do not belong to any rescue groups, but would love to start one, as there are none in the state as far as I can tell.
be well.

Answers to questions you have.

1. NO
2. Yes, South Jersey Bird Club
3. No, and yes.
4. A little more than a casual hobby, some people think I’m nuts. I love my birds and they love me.
5. I purchased my first African Grey Parrot from a breeder. I now have two AG’s one of which is 45 yrs. old, one Max.Pionus, and then there is Albert, he’s a 17 year old B&G Macaw who was given to me by my cousin who got him from a friend of a friend.
6. There is so much to know and learn about them that it can become a full time job. It’s very interesting and if you apply what you learn properly it’s very rewarding.

Joe in South NJ

Ive just bought a four year old african grey parrot, who for four years had bonded with a male and as he said did not like his girlfriend, i want him to bond with me as ive dreamt of owning a african grey for many years and now i have one. Im taking steps very slowly with him, hes taken fruit and treats from me but will not interact with me in any other way. ive only owned him for a short time but already i love him so much. I want him to feel safe and secure around me, i talk to him all the time but with no response but when i leave the room he starts talking. Could someone give me some advice as i dont want my bird to miss out on what we could become together, it would be much appreciated.

I got my Sun Conure because I decided I didn’t want to have any more kids. As far as I’m concerned Kiki is my youngest baby girl, she even calls my older girls her sisters. My dogs and cats are wonderful, but Kiki has a very special place in my heart. She makes me laugh so hard, and I just adore her antics and her sweet nature, even though, like all kids, she has a bit of a tendency to talk back. She even picked up “Whatever” from my teenager!

When I was younger my dad biult my brother a huge bird cage the size of room in the garden and my brother had loads of birds but sinse he was busy I used to take care of his birds but I thought of it as more of a chore. But once I saw my cousin’s Budgie and I just fell in love! I managed to get a handfed Budgie saffy and she never bit or screamed she was perfect (I tought her how to eat) but for no reason she died leter on so I decided to try again but I coundnt find a hand fed bird so I settled for a rare yellow baby budgie. Tweety bites when he is annoyed but I just call him “a bird with attitude”. I only have one bird but I want to get more later on. I really want to open a petshop where I can hand feed all the birds and I want to join bird clubs’

I love my bird tweety is like my Tiny brother, my sister pretends that he speaks to her!

Thanks for all your information!

Charlie is my Meyers Parrot. A neighbor up the street found him one day in his back yard. They kept him for two years and then gave him away. My friend took the parrot for me and he has really become my baby. I’ve never had a parrot before and never been around them. I had no idea that they bonded with you so close and anyone else who enters the house, he will attack.
When I’m at home all day on weekends, he is out of the cage and has full run of the house. He will play, chew on cardboard or wood I have for him and come to sit on my lap now and then. But let me leave the room and he has to be where I am. He will fly to me or walk down the hall to where I am. He always wants to be in the same room where I am. He loves cookies, popcorn, popcicles and will snatch it from you if you don’t give him a small piece of it. Since I’ve gotten him, he has learned to say more things. the only thing he said when I got him was “Hi Max”. He now says, “Hi Max”, “Hi Charlie”, “Come on”, “Rugrat”, “Quit”, “Come on Charlie”, “Hello”, “Momma”, wolf whistles. He knows when the phone rings, you say Hello so every time the phone rings or he hears me pick up the phone to call out, he will say “hello”. When I open the microwave, he sounds like the buttons being pushed. When I pour coffee, he makes the sound of liquid being poured. He loves his bath water and will stand on the side of his bath bowl when he wants water in it. When I tell him it is time to go nite nite, he makes the kissing noise at me and he is ready for bed. For the most part, I’ve been able to keep him from chewing the furniture by having cardboard boxes and some wood around the house for him to chew on. When he goes to chew on something he shouldn’t, I tell him no and make a noise that he knows what I mean and he will leave it alone. Sometimes he is hard headed and will still go after what he wants, but for the most part he listens and leaves it alone. He’s a character. And he loves to come sit on my shoulder or hand and kiss on me. When he wants me to pet him, he will tip his head down and say “Come on”.
I just don’t know what to do to keep him from biting anyone who comes into the house so when I know I’m going to have company, Charlie has to stay in the cage. I used to keep him out until he attacked my girlfriend and bit her hand.

Chucky is my first parrot. I started out with a female cockateil about 9 years ago, a year later I bought a male cockatiel, and the pair proceeded to have 5 babies. They were all very sweet birds. Last year, I got Chucky, an orange wing Amazon when he was 4 months old. Unfortunately, this year, my job moved to Florida, so I had to give my cockatiels a good home with my friend in Delaware, who had already bought one of the babies. I gave the remaining 4 babies and parents to her instead of selling them because I knew she would love them and take care of them as I would have. Chucky made the move with us to Florida. He definitely is a different personality than the cockatiels, but he is much more than a pet and is a member of the family. It is great to interact with him, and seems to be more in line with dealing with a small child rather than a bird. I think that birds are amazing creatures, extremely smart. I had never thought of myself as a bird person, but after going through the experience of seeing the cockatiel eggs hatch, watch the babies grow at a rapid burst of speed, and then having the experience of training my parrot from the time of him being a little guy, I have a whole new perspective on having a bird as a part of the family and not just a pet.

I actually got my first bird, a U2, from a bird rescue. Shortly after, I began to volunteer there and was adopted by another U2, which I ended up bringing home. I am now the VP of that bird rescue, and love being with them. I like to work with the birds that are deemed unadoptable, and eventually they become adoptable birds.

Five years ago I fell in love with a young sun conure in a bird shop, after he sat on my shoulder and snuggled up under my chin. He was very expensive so I bought him for my husband for Christmas. We didn’t know the sex, so we assumed a male, and named him Albirdo, or maybe Albirda if we were wrong. He was hand reared and I toilet trained him early on. I used to tape his wing with sticky tape and take him outside when I did the gardening, or even did the chores with our 4-wheel bike on our property, and Al would sit up on my shoulder driving along – he loved it. I stopped taking him outside though as we got a dog who was predatory, and now I don’t take the risk of anything happening to Al.

To compensate we bought him a companion, a blue Indian Ringneck, whom we named Petey. Pete is a real talker, unlike Al who just clucks and screeches. Pete had no handling prior to coming to us, and it took him a long time before we could even approach the cage. Now he copies Al, and if Al has it, he wants it, and chatters away happily, saying, “hello darling”, yoohoo, and ‘come on then’.

Our birds are pets and I have no time for further bird commitments as we have quite a few other animals. I am a painter and Al used to sit on my shoulder while I worked, but he was distracting as he used to climb down my arm and grab the end of my brush, which was amusing, but made work difficult.

Al and Petey get out every day, share my shower and fly around the house before their breakfast. They are a continual source of delight and we marvel at their intelligence. They are happy healthy birds, and we are grateful for the joy they give us.

Hi Chet,
First of all I would like to thank you for all of the great info you have provided me with. It has changed my relationship with my bird.
I have a senegel parrot named Mango. He is 10 yrs old and I acquired him at a pet store. I was originally looking to get an african grey but when I passed Mango’s cage and saw him cuddling with a love bird, well, he stole my heart. As I walked around the store he came out of his cage and hopped on my shoulder…it was a match made in heaven. I heard that a couple had had Mango for 1 yr. and then returned him. I assume they didn’t have the patience and time to spend with him.

Hi Chet and Dave,

My 31/2 yr old African Grey”Smokey” was a gift, which I chose. I did everything for him/her taught “step up”, would take it out to play and just be around, then it started biting me and did a complete turn around and would only let my husband handle him/her. I have had enough bad bites to put me off ever trying again as I am now scared to put my hand anywhere near my parrot – what can you suggest.

I got my first bird in Feb of this year. He is a 2 1/2 yo Blue and Gold named Mango. He instantly bonded to me and I have been working really hard with him to accept other people. He know really enjoys my 8yo son and I take him to work occasionally and he will step up on just about anyone. He really loves to give kisses and he will even give my golden retriever Chloe kisses. I have a menagarie of animals in my house and Mango rules over just about all of them, oddly enough it’s the smallest one he has a problem with. Mango is allowed to get out of his cage anytime and he runs all over the house chasing my other animals except one of my ferrets that will chase him back to his cage.

Mango has been a real joy and we would not trade him for anything. We haven’t really gotten involved in any other organizations yet mainly because with all my animals at home I have enough volunteering on my plate (ha HA). Once we get Mango well adjusted we will start taking him more places and he is well on his way. He is an amazing bird.

When we moved to Texas to our new home we went to the Flea Market to look anything of interest. There were several people selling birds of may breeds. In one large cage where several Cockatiels were housed I walked up to it and said,” Here Kitty Kitty Kitty”. And to my surprise one bird came right to me. My husband and I was in shock. Thats when we bought our first pair. Oh what wonderful friends they became to us. She started laying eggs and sadly enough Ms. Kitty and Leo would walk away from the eggs after sitting on them for 10 days. We bought a brooder to keep the eggs warm. The babies would hatch but only one would live out of the clutch. Tweetie was born with a splayed leg. We took him to a Avian Vet and when he was 10 days old tied his bad leg to his good leg with gauge. By time I had gotten home in 15 min time, he had worked his leg out of her knots and now his splayed leg was twisted backwards and laying over his back, his good leg was now straight backwards. I was so upset. The next day we found the top Avain Vet in Houston and after 1,300.00 $ later the best that could be done for him was getting his good leg back in front of him and his bad leg was now straight back. He could never walk again. I built him a home. Keeping pads on the bottom with towels rolled up and placed around the side, as he would pull himself around with his beak. All his dishes were down low so as he could reach them. I placed bowls in every corner and in the center so no matter where he crawled he could reach food and water. Tweetie lived 4 months and then gave up his battle. My heart was broken. The loss was almost more than I could bare. Ms. Kitty and Leo had another clutch of 4 eggs. This time they stayed with the eggs until one hatched. This baby they raised and took great care with. However, they no longer had interest in the other eggs and stopped sitting on them. Again I took them and put them in the brooder. One hatched. Tiny was a hungry baby and wanted more food than we were suppose to give him. He was doing great, gainning weight the right amount, eating well, but after 20 days he died in my hands. Again another devistating blow. Tubby however the one they did care for is fully grown with such attitude. He doesn’t even know he is a bird. He thinks his home is with us and he shouldn’t have to go into his cage. To our suprise they have laid one egg only. I believe this must be my Tweetie wanting to come back to us. Ms Kitty, after sitting on this egg for 10 days has no interest in it. Leo however, is still trying. So when he comes out of the nest to eat, I take the egg and put it in the brooder to keep it warm, then when he goes back to the nest I put the egg back and he is happy with this plan. So far so good. I can only pray. We now have 5 Cockatiels, which we bought another pair, a Sparrow that we raised from 5 days old, and last Sunday bought a Bronzed Wing Pionus. After taking the Pionus, Pretty Baby, to the Vet and finding out she is healthy as a mule we are now going to buy a male for her from the same people. We have built 2 huge bird cages and bought 4 others. As you can tell we love our birds. They are more than just birds. They are our Children and are loved deeply. I do take baby birds from Wildlife and help them but at home. Our little Sparrow, Little Bit, was brought to us by our neighbor. The flys around the house with the Cockatiels and lives with her friend, Tubby. Little Bit thinks she is a Cockatiel. We could never let her go. All of our Babies are dear to us. I tell everyone if someone ever tells them they would like to find a good home for their birds bring them to me. And if they find a baby that’s fallen out of the nest bring it. If it’s not protected I will keep it. If it is I will take it to Wildlife so it can be with it’s own kind. If I ever did sell any of my babies that person would have to show me that they will love and care for this baby. Or forget it. I will just make more cages. However our plan is building a natural habit in the court yard with the koi pond, so our birds can feel more freedom.

Hello

My birds are strickly pets and I’m not apart of any clubs, societies extra involving birds but I would be interested in joining and I just have a passion for animals and I plan on working some way with then just not sure how. I got my first bird actually by my dad who was given it by my sister who was also given to as a prestent, but I was given it because they knew I loved birds. I was in grade seven when I got my first bird which was a Cockatiel and I still have him, when I first got him he was very nervous and aggressive but because of his small size I was able to gain his confidence I wasn’t so nervous because he is small, but now he is a good, lively bird and he loves my attention. I also have a Alexanderine, Rainbow Lorikeet, Green Cheeked Conure as well as my Cockatiel. My birds have greatly impacted my life in a number of ways such as giving me a responsiblility in terms of cleaning, feeding exetra and they have also helped me realize that I do love animals wheather it be wild or domestic and I find myself wanting to find out more and more about birds. The main way they have impacted me is as a companion. In terms of future aspirations I know I want to work with animals but in terms of birds I’m not really sure what the options are.

Daniel Nugent

Hi,
I had a Nanday Conure when I was in high school and I have always wanted another bird. I am an empty nester now and I decided to look for a rescue African Grey and take them in. I have always been intriguesd with thier intelligence. Unfortunately or fortunately, I was unable to find a bird or was always too late to get the bird. I decided to find a breeder and learn how to raise the bird.
My bird is now 2 months old and will be coming home after 16 weeks and weaned. I want to learn how to best handle and train the bird so I am interested in your program but hesitant to purchase because of I am not sure of the program. I have watched all he videos online and I appreciate the frequent emails. I am going on vacation for the next two weeks and think I will then buy the training videos and start the time so that I can have the bird and videos together while my 90 days of warranty are running. I really appreciate all the tips you are sending and think you may be the best thing for new bird owners. I will keep in touch . Thanks

Hi Folks
In answer to Chet’s questions, I got involved in birds with a pair of cockatiels. Long story but I now have a pair of males who were born in the house, free flighted and are always fun. The keep each other entertained when I travel.

Volunteering: Those 2 got me involved with Feathered Friends Forever.org which is the largest non-profit rescue in the USA. I’ve learned a lot about birds (and people) in the year or so I’ve been there every weekend. IF you have one near you, go help out. If you’re anywhere near Augusta, GA please come visit FFF. Lately we’ve been working with local youth, including those with Community Service hours, and that’s a great program. Sign up for the newsletter on the website and Please sponsor one of the 600 birds on site. Lots of great ADOPTABLE birds there too!

Bird Clubs: No and no

Bird Business: Actually, it turns out that ShowShine is very Bird Friendly and although we haven’t gone into that market, it is worth pursuing. With no silicone or petrochemicals, it’s perfect on acrylic cages, and the anti-static works great for computer monitors, TV’s and other bird dust magnets in the home. showshine@comcast.net if you want info.

Hobby? Not really. My ‘tiels are family members and all those at Feathered Friends who have “adopted” me just want all the time they can get. However, we do take a few of them to local events and I have taken Bailey (umbrella cockatoo) with me on a sales call where she was an instant Star!

First Bird: Former girlfriend adopted 2 cockatiels from FFF, then moved to NC. They had 9 offspring, I kept Scooter and Slick, found good homes for the other 7 and she took her pair back to NC.
Current “Flock” is this pair, plus a LOT at the Rescue…. Cockatoos: BooBoo, Sugar, Casper, Pepe, Baby, Joey, Oscar, Shashi, Bailey, Dakota, WeWe, Max, Peach, Roxy, Cheyenne, to name a few. Macaws: Bob, Sweety, Tango…. Conures: Stumpy, Sunny, Sam…. plus the ones in the aviaries who love to talk, get scratches and treats.

Life impact: Wow… first, being able to “Give Back” by volunteering is something everyone should experience. 2nd – I’ve learned so much about birds and have been able to have a positive effect on them. Finally, there are always lessons about human nature to be learned.
Plus, I get a great workout on weekends, my blood pressure is back to normal and I’ve lost 10lbs!

If you’re looking for a bird or know someone who is, PLEASE ADOPT first. There are too many good birds looking for homes. Most breeders are only looking for profit, not parrot happiness. Visit the Rescue website http://www.featheredfriendsforever.org and please make a donation or sponsor a bird. 100% of all your tax deductible contributions go into the operation of the Rescue – there are NO salaries for anyone – unlike other “charities”

Take care of your flock
Bob

Well i had a boyfriend at this time. I also had a cat cause we loved cats. Then he wanted a bird. We origanlly got the bird for him but he bonded with me. He is a ring-necked parakeet. So when we broke up we decided that the cat bonded with him and the bird bonded with me. So that is the way we divided them up. We had bought (munin) when he was two weeks old and brought him home when he was one month old. Now he is like my only son. He spends most of his time on me. But not lately cause i have been going back to college. He is almost four years old now. I actually have his hatch certifacte up on my wall framed. Really do not want another bird. I love this one with all of my heart, I just can not afford another one and not only that i do not have room for anymore. I have multiple sclerosis, so he is also my companion when i go out walking i take him with me with his harness and leash on so i do not lose him. But he tells me when i need to sit down so i do not fall down. I have trained to not yell and scream when i am inside a building especially when i am at school in the classroom. Sometimes i leave him at home if i really feel good that day which have been this past month i have really felt good. The only thing i would like to know is how do i get him to stop pooping on my clothes and chewing on my clothes. I have plenty of toys for him. Yes they are good for him cause i read up on them first. I have been trying to get him to stop pooping on me but it is just not working for some reason. I have trained him on a few things, but pooping on me is just not working very well.

I walked in to a pet store one day and a 3 month old blue and gold macaw pulled himself up on my arm, I sat there for two hours playing with him, I new nothing about birds but new that I couldnt leave him there, him had a broke wing and would never be able to fly.The first year with him was very hard, he got into everything! he got a bell stuck on his beak,sead stuck in his nose,foot stuck in a toy and hung himself with a rope toy that I got from a pet store(watch what you buy!) I have had him for three and a half years now his name is sky.last year I took in a umbrella cocktoo her owner was moving and had her in the basement she is 4 years old and did not have a name I named her avea. there isn’t any place to volunteer where I live and not to many people have birds I drive an hour to a vet becouse there isnt a vet that takes care of these kind of birds. I know of no bird clubs and love getting e-mails from you.I work in mental health and am able to use my birds to bring joy to their lives.Iam hoping that one day I will run into someone around here that has birds,and can share with me things that I can do to make sure my two little babies are the happiest they can be. the vet says they are very healthy and she enjoys me bringing them in. sky and avea are not just a hobby they have become part of my family and as loud as they may be at times and they can get loud! my friend that lives a mile down the road says she can tell when I have them outside. I am so very glad that I have them.

I have always loved larger parrots, but of course there is a financial and time commitment to be considered when taking the step of purchasing one. Last summer, I brought home Capt. Will Turner, a blue Gold Macaw, which I purchased from a private breeder in Elizabeth, Pa. Several nights a week I would go over to the breeders home to hand feed him after work. This was an incredible opportunity to watch him develop and bond. Will is very verbal and friendly, however as with any macaw, he is bonded with only his family members. He is best with men over women, but that’s who is with him for the most part. I rescued a puppy for my partner the same week I brought Will home last year. It’s amazing how the two ( the macaw and the Pup) have grown up together. They actually have an incredible respect for each other. The dog would never harm Will in any way and they love to play together on the floor. The dog actually trys to perch up on my shoulder and now she’s around 50lbs it’s no easy task. In any case, comparing the care of a parrot to a pup. The parrot is much easier to care for. Before, Will came home, I read several books and doing so has made all the difference in the world. I hear stories from people about bad parrot behavior and just think why would you take on the responsibility of parrot ownership without knowing what your getting into? Will is so well behaved, I couldn’t ask for better. I don’t even cover him at night. Once the lights go out, he never says another word. I get up early in the mornings and it’s still dark, everyone else is still sleeping, adn he actually will whipser hello to me each morning. Oh, and he will tell me he loves me, usually when I’m eating pizza. Then when the dog starts barking, Will screams “Shut up”. Which I think started from his infancy at the breeders. Macaw love is contagious, but I would not want the bond Will has for my partner and I to ever change by introducing another Macaw. I would love to have more parrots, but I would have to know that this would not happen.

1.) No I don’t, just because we don’t know any. I would though.

2.) No I don’t, and I don’t really want to. (Unless 4-H counts…)

3.) Maybe sometime…. . . .

4.) I only have one cockatiel, her name is Rumpleteazer. She is a very good pet and amusing. I love her to death, but wouldn’t get another.

5.) We bought Rumplteazer from a friend’s friend. They own a cockatiel buisness.

6.) She has made my life alot more busy. But it a good way.

I got my Senegal Zhuliah from my sister. My sister moved up north with her and a bunch of lovebirds and ended up becoming a breeder (of lovebirds). Zhuliah was fine with that until my sister got a Black Headed Caique. All of a sudden she became angry and attacked often. I got her after that and it had taken a long time to settle down. I ended up getting 2 Budgies (Frankie and Sammie) for my daughters. Zhuliah is becoming a part of the family, eating dinner with the rest of us. Frankie and Sammie are more pets. Frankie is a special needs bird. His feet were pecked to the point of losing feeling in them we got him and can’t perch on a shoulder or his perches very well. He falls all the time and I needed to modify the budgie cage with platforms to help him. The budgies are very nice and love kisses. When Zhuliah is out of her cage, if I leave her to go do something, she will yell – Chrissi! She demands attention. She will chase after out two cats and Sheltie if given a chance. She is quite a card!

We have had our African Grey, “Horace”, just over one year. He was hand reared and we bought him when he was twelve weeks old. He is our first pet bird and is very entertaining and we love him to bits.

Apart from the occassional bit of harder pressure with the beak when he just decides to see how far he can push his luck we have not had any problems.

However he does not like change and since first setting up his cage we have only managed to add/replace two new toys.

Please advise the best way to introduce new toys/java trees etc for him to
work/hunt for food and treats.

I know when he has not taken to something because he will sit on the opposite side of the cage and not move near to said object not even for food or water.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Fay

My parrots are my “pets” but also my teachers. I own a 10 year old male Umbrella cockatoo Chuck and an African Grey named Truman. Owned birds and small parrots growing up and Chuck was my first large parrot purchased from a neighborhood bird only pet store. Truman was purchased from the same birds only pet store and he was a result of a divorce and was given up to the store. Both of them taught me PATIENCE which is something very important for me. Patience with cockatoo “noise levels” Patience in converting their diets over to pellets etc. They both also taught me that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Many people who come over tell me they think the grey parrot isn’t as “pretty” as the cockatoo – and I happen to think Truman my grey is just breath taking. Also they teach you how to listen in another language, they communicate so effectively, so much more different than my dogs or my cats, just a unique connection they convey – even with their ability to speak/imitate and associate words with objects. Just incredible.

I don’t know if you know who we are? We are a non-profit Sanctuary & Rescue for Parrots. Yes my guys are more then just birds, they are my life

I have an orange winged Amazon parrot that was given to our family when he was only 1 year old. His name is Hoot and he is a great talker and loves to interact with our entire family. “I’m a Hoot” and HooHoo were his first words. He also barks and drives our gold retriever crazy, when he calls her name. She comes running and then spots HooHoo and barks back at him. He has to try all of our salad foods and pasta. HooHoo is free flying in our home, when we are home and follows us around and comes when he is called. He has added a bright spot to our family and is now 6 years old. HooHoo loves to be petted and have the top of his head rubbed, he leans right into your hand. He is wary of strangers but comes in close to take a look, flying away only when he is startled. He plays ball and loves to drop anything off tables and shelves that he can get his beak on. Needless to say he is spoiled rotten and has been a joy to add to the family

My husband grew up with birds, he had a Black Masked Lovebird and two cocketiels (Wally one of the cocketiels was 23 before he passed away last year).

Anyway, Petey (Fischer Love Bird) came to us from my sister-in-law’s neighbor. They had purchased Petey for a present and then decided they didn’t want him since he was to loud. I didn’t know much about birds espcially Love Birds but I knew the little guy couldn’t stay in a house where he wasn’t wanted and allowed to have toys.

We rescued Petey when he was 6 months old and have had him for almost 3 years now. Petey was shy and quite at first but now runs the household. He has totally bonded with my husband and will give my husband kisses on the nose all the time. He likes me but loves my husband. Petey is part of the family and totally spolied and knows it.

Petey has recently developed a growth on his right eye and did have surgery to remove this past January (2008) but it has since returned. We are pretty sure that he will end up losing his eye as a result of the growth but he still acts normal. I have begun changing over his food since reading the emails from Chet regarding the products that are in the food. We are thinking this could be the reason for the growth.

With the hard life that Petey lived before he came to be with us we figured that he needs to have the best life possible so we spoil him in every way possible and spend way to much time with him, but he is so much more than a pet he is our little guy and we love him with all of our hearts.

My bird a blue and gold macaw Keyaira is my pet.I got her because a guy my hubby worked with didn’t want her anymore and I always wanted one.We went over to meet her and she took to me so we bought her.She is very protective at time when it comes to me.She is more than just a pet now.She is part of the family.She acts like a 2 year old.She throughs fits when she don’t get her way.Yells about it.Really funny when she and my 2 year old grandson talk to each other.She knows she can get him to give her what ever he has if she wants it.

When we first got her she had a bad mouth cussed all the time.Now she hardly ever says those bad words.She rarely bites unless she don’t like you at all.My daughter had a friend who couldn’t walk into our house cause she would attack him everytime.The boy never did anything to her she just hates him.Don’t know why.My kids if I have her can’t get near me she will try to bite and tell them to goaway.She loves to be center of attention if we have company.If we have dinner guests we have to lock her in her cage or she will climb up to the table and try to help herself off plates.I usually fix her a plate also and she isnt so bad at doing this.

My first bird was a little lovebird that my sister gave me, I was not intrested in birds at all. But he bonded with my son and he wanted a larger bird so we adopted an abused cockatiel. Well she bonded to me almost as soon as we got her home. She was very thin and not very well taken care of. Over the next few months she had gained most of her weight back and was looking very healthy, and I had become a bird person. Fast forward a few years and I now work at the local parrot rescue center and have been working with them for some time now. In fact I was so taken by the intelegence of the larger parrots that I went back to school and now have become a bird behaviorist and work with mostly abused and neglected birds. I have so many birds that I work with that I can not bring myself to pick just one to bring home, besides it would break my little cockatiels heart for me to spend any of my home time with any other bird. But we are building a new house now and I am having a special bird room put on the back of the new house where I will be able to house and work with some of my more demanding birds. There are three that I have been working with that I have really grown to love and am going to bring home to my new bird room. They are a gray and two blue and golds, they have come a long way since I have started working with them but I doubt that anyone will be able to handle them that does not work with large birds,
I have not yet got any of Chets training books but I really enjoy his e-mails and speaking from experence and from what I have learned in school Chet is right on with the way he goes about getting his birds to do what he wants them to do. For a bird you have to make him think something is his idea to do what you want him to do. And never forget that the only thing that works for sure is to love your birds and to put time in with them. And if you follow what Chet is teaching you will be amazed at what you and your bird can do together.
Chet thank you for your e-mails and your great work with the birds that I and so many others have come to love.

good morning and thanks for a great website and family of bird lovers. we have a sun conure which definately shows you how great the conures are. he talks a couple of words but has a personality ( gemini !!) and a sense of humor. we also have a jenday conure, great bird tries hard to talk one syllable words and is very affectionate. the conures get along great. everything was normal until we got the ” big guy ” an umbrella cockatoo ! this guy is great! he gets lots of attention and as per your website we calm him down when he gets too excited because they have powerful beaks. all 3 birds eat madagascar delite over 40 ingredients and people can eat it ! it is that good. thanks to your website our boys will eat good for many years and all of your tips about diet and all others are great.

My aunt had birds pretty much my whole life. I also volunteer at a local wildlife sanctuary. I got my own apartment and felt the need to care for something (I love animals!) We were not allowed to have dogs and I am allergic to cats. I went to the local pet store, with no thought of even getting a bird and there he was…Little Buddy. He is a Sun Conure, he was 4 months old when I got him (now almost 3). He is like a baby to me, I love him more than anything. When ever I am home he is out of the cage and on me (unless I’m cooking of course!!!)…We sing and dance, he’s just been such a wonderful part of my life, such a character. There are only a few things that I would change about him if I could…I tried to socialize him a lot when he was little but I think that it may have had negative side effects. He used to cuddle and love everyone and now I’m pretty much the only one that can touch him, or even go near his cage. He will calmly accept food from my brother but other then that he just attacks. I’m happy that he is friendly with me but I wish he was nicer to everyone else. The second thing is that he screams a lot. If I am in the room and I’m not holding him, he screams his little lungs off. I know that it’s my fault for spoiling him too much….if I only knew then what I know now )
Either way, I love him )

harry is our 2nd parrot our 1st parrot died, i am not part of any bird club and i would probably join one if i had the time our pets are part of our lives and not just pets

No I do not belong to or volunteer for any birds facility neither do I belong to any birds club. Again I do not run any bird related business. Having these birds at home is a hobby. I acquired my first bird on Sept 2006, two days to my late father’s first anniversary. In Ghana here we do not have shops selling birds so the sellers send them round, I saw my first bird CHRISTIAN and I fell in love with it so I bought it and I have never regretted though he has never been that friendly. In June 2007 I acquired my second bird NIKKY they are both JARDINE Parrots and love them very much. In our part of the world we limited by cash to purchase the needed toys and video training guides which would have been very helpful in establishing good cordial relationship between me and my birds. Inspite of their unfriendly nature I really love them and hope to have them for as many years as possible.

Oliver my African Grey is part of the family. His cage is in our family room where he can watch tv cuddled up on my shoulder with me and the family. He loves me and my 27 yr old son very much. He tolorates other people very well which amazes me for an African Grey. We have 5 dogs and Oliver is the boss of every single one. He talks very well also calling out all the dogs names. He tells himself to step up which we find funny. He has taken a liken to hanging upside down in his cage, loves his bath time too. Oliver is a funny and loving bird……

I have had birds my entire life. I can’t remember my first one because I was so young, but know it was Petie the budgie. Currently, I have two Green Cheeked Conures, three budgies, and I can’t leave out my two rats becase they are a part of our family as well.

1. I was going to volunteer at MARS which is a bird rescue where I live, but the economy caught up with me and I had to take a second job which left little to no time left, and I need to spend that little bit of time with my own animals. One day, though, it is my dream to own a farm and rescue all sorts of animals, but would like to focus on rescuing birds.

2. I do not currently belong to a bird club, but it is something I am interested in when I have more time. My only interest in joining would be to learn and experience from others – I have no interest in exploiting my birds.

3. I do not own a any type of business involving birds. Like I mentioned, I would one day like to run a rescue. I wouldn’t necessarily say for-profit, but it would need to generate enough income to live and maintain the rescue.

4. Birds are way more than a casal hobby for me – they have been my entire life. I have a connection to all animals, but there is something special to my feathered friends. They have always been and always will be a part of my family. I couldn’t imagine life without them!

5. This was answered above.

6. I think the better question is how they haven’t effected my life! When I come home at night and walk through my door and announce that I am home, it is this instant explosion of excited squaks and chatter. I settle in, and my feather friends are the first to be there with their unconditional love – climbing all over me, preening my eyebrows and hair, and snuggling into my cheek while on my shoulder to take a nap. There is nothing better than that.

My first bird was a blue-crown concure newly hatched and no feathers yet, but I knew she was the one – my first baby. Not wanting her to be too lonely while I was at work, we decided on a Sengal Parrot (my little Ziggy) – loved me, but not my husband. My husband couldn’t stand watching me and my blue-crown (Sweetpea) having so much fun, so he decided he had to have one himself (a mitred concure) which no one else could get close to, but this guy picked my husband and they have the best time (I’m only a good ride from his cage to his dad-name Buster aka Buster Rabbit, because he likes hopping. It seems that people realized that we love our birds, hench, came Sugar (our first rescue CAG), 5 1/2 years later he has changed up many times as to which of us he will “allow” to pet him, then he bites very hard and laughs and as much as he wants to be out of his cage, he is scared to death someone will hurt him and we have never hurt him, but I do leave his top door open so that he can come out. Many say I’d get rid of him (RID of him) I don’t think so, regardless of his sometimes neurotic behavior, we still love him and we willing to take a few nasty bites to bring him upstairs to the play gym, to love on him (he is scared – he is really not a bad bird) so we can just have him in the same room with us (which is always a tiring issue) for us and for him. Then we were asked to take a Timeh Gray, whose feet had been chewed and toes missing due to previous owner putting an electrus in his cage and after the gray is tortured by the other bird, the guy decides to get rid of the gray (she has a very fast growing beak but is very very sweet). Then I just fell in love with Taz – Blue Front Amazon (he is such a big baby – he too is 5 years old. Mom’s baby! So, we are then asked to take yet another Blue Front Amazon (Pretty Boy), he is an absoluate delight – he sings and plays and ocassionally gets a little agressive toward my husband. Then came Lucy (cherry head concure) – owner couldn’t handle her anymore – we all got over that. Along came Coco – CAG (mom’s birdie) So we have 8 personal birds of different sizes and much different personalities. We have a ball with each one of them. On occassion, we ask our friend and the lady that sold us the ones that are not rescues to bring home another bird for a week or two, because we want the bird to have and get attention, so that it will make someone a wonderful companion.

Although I do not belong to any clubs. I am trying to set up a babysitting service for those individuals who have birds that need much love and attention while they go on vacation, hospital, etc. My birds go to the vet 2 x per year for a wellness yet, wings, beaks and nails also. We have been very fortune in having healthly happy birds. Wouldn’t trade a one of them for any reason. My Sengal was killed by another animal getting under her cage and being of an agressive nature herself apparently lounged at it and she lost her life and my heart was breaking and screaming in pain. I miss her very much! I watch my birds body language before I would allow anyone to hold any of them and then there are people that I wouldn’t allow them to hold my bird. The Birdie Room can get prettyloud sometimes, with the CAGs telling everyone else to hush it up! Usually by name of the bird making the noise at the time. They are brothers and sisters. We get as much love from them as we give! We have 8 children, oh, the human ones, 4 children plus their 8 brothers and sisters of the feathered kind.

1. No
2. Yes, I am in a local Parrot group
3. No
4. I am not sure. But my lovebird is like a buddy to me. He makes me laugh with his antics.
5. My brother breeds peach faced love birds as a hobby, He gave Bo to my mom and she was not interested in the time it takes to train him so I inherted Bo. That was fine with me, because Bo had behavior problems when I met him and I have been working with him for almost a year. I really like Bo.
6. I had a cat that had recently died from stomach cancer, Bo seems to be filling a void my brloved Ceasar left for me.

So I was just curious to know…

1. Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
No. If I did, I’d end up taking them all home with me and my wife would divorce me then.

2. Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
I don’t belong to any clubs. I might be interested depending on what the club is about.

3. Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
Nope. Just like working at a shelter, I wouldn’t be able to sell the birds – I’d want to keep them all for myself. Same result – Divorce.

4. Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
Not even a hobby, he’s just my buddy.

5. How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
Pet store. Saw him there every week for a month or so and one day I just went in and used my daughter’s birthday as an excuse to get him.
Just have the 1 bird.

6. How have your birds impacted your life?
Drains the life out of me. Needs more attention than my dog and 2 cats combined. Maybe a 2nd bird would keep him company. Or maybe it would double my troubles. He’s worth it though.

I hand raised a pink and grey galah my uncle had bred when I was quite young but he flew away and I didnt have a bird again until my husband started telling me about love birds. I have had a few, over the years and lost them then I saw an Eclectus at a bird park and had to have one. I got my first male from a local breeder and he was wonderful, I thought I did everything right and he was a happy healthy bird but one afternoon just couldnt stand up and started having seizures, it was most likely a christmas decoration he was playing with in the week before Ive been told, he passed away within 24hrs of showing symptoms which was a week before my wedding and christmas, I was devestated. Due to the cost I wasnt allowed to get another so I got another love bird, craving that special bond. My love bird filled the void for 2 years then got eggbound and passed away also. I have held out as I am determined to give Eclectus’ another go and I have been heart sick for another for nearly a year now. I am 3 weeks away from getting my new baby hopefully from a breeder in our capital city, providing he is a boy as I am too scared to risk getting a female now after losing the love bird. I have read everything there is to read, bought all the training stuff I can and have a huge cage, toys galore. I just need a bird and hopefullt with everything I have learnt this time it will be a happy ever after!

My family has had several birds through the years, starting with budgies and cockatiels. We had a Jenday Conure and a Congo African Grey. We purchased them just as we had bought our home and my husband was about to retire from active duty Air Force. But the Iraqi War broke out and he was not allowed to retire and we had to give up our new house and our parrots as we were being shipped to Asia due to the war and we were not permitted to take our birds into the country we were sent to. We placed them in very good homes.

When we finally returned to the States years later my husband was determined to find another Conure. Late one evening, as we made a quick stop in Petsmart my husband came running to me and said “they have a Conure!…and she picked me!” When we asked for a closer look at her the sales clerks said “Oh! You don’t want that bird…she’s mean and she hates everybody and won’t come to anyone without a fight!” We insisted and she finally brought her to us and the little bird immediately SCRAMBLED up my arm and nestled against me and just as readily went to my husband as well. The clerks were in shock to say the least. On the way one hour drive home however she started making vocalizations that we knew would only be made by a sick bird. She looked so healthy and bright and smooth at the store but I think it was because she was hiding her illness due to all the other birds around her and she felt safe with us. Petsmart wanted us to return her to them for a refund but we just couldn’t do that to her so we made a deal with their corporate offices to allow us to keep her as long as we got her to all the necessary vet appointments through their vets one hour away. We did and although her prognosis was very poor even when she was realeased from several days of hospital care the vet told the store if she stood a chance at all it would be at home with us nursing her because she obviously had a special bond to us and needed to be in close proximity to us. The store reluctantly agreed and she slowly started to show signs of improvement and after a couple of months had made a full recovery and is very healthy and vigorous today! We named her Tusi, pronounced like “2 C” standing for Second (2) Chance (C). She is an important member of our family and is well travelled throughout the States. She flew with us cross country when we went from Idaho to North Carolina to find a house for retirement and then she travelled by car with us as we drove from Idaho to North Carolina for the final move. She is a hit wherever we go!
We find birds to be great companions and we love spending time with them.

My boyfriend bought me my first bird for Christmas 7 years ago. His name is Caspian and he is a severe macaw. My boyfriend had a blue and gold and I just loved her so he bought me a smaller version. Together now we have 2 severes, 1 blue and gold, a pocket parrot, cockatiel, and one other parrot. The house sounds like a zoo, its a lot of fun when they all start talking to each other. I love all the birds but Caspian is my baby but he is spoiled rotten! He gets along with the cats now, it took awhile to get him not to attack them. Now If I can only get him to get along with my kids! My kids are grown so I am not worried about them getting bit but they argue like siblings and it gets annoying! I have cats, dogs and have had other pets in the past but I have to say Birds are my favorite. They interact and they seem to pick up on my mood and my baby always seems to know what to say to make me feel better!

There have always been birds in some area of my family. When I was young it was grandparents and great-aunts who had budgies. They were always hand tame talkers and very interactive.
The first birds I got myself were cockatiels. I stupidly did not do sufficient reasearch…. and soon found out that working night shift and keeping noisy birds didn’t exactly work. I kept them as long as I was able – before sleep deprivation began to take its toll, and eventually had to give them away to a local wild life park and aviery which specialised in ‘tiels.
It took anothe 15 years before I decided to get another bird. This time a very beautiful Kakariki. She is the cheekiest and sweet little bird. Very tame and loves to get out the cage for a fly about and a bath. She can also reduce a paperback book to confetti in a very short space of time.
My life circumstances changed unexpectedly after I’d had her for 5 years. Moving from one country to another meant she couldn’t come. She now lives a very happy life with my brother… and I get frequent updates on her confetti habits.
We now have a Blue Fronted Amazon that we got about 8 weeks ago from a pet shop with not a lot of history attached. Other than he is definitely a “he” as he had been used for breeding and had successfully helped to produce a few clutches.
We think he is about 10 years old. And we’re not entirely sure his previous existence was a happy one. I think his diet was poor and limited as he seemed unsure what to do with fresh fruit and veggies… that has now changed.
Ball caps and glasses also make him aggressive. He is friendly in as much he will take food from your hands, but he will not be touched and will bite very easily. However, in the short time he’s been here… I can now touch his beak and scritch at the top of it without losing a finger.
It’s going to be a slow process… the pace set entirely by Calli, but I think he will turn into a sweet companion.
The thing that surprised me most about him is how quiet he is. He mostly purrs and chatters quietly to himself… he does have a couple of words, but only speaks when I’m on the phone!!!!

I am not a parrot breeder, neither in the business of selling them. I am just a human being with an handicap which is my heart is too big for body! My first and only parrot was Cocotte, an umbrella cockatoo, that was to be put to sleep because she was a bad screamer, very agressive toward any human being, and all plucked from the neck down. She was mutilating herself too. She had scars at two or three places on her chest, and one wound. She was in a pet shop, in the attic so nobody could see her. The day we enter that pet shop we were not going there to buy a bird but to get food for Chub-Chub our green Iguana. That day, my husband decided to go inside the pet shop with me to take a look at the animals there. We finally ended in the attic to see the ugly bird. The lady removed the blanket on the cage and there that naked bird’s head came out of the bars on top of the cage. Her head was telescopic. She starred at us like an alien looking at a human being. She took my husband middle finger in her beak and she rock his hand. She never took a bite! Then we went downstair. When we left she cried for us. Three days after, we were watching tv and I said to my husband : you remember the bird at the pet shop. He reply to me : I was to talk to you about it. We should go and get it out of there. We did. We paid 1 500 $ for the bird and the cage it was in. Starting that day, our lives changed dramatically and will never be the same. I read books about cockatoo and there diets, I read and browse the internet to learn more and more on them so I could care like I should with Cocotte. Finally after a year and half the ugly bird turned into a swan! Cocotte was living with us in a corner of our living room. She had windows beside her cage so she could see the sun and smell fresh air. She was free to go inside her cage as she wanted, she had a perch done by husband consisting of a tree with branches she could chew as she wish. She was watching tv with us on her end of the couch. She stopped screaming and biting and turned in a very loving bird. When we bought her she was 16 years old. For eight years we lived with Cocotte. She was a child to me. I cooked for her, I did everything for her. But the bad alimentation she had most of her life took a toll on her health even though she was well cared for and well fed for the eight years we had her. She died in my husband hand June 23, 2007. He was rocking her and telling her it was ok to go. We made her a little coffin and buried her body in our yard. We cried like crazy, our lives were so empty without that beautiful girl gone. Even though they look all the same physically, cockatoo are so different one from another. We saw other cockatoo since Cocotte died, but we did not buy any of them and they did not capture our heart like Cocotte did. What a girl, a clown she was. You have to live with one of these bird to understand the magic in them. Before buying a cockatoo which is the most demanding bird on earth, people should get informed that it is a 24 hour a day, 365 days per year job for 50 to 70 years! With this in mind there would be less and less parrots in rescue organizations. You do not buy a parrots for kids or teenagers. They are not toys. And finally, they should not be kept in captivity or sold in pet stores. Having money I would have brought Cocotte back in her country of origin so she could fly free and live the way a parrot should live in nature. So many bird are living terrifying lives of abandon, sadness and so on. Cocotte was a female and attracted to men. She was not a bisexual!!! This explain why my husband was so special for her. She was in deep love with him – he was her mate. And these bird mate is for life. Imagine the sadness when after x number of years you decide to get rid of your parrot for so what reasons. Please put your bird to sleep when you decide to get rid of him, you will spare him x amount of misery.

We have two parrots. A double yellow amazon & a lovebird. Had a sunconure for 20 years and it died of old age. Just before our anniversary, I saw this little conure and fell in love with him. My husband gave me the choice of a fur coat or the bird. I picked the bird. I bet not many people would of done that ha ha. We picked the lovebird to replace the conure. All our birds are pets only.

Paco, an Amazon, and Hoppy, a Quaker, were both given to us. We knew nothing about birds and had never had one. We have dogs and cats, all rescues. Paco is in his 30’s and has lived all over the world. When his previous owner couldn’t care for him the children were afraid of him – understandably and I opened my mouth. He lives at the winery in my office. Hoppy lives there too and came to us crippled from a woman who decided she liked her new little dog more. He now has only one leg but we have made his home handicap accessible! They are sometimes noisy and demanding but are beautiful to watch and fun to be with. They both talk a lot and when we move them to the front patio they love the people who come to our place. They put on quite a show for those who are interested.

I rescue for the Humane Society in Terre Haute, In. I belong to the Midwest Bird Club in Terre Haute, In, I don’t run a bird related business, they are strictly for our enjoyment.
At present, I own a quaker, a good talker, which was our first, then we rescued an african grey which is about l0 years old. We purchased a yellow nape amazon and rescued a sun conure. The amazon was a big talker and singer but when I brought the conure home, it quit talking, only says hello.
I have placed several parakeets and cockatiels in homes. I have
no luck with raising canaries.

My biggest job now is to get the amazon back to talking. I tell my daughter that our birds are her inheritance.

I got my 18 year old Congo African Grey just over year ago. Venger is an absolute comedian. He doesnt like to be handled much except by my husband who unfortunately merely tolerates him. I can transport him on his perch and keep all my fingers. He holds court at the front window every morning and people stop to talk to him. He is a plucker but he is doing really well and is almost fully feathered again.
I got my baby girl Daisy in February, She is a Lessor Sulpher Crested Cockatoo and is my little honey. She doesnt like my Hubby at all but wants to snuggle with me all day long.
I also have 2 dogs that Venger enjoys bossing around and teasing, he will walk around with my Boxer Oscar on the floor. The Mastiff puppy still wants to investigate the birds a little too much.
All my animals are very special to me and give me a sense of peace I really enjoy.

Pets – family – kids – how every you want to describe it

1. No

2. No – not really – I belong to a couple of online groups, but I don’t have a lot of time for that sort of thing

3. No

4. Don’t understand – how could these little love sponges be a “hobby”?

5. From my grandmother when my grandfather passed away. A Molluccan Cockatoo who was at least 35 at the time. Percy was a big cuddly clown with me – though he was kind of over protective of me…. At times he wouldn’t let anyone near me – which made dating interesting to say the least. Nothing like finding your date “treed” on a kitchen counter with this big peach colored ball of fluff strutting back and forth “on guard” and laughing to himself on the floor… Percy died in his 50’s or 60’s (never was sure exactly how old he was).

I have 5 today including 2 who were given to me when their new owners moved or couldn’t handle them.

A Sulphur Crested Cockatoo – Coco has no idea he’s a bird – wants to do everything with me – would rather cuddle than eat. I’ve had him for 24 years. Loves meeting new people – will go to just about anyone for a head scratching

Rocky a Molluccan who is just as big a cuddly clown as Percy was who is 15. He’s kind of shy with others – definately a one person bird. Not much of a talker but he’s the only bird I’ve ever known who would stand on my arm, lean againt my chest and put his head on my shoulder like a little kid

A Blue & Gold macaw – “the Brat” who is just as spoiled as his name implies and is 12. He loves to meet people and will yell “Hello” at someone he wants to meet until they come over to say Hi.

Tigger a Blue Front Amazon (who got his name because he used to growl at anyone who came near him at first) who is 26. Everyone thought I was crazy for taking him in – he’d chewed (broken fingers and stitches) up a shop keeper and 2 new owners before being given to me. Took forever to gain his trust, but while he will probably never be a real cuddler – he wants be with me and loves a good head scratching now

Lastly Sam – the African Grey who is 2, talks constantly… Must have a vocabulary of at least 100 words including things like “Poor Sam – back in the slammer” when I put him in his cage at night, “Come here” when he wants up, “gimme some bird love” when he needs a head scratch, “gotta go to work” when he sees me getting ready to go somewhere. He imitates everything from the phone to ambulance and fire sirens (just as awful as it sounds) – don’t know how many times I’ve gone to the kitchen thinking the microwave had finished cooking something becuse of the little clown – wants to taste anything I eat (he discovered oatmeal a couple of weeks ago and now hops back and forth saying “good stuff” when he sees it)

6. Like having a house full of combination love birds and feathered terrorists . Demanding, cuddly, into everything the minute your back is urned … certainly never a dull moment and it’s made vacations a real challenge.

Wish I was better at training – knew more about it – just muddling thru right now – even though I’ve had one of my parrots for over 25 years.

I got my fist lovebird when I was 8, even though I had a loving family I still felt lonely so I bot the lovebird i have today.And eversincethen we have been the best of friends.:)

I had been impressed by parrots since childhood and finally bought my first one 20 years ago. He is an Umbrella Cockatoo. We have one lady here that rescues birds but I don’t know her very well. We don’t have any clubs here. Later I worked at a store where we sold birds of all types and sizes. I was often the tour guide of the bird department. My crazy bird likes to interact with my Jack Russell Terrier. He alerts her if another dog is coming down the street. Then he tries to grab her tail as she is barking at the other dog. He gets jealous if the dog is getting more attention. Sometimes he tries to chase the dog. That makes me NERVOUS. I only have one bird. I enjoyed the bird shows in Vegas, I went ever time they had a show.

My Sun Conure Jack and I met at a local pet shop in a suburb of Dallas Where I go to buy my dog food. He was only a couple of months old. He and I bonded from the begining. He was my early christmas gift last year. He is my first and only bird. In the begining we did what I call “The Kennel Swap” While Jack was out of his cage the dogs where in theres. and visa versa. for the first couple of weeks . Then With close monitoring we allowed them all out in the house together. They love each other and play together well. Because of your training course my Jack does step up, Gives a high five, he nods yes when I ask him questions, He loves to make the sound for a water drip while he takes his bath everyday, He says whats up Jack, He says Jack Outside. He loves the out doors. (yes we keep his wings clipped) I work from my home so he hangs out with me all day long. I believe he is capable of doing more training but my work has slowed our training process. I LOVE MY JACK! he is a beautiful, sweet bird, He is not as cuddley with my 19 yr. old son but he loves my husband. Like I told my son you cannot tease him and then want him to cuddle with you. I believe you get back from your bird what you put into your bird. This has been a love fest from the begining.

Hello, I have a Umbrella Cockatoo my son and my husband bought him for me for my 60th birthday 2 years ago, and its funny realy has I am (was) terrified of birds but I saw him and just fell in love with him. It took me 8 months to persuade my husabnd I would be okay with him and look after him his name of all things is Baby he is 6years old so I did not give him this name. His real owner had him from an egg but went to live in Spain and there was bird flue going about so didnt want to take him with him, my son said he would have him but he had no time for him so he plucked himself all his chest was bald and he hated men with a passion. But I am so very happy to say now he has almost all his feathes back and he his realy My Baby and have now trained him that my husband is just as much is friend as I am and has started to go to my husband now and Does Not Bite Him.I do have some photoes of when I first got him and now as he his getting nearly all his feathers back and all it took was a lot of love cuddles and tender care , he is my world and my life revovels around him and would be devestated if anything ever happend to him. Thank you for your Time Yvonne Talbot.

my little guy BALO pronounced ball-o is my first and only senegal
I love this guy to death, I got him from a pet store I used to work for it was love at first sight for us we bonded immediately only I could handle him so I brought him home he was barely a year old we have had him about five years now and he has become a handful, he screams for attention all the time.
bringing him home we did not know that he should be the ONLY pet in the house well he’s not we’ve got a couple of cats who leave him be a dog who wants to clean him cause thats what she does to the cats-lol and a couple of turtles. the first couple of years were ok till the biting started then a year later the screaming has started, boy thats really a pisser to
we don’t belong to any clubs although I’ve searched for help with Balo I never get any resposes from any of the sites I visit.
we thought about getting him a mate But we’re afraid he’ll kill her he can be very aggressive at times and he has been alone for so long, we also don’t want to lose what bonding we do have with him.
we love him to death wouldn’t give him up for nothing[even with the screaming]-lol
we know he loves us, he has his moments were he can be so loving then at a drop of the hat watch-out, he loves my husband very much
I don’t allow the shoulder carrying due to hi bitting I don’t want anyone to get hurt but will allow him to be held when he is in the mood-lol and I don’t let JUST anyone to hold him either, I have strict rules for handling my lil’guy I don’t want him hurt either
he is so spoiled he has three cages he has one that he lives in then he has one for outside cause he loves to be outside the he has what we call his traveler this one he loves to go into cause he knows he is gonna go into the office with mommy or daddy and he loves that.
well thats our story
all in all we love BALO

HI Chet and Dave Womach

I will answer your Q’s THEY’RE MORE THAN JUST PETS, COMPANIONS FOR LIFE, MATES FOR LIFE

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? Yes, used to volunteer at mollywood, and Sarvey Wildlife center

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something? No

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? No I do not run a bird business. But I would LOVE to have my passion of birds become a business or earned income. I would LOVE to work with birds, I hate to work in anything else. Birds are my life!

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? More, friends for life, even breeders, rescues and birds who do not like me, flock/family for life, I say

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? I hatched her when I was 12y.o, she was a house sparrow, and now have 2 umbies, 1 mollucan, a scarlet, 2 zons (RLA and YNA), 2 quakers, 6 cockatiels. 1 lovebird. All rescues, even if I had to fork up money for 3 of them.

How have your birds impacted your life? Majorly. I have ALWAYS loved birds since meeting a sulfur crested at a petstmart when I was 4y.o and always want a TOO and birds since.

Mercedez

Answers to your questions sent….. There are no true bird rescue facilities within 100’s of miles of my area so voluteer work or adoption from one is impossible as they want to be able to visit the birds new homes. There is no club here, no interest I guess. I do not breed birds for income nor would I want to because even though all bird books talk about taking your bird to the avian vet if you notice the slightest change in anything and also for an annual check up, the books neglect to tell you it is probably impossible because there are only a handful in the whole country. Also, I feel if you live near a rescue facility adopt do not buy from a breeder, there are many unwanted birds of all sizes to choose from, just advertise you’re looking. Our birds are not a hobby nor should they be. My first bird many years ago was a budgie now we have 4 birds, a cockatiel adopted free with cage that now is in his 20’s, a blind feather plucked Congo African Grey 10 years old that was purchased/rescued from a breeder and is doing so much better now and is almost fully feathered, a Congo African Grey 17 and a Blue Front Amazon around 20 both purchased at a very reasonable price from someone who could not care for them any longer because of health issues. As far as an impact on life in general, well, I’m up almost at the crack of dawn each day thanks to the big birdie alarm, cleaning cages and getting meals prepared, not mine the birds, I eat later. After I get my coffee and relax for 5 it’s time to change cage papers again and vaccum and dust and do dishes plus other daily work/chores but most importantly I take time to talk and play with the birds. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

My family always loved animals. When my dog died, when I was 4 years old, I got a budgie, that was my first bird. My husband and I emigrated to Australia. We bought a 5 acre property and have many wild birds. We found injured ones,that started us on wildlife rescue. Over the years we brought up many lorikeet babies and other baby birds incl. owls. We had some permanents incl. 4 cockatoos with beak and feather desease. They don’t get old unfortunately. They are just as affectionate as healthy ones and it is heartbreaking. All the babies naturally go back into the wild. It was getting harder to let them all go. So we decided to get a bird we could keep. Now we have an eclectus parrot, which we love dearly. He is a member of the family. Nothing is nicer than to hear him babble and get a cuddle. He is only a baby.
We don’t belong to a bird club.
We left it to late to start now, to make a living from breeding birds, which would be a lot of fun.
In Australia macaws and african greys and amazons are incredible expensive. So I don’t think we will get more birds as pets, but our Rico is enough.
Our life has been enriched with all the birds. The satisfaction, when you can save one is great. And it is a lot of fun, they all have different charakters. Some of the injured rescue birds really appreciate that you help them and hardly ever bite. I could not imagine life without at least one bird. Even our doberman loves birds.

My first bird was a parakeet named pretty bird, I fell hard & she was awesome. My daughter was just a toddler then. She would fly and chase her and her friends from one room to the next, land on one of their heads & the kids would then turn around and chase her, she just loved playing tag with them. She was very friendly with everyone & we loved her very much.

We had a few smaller parrots off & on threw the years & then we found Scarlet. Scarlet is a ruby macaw we adopted at a bird fair a couple of years ago. She is my best friend,my baby! She goes almost everywhere with me & loves riding in our escape. We set up a nice bird room between the kithchen & living room where she has a huge play area with lots of stands & toys. She is mostly only locked up at bed time. The bond we share is undescribable. She is just amazing & we love her very much!

Before I was born, my parents had 3 macaws – a Blue & Gold, a Scarlet and a Catalina. After I arrived, they decided that they could only keep one of them, and I spent the first few years of my life living with the Scarlet, named Kimba. I don’t remember much about her besides the fact that she was really pretty and lived on a T-bar in the living room. She hated Pith helmets (safari hats) and gloves, probably due to a previous owner. When I was about 5 years old, Kimba developed a medical condition and died. Soon after, my parents located a breeder in Los Angeles, and I remember walking into the store and seeing a few of these ugly-looking spiked pink things with beaks. We ended up taking one home, and he grew up as a Blue & Gold named Figaro. It took until I was about 10 or so before I became brave enough to attempt to handle him, but since then, the only people he likes is my mom and me. Once my mom moved to England, I inherited Figaro, and he now lives with my wife and I. My wife has not had the drive to develop a relationship with Figaro, so there is still a lot of tension between the two of them. He spreads his wings and fluffs up his feathers if she even walks into the same room. Some day, I hope do get the two of them on pleasant terms, but for now I will be the one to take care of Figaro.

As for being a member of the family, I have never looked at animals in that way. I treat my pets with respect and loving care, but they are always pets in my mind. The fact that Figaro has a personality and reacts to the word around him in ways that I can understand makes the communication much clearer than it would be for a mouse or a hermit crab, so I really enjoy spending time with him. Much to the shagrin of my wife, she will often come out to the living room to find Figaro walking around on the floor and exploring the nooks and crannies of the entertainment center. Unfortunately, no one in my house except me can handle him, so he probably does not get the attention he deserves. I have high hopes that my 10-yr-old son will eventually be brave enough to start to develop a relationship with him, so maybe in the next few years, Figaro will have another person to take him out and play with him.

I start out buy trying to purchase a cockatoo for my son but by accident I purchace a cockatiel he did not want a cockatiel but I fell I love with him so I kept it then I rescued two more from a women who no longer could keep them , then I took my son amozon because he did not have the time for him anymore and then I rescued a cockatoo from a lady who got her from people who kept her in a cat carrier and put her in the closet every time she made a noise and you know how often that can be she had plucked all her feathers off now she is finally getting her feathers back and I love her very much . I also have a dog an Iguana a snake two cats and fish sounds like a zoo thanks for asking Pat

We bought Ringo, an Indian ringneck, 3 yrs. ago. He was just 12 weeks old at the time and WILD…we couldn’t touch him or even go near him. Then I subscribed to Chet’s cd’s and learned how to calm him down, train him to come out of the cage and talk. He now talks to us and comes out whenever food is presented….loves to help make supper and have a shower in the kitchen sink every day. He learned to say all the words on the cd. and a few new ones. He loves kids and women..will tolerate men. During mating season he makes love to a ceramic dog…funnnnny and my hands. He talks to people’s feet saying hello and come on baby to any bare toes that happen to be around. He is just a joy and a part of our family. My husband calls him his baby. Substitute for the kids that have left home. We love our bird and hope he stays healthy for a long long time.

Hi Chet and Dave!
I grew up with a parakeet that I got from my parents when I got my tonsils out as a child. We had Casey for 16 years. He was a joy! I later had a doubleyellowheaded Amazon, Sam. He was precious! I now have a wonderful umbrella cockatoo Lily who is 8 years old.
I have never belonged to any bird clubs and we have no rescues near us. I have no bird business….although I keep many in business….heehee~
Our animals are always a major part of our family. We acquired my Lilybird from my step-daughter who has several birds. She was wanting to find a home for her and we took her home with us. We had just lost our 16 year old kitty and we were devestated. We have two other cats who are 17 years young.
I was concerned about having cats and a bird…but amazingly, the cats have taken to Lily! Katie and Lily are best friends. I never let Lily around the cats unless I am right there with them.
I have learned so much about cockatoos since we brought Lily home. She is not at all like Sam or Casey. They never bit me. Sam was a one person bird. Lily loves everyone! She wants out of her cage all the time, although I limit her outings to around three times a day because she starts thinking she should be out all the time! She does not like to go back in her cage. We keep her out until she is a bit hungry so she will take a treat and go in her cage. There are occasions that this does not work…so I let her walk around on the ground and pick her up and put her in the cage and say good girl, “cage”, and give her a treat! She is funny and fun! She entertains for everyone! My grandkids came two weeks ago….Lily began bopping up and down tree or four times…the kids would all laugh and hop up and down….before I knew it they were all bopping up and down….and did this for 10 minutes! Lily is much like a three year old. We must take shirts with buttons off…jewelry off….and anything that she might want and cannot have when we take her out. If she gets ahold of something she wants and you have to get it away from her she has a tendancy to bite… just like a child would get angry when they cannot have something they want. When she gets ahold of the sofa or a shoe or something to try to chew on it you can gently put your hand in front of her mouth and say good girl and she quits trying to bite. Sometimes I can just say “Lily…ACH” and she stops. Then I say “Good Girl”. She loves praise! She loves having her nails filed. When I get the file out she comes to me and puts her foot up for me to do her nails! She also loves having her cage cleaned every day! She is such a snugglebunny…..and loves to cuddle!
I have learned so much from Chet and Dave’s videos and CD’s. I would not have realized all the many facets of parrot behavior and how to respond and train Lily if I did not have their wonderful CD’S.
Lily has brought much joy to our lives. When my kids call home they always ask “How is Lilybird”? And, my husband, who is NOT a bird person…..has come to adore her! He loves to feed her her favorite treat….cheerios with a little soy milk! And….I catch him saying…how is my girl…are you daddy’s girl!

I have owned a bird since I was little girl starting out with a parakeet.My
uncle had caneries and when i would walk home from school he would always be outside with them and I would stop and watch the caneries
take thier bath with a water hose dripping. Later I inherited the caneries when my uncle passed away. While going through a divorce I bought a six week old cockatiel named Sunny, he lived for ten years then passed away, he was so precious to me I felt lost without him. He was a great talker and loved to kiss and walk around outside the cage. After Sunnys death I bought a Blue Quaker parrot, named Sam, I had Sam for a year then Sam laid an egg,OOPS, Sam aka Samantha? Anway way started talking after the first two weeks I got her. She can change her voice to sound like my husband or to sound like me and says alot of stuff. Sam rules the roost, my dog macy loves Sam but I have to protect my dog from the bird, she usually walks around the table everyday and up our arm to be fed green beans etc. Sam was three months and will be two this february 14th. My husband purchase Sam for me when I came home from the pet store raving about “him”. I also had two lovebirds, the female passed away, sooooooooo, Oliver the male lovebird gets out of his cage and visits and feasts on millet spray and cruises around, I heard love birds don’t talk, Oliver makes a word sounds just like Babeee, I also have several finches and they are entertaining flying around and love thier baths! I have always had a passion for birds all my life it seems. I am very much bonded with Sam and Oliver, they can make me laugh when I least expect it and bring a lot of joy to my life. So, yes they are my little campanions and they are most definitely ACTIVE MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY!

i dnt have a parrot but i have a cockatiel and hes a lil sweetie hes only young about 7 months old hes still very shy and hasnt bit me yet lol i dnt belong 2 any bird group or anything like that. i dnt see my cockateil as a bird hes my lil baby love him 2 bits i havent had him 4 long but i am very fond of him. i used 2 have cockatials when i was younger and had a parrot so im used 2 birds but havin a lil trouble tryin 2 tame this lil’un at the moment so if any1s got any tips 4 me please send em my way he he. i really want to get an african grey but dont have the money 4 one just yet lol any how i do only have the one bird but i do plan 2 get more as i think tigger needs a lil friend lol

I got my African Grey about 3 years ago now. I got Lucy at a pet shop and when we first got her she’d come out of her cage, play, I could holder on my hand and she’d be good at coming out of her cage. Then one day out of the blue I went to get her out of the cage as usual and always around the same time frame and she didn’t want to come out and started to bit and draw blood as well. I never stopped trying to get her out, but she just refuses and stricks out trying to bite. She will take grapes and other things from our hands nice and gentle. She talks, whistles and is a great fun bird. She listens to what all we say and laughs when things are funny. I call my dogs to go outside and she will whistle for them as well to help. I want her to trust and start getting back on our hands, allow touching and come out of her cage and play once again and she just won’t. I had bought the natural pellats from the pet store but noticed 90% of the food was in the bottom of her cage. So I went back to a mix she liked. Her reward treats are yogart bites for parrots that she loves. I don’t know how to get her to stop bitting or gain trust through her. She has been like this for over a year now. I have been working hard with her and she still won’t come out of the cage either. I have 3 cats and 5 dogs but none of them have ever messed with either Lucy or my cockateel Junior. Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone have any answer or suggestions? I will try almost anything.

My first bird was an double yellow head amazon, he was amazing i was like 8 years old and i loved him bur my mom give away because he was to nosie, he still lives hes aroun 25 years old. The i had 2 half moon conures one died when he was 8 years and the other was so sad that i decided to gave to a friend of my dad that had some parrots in his house, i dont know if he still lives that was when i was around 12 years old, since then i didnt have any parrots until 3 years ago when i bought a lilac crown amazon, he was amazing he get out of his cage like 2 months ago and got lost, i have been looking for him but nothing.
Before loosing my amazon i bought a baby quaker his my little baby and his just amazing, like about 3 weeks ago i bought a jenday conure and he has become like my kid, he just loves to hang around with me, the 3 of us (my quaker, conure and I) love to eat pizza and watch the tv, we play a lot, they love to see each other in mirrors, when i arrive from work the flight to me and if they dont see my but hear my the begin to scream or to call me until i go to chat with them.
They love hot stuff, they love the crushed chile for the pizza, i live in El Paso, Texas, border with Juarez, so im able to buy a lot of different species of “Chile” for them, they love habanero, chile de arbol, chilaca and all kind of chile.
This is a tip a friend gave me once, instead of putting fresh water i boil water with vegetables and thats what i put for drinking that way they will drink a much more healthy water.
Im planning in buying an african grey but im not sure because i still miss a lot my lilac crown and i hope to get him back again, but in the mean while i have these 2 guys that consume a lot of time and i enjoy to spend all my weekends with them.
A funny thing its that my mom didnt like parrots or birds at all, but when i got my quaker he is so sweet my mom fell in love with him, she even plays with him when im out of the house and she encourage my to buy the jenday conure because she just became a parrot lover like me.

Every sunday I go to the local market (exotic pets black market) tha is, and “resue” (pay a high price) some of the sickest and dying birds I can Find. They are Amazons, coockatos, cocktails, parakkets etc.

I bring them home and care for them, medicate them, feed them, and try to bring some peace to this abused little fellows.

Most of them die, but some do make it. These that survive, I try to tame them as best as I can and give them away to caring senior citizens. Not all of my birds are “tame”, some are permanently scared, and live for ever inside a cage, but some understand and are nice.

I cant afford to rescue as many birds as I like to, but I do what I can, I buy medicines, and food.

Currently I have 4 amazons ready to give away and another 5 in my “nursery”.

Happy parroting.

Delio

I have 3 macaws, one, I bought, 2, adopted, one cockitiel, adopted. they are pets, part of my family along with one dog, I bought, 2 dogs, adopted, 2 kittens adopted, yes, I have a zoo. I just need to hang my sign over my door, anitas animal adoption agency. guess, I do not need the sign, as everyone seems to know where to take their birds, animals etc if they can no longer keep them. good thing, I have a big house and live alone except for my feathered and furry family

I would like to preface this story by mentioning that before i acquired my bird i was terrified of the immense power that their beaks held. so terrified that i rarely, if ever, willingly held any of the birds I came in contact with.

I acquired Sunny, my 5 year old Goffins Cockatoo while working at a local pet store. His previous owners had purchased sunny as a hatchling and kept him in a 16*18 cage for his entire life thus far, and judging from his mannerisms never properly handled him. Eventually these people brought in Sunny, and another smaller bird (which died shortly after arrival), into the store and said “here, they’re your problem now.” so of course we took them in with the intent of rehabilitating them and then finding them a new home. both birds were avid self mutilators and had little if any training.
Sunny was sitting in a small cage in the break room at the store when i first noticed him. he would come down and eat while i ate my lunch and would do back flips on the bars whenever i walked in the room. eventually his antics caught my attention to where i got up my courage and tried petting him through the bars, to which he lowered his head and raised his crest as if to say “scratch right there.” things continued like that for a while and i obviously fell in love. so i approached the store owner about his future which at the time was apparently either he sits in that cage forever or she finds a breeder for him because she would not put a self mutilator on display. I offered to adopt him and in exchange get all my accessories from her. the deal ended up being that if i could tame him, she would give me the bird so long as i atleast bought my initial package from them. I ended up paying $249.76 for the bird, a 4ft*3ft*3ft cage and a whole array of toys, perches, and accessories. afew hundred lacerations, 6 months, and not gonna lie… afew tears, later he’s now my best friend and greets me every morning with a quick dance and song. unfortunately his previous owners discouraged noises so he wont talk, but it works because my apartment complex only allows quiet birds. I only wish that I had found this site sooner in my training of him because I went through alot of trial and error… usually painful on the error part; but we got there

We have 4 birds right now. An African Grey, “Tommy Bahama”, who is my husband’s bird. A grey & white Cockatiel, named “Christy”, which is my son’s bird. And I have 2 Lovebirds – a Peach-faced named “Jazz”, & a Lutino, named “Sunnie”. Jazz has been with me for almost 3 years and is my baby. Tommy came to us at 10 weeks old, and talks up a storm these days, saying over 100 words/phrases. I helped hand-feed him, and he liked me just fine for many months, letting me pet him and giving kisses. Then one day, I suddenly became the enemy. These days, he will attack me for no apparent reason at all! Even flying at me for the attack. Christy came to us at 3 months old, and was a replacement bird for my son’s last cockatiel, “Connie”, who drowned in my tea last Halloween! She & Jazz are almost always very sweet, and love to be with me. I bought Sunnie before she even had all her feathers, and was still being hand-fed by the breeder. I had always wanted a Lutino. However, there is a huge amount of jealousy between her, the other lovebird and cockatiel. She is also a big pain much of the time when out. We run a marketing/advertising business out of our home, so our birds get a lot of fly time. I have also had the following birds in my life: Multiple parakeets, 2 other cockatiels and a small parrot but I can’t recall what kind it was.

I started out with a cockatiel back in 1999. I hand fed my first bird ever and did fine with that. Sadly a few months later my Lhaso Apso killed him in front of me. I got another one, named Coco, still have him. Once I got married 2 yrs after that, we acquired 2 more cockatiels (all males). Then 2 yrs ago my husband and I got Angel, our cinnamon green cheek conure fm a bird store. I think she has nine lives or it’s something to do with her name because she survives close calls! A friend of mine who has a bird business convinced me into getting a Sun Conure, which we named Tequilla about a year ago. Then around this last Valentine’s Day we fell in love with a baby Double Yellow Headed Amazon at a bird store. Her name is Margarita. She is the best thing we ever got. These last 6 months have been really hard for our family and I think she has really helped us get through everything because she is always saying the funniest things and makes us laugh. Finally we rescued a Bare-Eyed Cockatoo about 3 months ago. I don’t know what his story is but he was a traumatized little guy. Poor thing didn’t even know how to be a bird. He would just stand in a corner and shake. He never knew how to play with toys or anything. I think it has helped having him next to Margarita because he plays with toys and destroys them now. He will come up to me when I talk to him and he is starting to talk but we can not get him out of his cage yet. I hope that Chet can help me with that. The dogs, cats, and birds are all family members to us.

hi,
I am in no way affliated with any bird clubs or the like. I do however, have two Sun Conures. The first one name is “Munch”. He is approximately 1 year of age. He is a dear fellow. He likes to sit and play with me on the couch in the evenings when I get home from work. He bites, but not very hard to where it brings blood. He will dance when I sing and hum. he likes mangos, his regular food, millet, crackers, cheerios, etc. I love him to pieces. My second Sun came from an individual and her name is Maya. Maya is a sweetheart. She does nothing out of the ordinary. She is scared of my hand, but I can go to get her out of her cage with a dowel and she is fine with that. I can then put her back in her cage using my hand, and she has no problem with the hand then. I have only had her for approximately 2 months. I love them both. I am purchasing a Magna Double Yellow-head Amazon. He/She will be coming from a reputable breeder of these amazing birds. I purchased a flight suit for “Munch”, tried to put him in it and he has been a little sore at me since. He HATED it. I will not do it again to him. He is just now getting over it. I think I stepped over the trust boundary with him. I did not try Maya and I won’t. “Munch” does not like little children. He has a hatred for my 2 grandchildren ages 1 &2. He just stays in his cage until they leave and then he knows that it is his turn to have my undivided attention. As you can tell, my birds are very loved and nurtured.

Dear Chet,

Thanks for for your concern for me.

No, I don’t belong to any facilities or bird clubs, but I would love to. We indians do not get everything as easily as the eastern countries.

I am 15 years old and I acquired my first bird as the Indian Ringneck Common Green. I love him a lot, and, I feel he has a good bond with me. I always disturbed him initially, but after realising my mistake i stopped and started using some of your tricks for training him. He talks a lot. I am very happy with him. Once he flew away also, but after 18 days I found him back with me. I was really overjoyed.

Not even a month has passed by that I bought a pair of Grey Cockatiels. Allan(male) is social and friendly, but, Alex(female) is just the opposite. Please help me. I am facilitating them with breeding environment and am hoping for a set of eggs.

Hope you help me out, won’t you,Chet?

I really am a serious pet lover.

Thank You again Chet for asking me for blogging.

I have 2 Muscovy ducks! One boy and one girl. I’ve had them for almost 2 years now. I read and try to learn anything and everything I can about ducks. They are such an important part of my world. I treasure them. I donate to various waterfowl organizations and I’m an active member in a couple different “pet duck” societies. My nickname is Goose and I’ve always had a fondness for birds. My husband proposed to be at a pond while we were surrounded by dozens of wild geese. My home is filled with bird-type things, I watch movies about birds, I have a large bird book collection, I keep bird houses and feeders in my backyard. In an eggshell, I’m a bird fanatic.

My husband and I aquired our Amazon, Malcom about three months ago thru his nephew who works for a vet in Yonkers, NY. The previous owner abandoned him and our nephew thought we’d make good parents. We have always been dog people, never imagined that we would be parents to a bird! We are both so happy that Malcom came into our lives and while at times he can be a bit of a challenge, it is a delight to be around him, watching him learn to talk and react and respond to us. We look foward to teaching him more tricks and words. We nurture him as if he were our child. He has brought us so much joy.

Hey, Chet…In answer to your question “are my birds strictly pets to me, or something more?”…They have meant more to me than one could ever understand..People say to me “why do you treat them as though they are human family members? they`re only animals!!” But what others don`t understand is…my parrots were there for me 20 years ago, when I had a serious car accident, and had to rehabilitate for two years at home. I consider my “pets” as my therapy that I needed to pull me through the depression, and pain that I had endured throughout those years..Whenever my cockatoos saw me sad,they had a way of making me laugh with their funny acrobatic, swinging upside down acts, not to mention the singing they did, and still do..My McCaws would repeat “I love you” to me in such a cute, and affectionate manner, that I knew no other human being would, or could not provide that emotional support…Within the two years of rehabilitaion, I grew to depend on my happiness, and rebuild my confidence level being surrounded with the joy, and laughter that my parrots brought back to me…also, if you knew of my life before the accident, I ran a very successfull hair salon, and in home hair service business for years prior, and when I became unable to work…I would have had a breakdown, if I didn`t have my birds around me to help ease the pain. Eventually, I was strong enough to rebuild my life again, and started taking some of my best talkers with me to hospitals, and senior nursing homes, giving people laughter in their hearts, whenever the parrots would talk, or sing for them…I became a regular at St. Joseph Hospital in the cancer for children ward.. I felt if these pets could pull me through my toughest time of life, then I would share this with others. When you form a trust bond with your birds, they will love you for life!! Parrots are HIGHLY intelligent, and relate to human emotions more so than I think any other domestic animals, and I do, also have dogs, and a cat. To wrap it up, Chet, I used to belong to bird clubs, I have been a part of many successful bird rescues, and have adopted unwanted parrots from abusive situations, as well. As far as being a breeder, and selling birds as an income..I tried that, but when it came to giving them up to strangers…I couldn`t!! It was like selling my own children!! So, I kept all of the babies, and accumulated over 30 cockatoos at one point… When my husband, and I divorced, we split up the feathered family(that was the hardest thing to do!!) I have 11 umbrella cockatoos:from the oldest(32yr.to the youngest 9yr.)Kelly,Casper, Snowball,AppleJack,Troy,Benji,Cassidy,Frankie,Casey,Cody,Pookie, a blue/gold McCaw, named Lucy, a greenwinged McCaw, named Red, and a Red Lord Amazon, named Max……I`m back to working fulltime in my own salon business once again, this time in a senior residence, where I bring my parrots to entertain the residents when they come to get their hair done..I must say, that my salon is always filled with happiness, and laughter as the seniors/staff love to sing, and dance with the birds!!! Mission accomplished..I will forward you some photos of my sweeties next week, Chet..Cheers, DianMarie

Dear Chet, I have my parrots for my pets only. i don’t belong to any bird rescue or anything. i first acquired my first bird is because i have always wanted a bird and could never afford one. now i am finaccally able to be blessed to own one. my other parrot i got was about 6 months ago, my neighbor’s house had caught on fire and i have 5 of her birds that we resuce from that and she had giving me her blue front amazon in apprecation of rescueing what i could. the amazon was mean and i trained him to step up with the parrot training videos i have purchase from you 2 years ago. and now i am able to hold him and interact with him and i am so excited that i could do that. I have 2 parrots and i love them very much and they are my company when i’m home alone. they are the best birds. they have inpacted my life in ways that they are my company to have and it is very special to even have an bids that loves you and to be there for them. my indian ring neck is so passionate and shows love to me even when i’m sad. he has to be right on me if i cry and asks me whats wrong. these birds are my entire lifr couldn’t imagin life without them. Sincerely yours Brandy

Hi Lezlye,

I’m just wondering… Are your birds strictly your pets? Or are they more than that?

Pickles is our only bird. We got him 6 months ago. we have taught him several phrases and words. As yet, we really have not taught him any real tricks other than to shake his tail on command. We refrain from calling him a pet and have to explain, “he’s really not a pet as much as a companion. He has his own thoughts and desires. He is really more like a toddler.”

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, because my brother Dave and I were talking the other day and we realized that we’ve never asked you this question before.

So I was just curious to know…

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?

No, but I hear there is one nearby, about an hour or two away.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?

No, and not interested in joining. No time for that.

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?

No, already have 2 jobs.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?

I only have 1 Quaker and he is my child. Children are so time consuming.

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?

Pickles is my first bird and we are afraid to get another as this would change our relationship. I would love to have a more exotic bird, but they are too expensive.

How have your birds impacted your life?

It’s like having that extended right arm again. but, he brings us so much joy. Your tips and tricks have helped us to understand our bird. Tantrums are easily quelled. We are working on his biting of the “not us” people (anyone but my husband and myself). So far, the rescue technique has not worked. He minds me when I tell him “don’t bite,” but if I am not completely vigilante, snap, snap, like a crocodile.

I only have one parakeet. It is a femail, and has always been so scared of everything, I haven’t been successful in training her at all. She will not take any food from me except her normal seed – she see anything else as a threat. I can get her on my finger for awhile every day, but that is about it. She seems very happy to be in her cage, and to be left alone, even though I talk to her a lot.

I would be much happier if she would be more friendly and at least willing to sit on my shoulder for awhile every day.

When I was a child, my mother had several parakeets – one at a time. She had them trained – all except the female. She was never able to train that female either. That was my motivation for getting a parakeet, and I am not sorry even though she isn’t what I had hoped for. I also think that parakeets are very special because they have such unique personalities.

I don’t belong to any bird type clubs.

Hi Chet: We just love our babies because we love pets. We have a 9 year old African Grey, Ariel, who is SO smart! She can count to six and she can choose colors. She talks and sounds like every sound you have ever heard!! She also carries on conversations with us – THEN we have a 4 year old Lesser Sulfer Crested Cockatoo. She barks like our Maltese, and says her name – Isabella. Other than that, she is pretty much non talking. She does a lot of screaming at times , though. We bought our African Grey when she had a few feathers and then when we could bring her home we had to had feed her. She loved her bottle and even now, oatmeal is one of her favorite foods! She says “oh” before every bite! Isabella was bought at a trusted pet store when she was 6 months. We cannot let the two get near each other, but they are company for each other when we are out. We love having them in our house even though it sounds like a circus a lot of the time. Their noise making, screaming, talking does not bother us… just drives everyone visiting crazy!!!

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? NO-but would be interested if it wasn’t that my husband was so against it. we have Solomon and Bug because he loves my daughter and I immensely.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something? Not right now-I don’t have time with my girls being young and still in school

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? No-used to breed Gouldian Finches, but had a hard time putting the babies up for adoption.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? No, they are like family

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? My daughter got a Cockatiel with her Christmas money because her best friend had one and she thought they were really cool birds. They our older daughter wanted her own birds, so she got a pair of Zebra finches (what do they say about birds…you can never have just one) so then I wanted a bird…and I bought 6 Gouldians to breed-I decided it would be more fun to have a bird that interacted with me so after a year of research we bought an African Grey. He’s going to be a year old next month. We sold all of our Goulds and also, my daughter gave her Zebra’s to a friend and we bought her a Australian Cinnamon Lutino Lovebird (Love Bug) for her Birthday. He’s 3 now…he’s a clown that thinks he’s as big as a Macaw! So we are down to just 2 birds..our cockatiel had to be put to sleep when he split his keel open…the breeder didn’t let him learn to fly before she clipped his wings and he never learned to land properly.

How have your birds impacted your life? Amazingly…they bring much laughter to our household. Solomon even laughs from time to time. The other day he said, “Hi, how are you?” I said, “Good, how are you?” to which he replied, “I’m good, can’t complain.” which he must have heard from our pet sitter the week before because I’ve NEVER said that to him. It cracked me up. They are a huge blessing, but a HUGE responsibility.

I’ve always wanted to be a trainer since I was small… and I remember seeing a program about an African Grey on TV that knew what he was saying….he knew his colors, fabrics, shapes, objects…..and that fascinated me. As I got older I got my African Grey but just as a pet and gravitated to training big cats. I recently got two more parrots I took in and I’m really getting interested in putting more behaviors on them.

My birds are first my pets but, I want them to be able to do studio work. All the animals where I work are studio animals. I have 4 parrots, (an Amazon, an African Grey, Malaccan Cockatoo, and a Blue and Gold Macaw). The Amazon is the only one that has done studio work. I’ve never volunteered with any bird center or belong to any bird organization. I work mostly with big cats among a couple more exotics. I’ve actually tried the stick thing with 2 of my birds and it’s not working, my African Grey know that the sticks aren’t part of my hand and the other birds are scared of them….and I haven’t really done much more studio stuff because I’m scared that they will bite a client. I also had one question…. I recently got the Cockatoo and the Blue and Gold… and the Cockatoo hates Men and attacks them and I was wondering what I could do to stop him from doing that.

Adding two more bird to my life has impacted it a lot. My drive to work is about 1 ½ hrs… and I take all my birds to work every day…. It’s hard giving them all attention. That and I’ve noticed the blue and gold gets mad when I’m with another bird…he’ll try to attack me threw the cage. Oh, one more thing that I don’t know if its true but I’ve heard that when a parrot bites you , you should throw them on the ground because of the pecking order and you higher… and I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do. Should they be reprimanded or I don’t know what do when they attack you. One of the male trainers was trying to spend time with the cockatoo and he lunged at him and attacked him. All of them have behaviors on them except the Cockatoo he won’t take the treats…. None of them have biting manners : (

Hi,

I’ve always wanted to be a trainer since I was small… and I remember seeing a program about an African Grey on TV that knew what he was saying….he knew his colors, fabrics, shapes, objects…..and that fascinated me. As I got older I got my African Grey but just as a pet and gravitated to training big cats. I recently got two more parrots I took in and I’m really getting interested in putting more behaviors on them.

My birds are first my pets but, I want them to be able to do studio work. All the animals where I work are studio animals. I have 4 parrots, (an Amazon, an African Grey, Malaccan Cockatoo, and a Blue and Gold Macaw). The Amazon is the only one that has done studio work. I’ve never volunteered with any bird center or belong to any bird organization. I work mostly with big cats among a couple more exotics. I’ve actually tried the stick thing with 2 of my birds and it’s not working, my African Grey know that the sticks aren’t part of my hand and the other birds are scared of them….and I haven’t really done much more studio stuff because I’m scared that they will bite a client. I also had one question…. I recently got the Cockatoo and the Blue and Gold… and the Cockatoo hates Men and attacks them and I was wondering what I could do to stop him from doing that.

Adding two more bird to my life has impacted it a lot. My drive to work is about 1 ½ hrs… and I take all my birds to work every day…. It’s hard giving them all attention. That and I’ve noticed the blue and gold gets mad when I’m with another bird…he’ll try to attack me threw the cage. Oh, one more thing that I don’t know if its true but I’ve heard that when a parrot bites you , you should throw them on the ground because of the pecking order and you higher… and I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do. Should they be reprimanded or I don’t know what do when they attack you. One of the male trainers was trying to spend time with the cockatoo and he lunged at him and attacked him. All of them have behaviors on them except the Cockatoo he won’t take the treats…. None of them have biting manners : (

Hi Chet!
Answering your questions….. There are 2 bird rescue facilities within 7 miles from me. They mostly save and rescue birds of prey, owls and eagles, and hawks. My only affiliation with the rescue center was trying to save a baby screech owl a couple of months ago. There is no Avian club here, but I wish there were!
I adopted my little green chicken (Quaker Parrot) 5 months ago when he was only 3-4 months old from a local breeder. His name is Fuji, aka Mr. Fujiama. He is one of my children and I love him very much. He speaks 2 words already…baby, and green chicken. In my youth I owned parakeets and love birds, but this little fellow is something quite different. I am definately his mommie. He loves to be with me and he would be with me 24/7 if I allowed it. Fuji is also close to my husband who never in his wildest dreams thought he would have a relationship with a bird. Fuji is also learning to be held by different people. We want him to be a social bird so we expose him to everyone who comes to visit and he does well with it. He is not crazy about the Labrador’s but, we think in time this will be resolved also. Quaker’s are a wonderful, loving bird and they are a great bird for someone who is either starting out, or people who want a smaller parrot. Their size is small, but their love is big.
Greetings from Colorado Chet!
Sylvia

My parents had a couple of hobby farms so I was always very involved with animals. When I was about 10 my aunt showed off the tricks she had taught her budgies to do and I became fascinated with pet birds. My youth experiences set me on the path to learning all I could about animal and bird behaviours.

Kato is my Derbyan Parakeet. He’s now 26 yrs old and came into my life a year ago when his owner closed out his aviary. Prior to Kato’s arrival I had a Society Finch that was about 9 years old when she passed. I have had several parakeets/budgies and a few different finches in my life. My first bird “ladybird” was an older blue budgie that needed a home.

My experiences with fur and fowl has been my passion so I started a pet care business 2 years ago. I have clients with birds that include Amazon grey parrots, a cockatiel and a cockatoo. My business keeps me hopping so I have not joined any local bird clubs or got involved in bird rescue/rehab. I am involved with dog rescue/rehab and the local animal shelter which is pretty much all I can take on at present.

I find that seeing how other people look after their birds is quite interesting. Many don’t seem to realize that a caged bird needs more than just food, clean water, a clean cage and a toy or two.

I have always believed that a pet lives longest if we keep their environment as natural as possible. Kato’s cage is positioned next to a big window with a view of two large cedar trees and he can see and hear the local birds outside. His cage is large with several perches and feeding cups – each with a different type of food. Since birds forage from tree to tree, it only makes sense to me to create a similar environment in his cage. Kato comes out every day to flap his wings on top of his cage and catch a ride on a shoulder over to the kitchen counter. He eats dinner in the same room as his dog “flock” and has a high perch for night time roosting. Kato is a happy, well adjusted parrot who only squawks when he is calling his flock together. Most often he sings happy birdday, laughs, talks and preens.

Kato makes us laugh every day with his antics and I am so glad we are a part of his flock. You can see photos of Kato on my website -www.bestfriendspetservices.com Have a happy bird day!

Hi Chet,
Merlin, our Amazon used to belong to a person who threw him across the room and broke his clavicle. He came to us at seven having been with two owners since his unfortunate childhood.. He is 19 now and has a nice life full of music. When we had dogs we taught him to ride – walk, trot, canter on our ever obliging dog Chester. He has an extremely sweet nature but has been known to give an unexpected bite.
I would like it if he would go to other people besides me but I would hate for anyone to get hurt although he hasn’t bitten in over two years.
Hope you are enjoying your human baby!
Best,
Gecko

thank you for asking. here are my answers.

From: Bird Tricks
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 9:51 PM
To: donita03@comcast.net
Subject: Donita, what’s your parrot’s story?

Hi Donita,

I’m just wondering… Are your birds strictly your pets? some are pets but 3 are more than that Or are they more than that?

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, because my brother Dave and I were talking the other day and we realized that we’ve never asked you this question before.

So I was just curious to know…

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? not really, I do offer to house birds temporarily to help out.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? no Are you interested in joining something? maybe

Do you run any bird-related businesses? no Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? I don’t really know, I have never thought about it. I do make birdie huts and poop bibs for a local store sometimes.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? I am new to parrots so for now I would say yes. Or are they more than that? our Quaker is something else

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? I was in the bird pet store and was talking about getting a small parrot and a lady that was buying food, asked me if I might be interested in a green Quaker. I said yes and she said she was looking for a home for him as her family was never at home anymore and she felt bad that he was alone too much. when I asked her how much, she asked the store owner if I might make a good parent, when told yes, she said for free! How great was that. We have had him for 2 years now and he has become part of our “zoo”.

How have your birds impacted your life? It is like having another 2 yr old in the house. They require a lot of attention and care but we love them.

… These are all interesting questions, when you think about it. Everyone has different motivation for getting involved with bird training and different dreams for where they’d like to go with it.

What’s yours? I would like to learn how to be a better parent to the birds and how to bring out the most in them. I admit, I don’t know much at all and would love to volunteer with someone in order to learn and to have help with my Quaker and 2 cockatiels. As money is something I don’t have, time and desire are something I do have. We have 10 parakeets as well and 2 are special and have learned to be finger held and loved. We have even brought 1 parakeet and the Quaker to school as a story aid of a book about a Quaker and a naughty child. The kids loved it and loved holding the birds. They were so careful with them. I would like to be able to have him say more on que and maybe do tricks? I am happy so far.

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities?
No but I have rescued many birds on my own

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?
No, I am an avid bird watcher and go for bird watching

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
I dont have a bird related business but given an opportunity would like to make my living out of it.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
It is my passion

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
I bought my first bird from known person.I have one CAG

How have your birds impacted your life?
My bird is my friend.His company soothes me.

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? I worked for several months at the Raptor Rehab center in Louisville, until the price of gas forced me to stop. I really miss the wild raptors, by the way, they’re a lot more respectful than my parrot.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? No

Are you interested in joining something? Maybe

Do you run any bird-related businesses? No

Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? At the time I don’t have the room.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? My bird’s my buddy and now he’s trying to clicker train me with his new parrot bell.

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? A friend of my daughter’s called one day and asked if I wanted a bird. A friend of hers in the parrot rescue business picked up 20 birds from a breeder in Indianna. He was short of cages and also pet carriers, so I ended up with a 16 year old Timneh who was grabbing the door of the carrier and yelling “HELP”, when I passed his carrier, he cried out “Ah Come on, HELP”, so I knew I had been chosen. I just have the one bird and a huge macaw cage a friend sold me for $25

How have your birds impacted your life? I have a better diet since Merlin eats what I eat as well as his seeds and nuts. I no longer stay up all hours reading since Merlin goest to bed with the sun and loudly resents being kept up, oh and Merlin also gets up with the sun and only lets me sleep in a few minutes before whistling my wake up call and saying “WAKE UP, AH COMEON, WAKE UP”

… These are all interesting questions, when you think about it. Everyone has different motivation for getting involved with bird training and different dreams for where they’d like to go with it.

What’s yours? Being able to handle my birdie without getting blood on his beak, and having him come to me as if I am a safe and friendly place.

I volunteer at a parrot rescue (The Lily Sanctuary), I would love to own a business not for breeding parrots but to place unwanted birds in loving homes. I don’t belong to any bird clubs. My birds are not a “hobby” they are my life and my loves, they amaze me each and every day. I have a 20yr old miligold, a 5yr old blue and gold, a 7yr old yellow nape amazon, and a 8yr old male ecletus. How have they impacted my life? By showing me that man is ignorant to the fact that other creatures on this earth have the ability to love one an other.

Here is a website featuring mostly one of my African Greys. I’m redoing it to include my rescue birds, and my very gentle (and very elderly) import Grey who is as sweet as pie! None of my birds are bonded to male and female. On my website is Toby, and though this isn’t on there, she is trained to speak on command. Not only with me and my husband, but anyone can say the words, give her a treat and she will do it. It could be a small child or a man, woman or elderly person, even someone who has an accent – she will still do it. She is pretty cool. You would probably learn more by looking at the site, than my typing for a month! thanks

my birds are like family the macaw we have is a green wing he talks plays dances to music alot of fun . we just dont know how to get him to step up on our hand or arms , he holds his foot up but he has never done it , so we think he is afraid

My bird is a pet and what a pet she is.

I have a blue female parrolette name Sophie, the cutest bird ever. I have taught here how to shake a paw, dance, come when I call or clap my hands. She loves to call me from another room and trys to find me by following the clapping.

She loves to hide out in my kitchen cupboards, loves our pit bull Mugs, loves company and makes a great guard bird. Lets me know when someone is coming up the driveway.

She loves her outdoor time – answering other birds and calling them. Her favourites are the woodpecker, cardinal and chickadees.

This summer she started talking a bit. Says “where’s Mugs”, “pretty bird”, and “no pecky, pecky” and calls herself “Zoey”.

Her one fault is when she gets nervous she pecks her feathers. It’s very hard to stop her and at time she looks terrible. She spends most of her time outside the cage. She seems very happy, her wings are not clipped but she is very cautions.

I don’t belong to any clubs. At this time I’m not interested.

Gerry

My first time owning birds was in 1991. I bought six baby chicks and raised them to be standard size. We live in the city and I had a chicken coop in my yard. My husband built a beautiful coop and I planted bushes around it and I always kept it clean. The neighbors did not like it and this caused a problem. Out of the six chicks I had one rooster and five hens. The ideal backyard flock. I entered them into the Montgomery county fair and one a 1st and 2nd place ribbon. The county I live in did not have an ordinance in having chickens in the back yard. I end up taking them to a large farm in Beavercreek, Ohio. My rooster named Pepper was house trained, loved to eat pop sickles, crowed in the house most of the time. I tried to bring him in the house early in the morning to crow in the house and not outside because the noise would disturb the neighbors. My rooster was so affectionate and loving to me and my family. I hated to say goodbye. The next year I bought a trio of Bantam chickens from a chicken farmer in Fostoria, Ohio. My husband built a small chicken hutch for inside the house in the basement. We always had fresh eggs to eat. One year I wanted to hatch Bantam eggs. I took two and bought an incubator and they both hatched into the most beautiful Barred Rock Bantam roosters. I had to separate them because they liked to pick on each other. I gave the roosters to a farmer who raised bantams. Some times when a chicken got sick I would give them medicine to take care of the problem. I did a lot of research on making sure the chickens stayed healthy. My daughter was a big help in taking care of the chickens. I had owned about three bantam trios. As my daughter grew, we wanted to take vacations out of the state. We did not own any more chickens, but always owned dogs, one to two Pugs. In 1996, I wanted another bird but not chickens. We bought a Quaker named Sneakers. We loved her dearly and she would talk and sing. My Mother in 2004 had gotten real sick and I was caring for her a lot. My Dad passed away in 2003 from brain cancer. I went to Rochester< Minnisota for two months to care for him while he was undergoing radiation treatments. Mom needed surgery while we were there and had an Endartorectomy done on a blockage in the left neck artery. I am a registered nurse and my care for them both came in handy. We would stay in a hotel in Rochester, close to all medical care if something went wrong. While I was gone Sneakers got real sick and by the time I realized it, it was too late. Sneakers passed away shortly after my Mom started to feel better and did not need my daily care. I knew a lady that had a lot of birds and I visited her often. She owns a bird rescue and sanctuary. She inspired me and I started to get interested in this rescue. In 2006 we bought an African Grey Timnea and we fell in love with her. She started to have seizures at home so I took her to a Veternarian in Beavercreek, Ohio. They ran tests and we started to give her calcium in her diet but it just was not enough. She died within about three months we had bought her. I went back to the place I bought her they took fifty percent off the newly hatched African Grey Timnea. I became a Board member to the Wings Over the Rainbow Bird Sanctuary and Rescue in the fall of 2006. I write newsletters each month and write articles for the newsletter each month. I also have another Quaker I adopted from the rescue in 2007 named Toby. I adopted a Lovebird in the summer of 2008 named Joey. My daughter Jenny adopted a Cockateil named Eddy in 2008. I adopted a Parrolet this summer named Charlie from a vetarinarian. I spend two days a week in the afternoons in feeding the birds at the rescue. This is my story.

My first bird was a budgie when I was 4 years old Hi was my buddy. He went crazy everytime I came into a room. I had him for 17 years when he died. It broke my heart. I purchaced baby blue fronted Amazon which I was still hand feeding when we brought her home. after I weaned her she went from being my buddy to my husbands bird. She will go out of her way to bite me. I have had her for 11 years now. She talks like crazy & even though she bites me she rides on my hubands shoulder & is his. Just this past christmas I was given a moluccan cockatoo named Maloo who was a picker and also has an open wound on her neck from her prev. owner. maloo and I have bonded she is my baby I am getting her to quit picking her feathers but she keeps picking at the wound on her neck. our birds are only in the cage when we are not home or at night. My Husband is at home so they are out with him all day. I do not belong to or volunteer at any local rehab and do not belong to any bird clubs as there are noner in our area in Alberta. I would love to join one if there was one here. we have no bird business but yes I would like to generate income from my passion for birds. My parrots are like my children they are part of the family. All of our animals are part of our family. I have 2 scotties. 1 rotttie , 1 cat . our parrots walk right through all of the dogs & cat to get where they want to be The dogs do not pay any attention to them nor does the cat. I can not imagine my life with out the animals I would like to get another bird I would love to find a macaw and some day I will when the time is right

My first bird is a blue-fronted Amazon. He was one of 27 abused birds and came to me with almost no feathers because the former owner had plucked them all out to sell. The others were in too poor of condition to go anywhere but a re-hab and some of them died. I have spent two years looking for a good home for him because everyone wants to clip his feathers or re-home him alone. He has demonstrated that he wants to be with other Amazons and he can now glide quite far, though some of his left wing feathers are still missing and may never come back. I finally have found a sanctuary for him where he will be with other birds and able to fly as much as he is able. I am really happy he will be in such a great home.
My other birds have come to me because people know I do rescue, mostly cats, and had a bird. So, I now also have a diamond dove and 3 budgies. The first one was netted while trying to eat the chicken food on a local farm, another one was thrown from a car in my town, and the third had something wrong, probably a virus as a nestling, that makes his feathers, especially his flight feathers, sparse. He can’t fly, but skitters around and is quite lively. I live in the northeast, so they would not have survived the winter here.
I am not really a bird person, and will keep the dove and budgies because I have large cages in which they can fly. The dove is 7 years old, so it’s unlikely he would appreciate a friend and the budgies love each other and don’t need time with me.
I will miss the parrot because he is young and so is an echo of what goes on in my home: My phone ringing, phone conversations, my laugh, singing, and the things I’ve taught him to say. He also brings some salty language and screaming from his former home, but I’m glad he at least didn’t seem to learn the f word! He seems quite happy here, but I know he will be happier in the sanctuary and, after what he’s been through, he deserves it!

Just a note to your readers…. If you hang your parrot’s cage outdoors, be sure the area is safe for your bird. I recently lost my Conure, Bleau, when a squirrel got into his cage. I had seen a squirrel on his cage trying to get his peanuts and took precautions to clip his door shut. However this squirrel managed to get into the small food door and trap himself inside the cage. It was a tragic and avoidable event. I hope this never happens to anyone else.

My first bird chose me when I walked into a pet shop one day with my sister, who needed some supplies for her cats. I knew nothing about birds; when I think about it, they never should have sold her to me. Since then, I have fallen in love with parrots of all kinds and over the years, have acquired 20 who live with me in my apartment!

I currently belong to the West L.A. Bird Club and also support a local parrot sanctuary, that takes in larger parrots who have been given up by their owners or rescued from the illegal import trade. I plan to start my own parrot sanctuary in the near future, as soon as I can afford it.

My parrots are not just a “hobby,” they are my children, my life, my heart. They are my reason for doing anything. I thank God and the Universe that they have come into my life. My husband is a disabled Vietnam Veteran who suffers from depression. It’s amazing to see how they have helped heal him over the years.

Thanks, Chet! I know everyone loves to talk about their feathered babies. Your blog is much appreciated.

I consider my birds as family members and not simply pets. I love all birds (pet and wild) so I am a member of Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology and I sponsor birds at Popcorn Park Zoo which is a refuge and wildlife sanctuary. I have created web pages for my birds and I consider them an important part of my life. Both pet and wild birds are so smart and each species has so many unique qualities that teach us something new. In the summer I volunteer to clean up after Canada geese in a local park so that park officials will not gas and kill the geese like they used to a few years ago. It is sad when wildlife is needlessly destroyed/killed. It takes me a few minutes to scoop up any bird droppings from the walkways.
My first bird was acquired in 1991 in San Francisco from a pet store that was mentioned in the movie Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It was not a large store but the owner only sold birds and bird supplies. She was a sweet and gentle cockatiel that years later I discovered was highly allergic to citrus fruits. Even the slightest scent of citrus would give her an asthma type of attack (this is something that the vets never found out and I realized it by observing everything she was exposed to).
I currently own a cockatiel and my fianc̩ has a conure. I learned devotion and braveness from a little parakeet with a broken beak that I was nursing. He was a treasure and tried to watch over and help the other birds even though he was in pain. He spoke in complete sentences and also knew several songs. Pet birds are not only smart but they give us their love and trust Рin return we should protect them and be thoughtful of their needs and safety.
Having birds has made me realize how important it is ensure they stay healthy by acting sensible. I hope as responsible bird owners we do not burn scented candles, ignore cooking fumes, use strong smelling cleaning products, use perfumes and other highly scented personal products, spray air/fabric fresheners, use ceiling fans or leave doors/windows open when birds are loose, sit or step on birds by not paying attention, neglect to clean their cages, etc. Also to help nature I hope we teach our kids to respect other life forms and not to chase and run after wild birds, destroy bird nests or cause distress to parenting birds.

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? Not at this time, but it is something I have considered.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something?I belong to several local and national bird organizations.

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too? I breed birds and sell them through the pet store I work at. We are very happy being in control of our supply and quality of birds, and I am happy since I get to pick out the new parents for my babies.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that? I’d have to say they are an integral part of my life now.

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today? I met my first cockatiel when I met my boyfriend. He owns a pet store, and had two pet birds there. I fell in love with owner, birds, and store all in one fell swoop. A year later I had persuaded him to add birds for sale to the store and one of the first two birds bonded with me very stongly. I was given Speckles, my baby, for my birthday. I’m not sure now how many of the finches, parakeets, and English Budgies I have, I know them all, but have never sat down to count. I know I have 5 cockatiels(Speckles, Gucci, Helga, Bellisimo, and Nell), and my new pair of Golden Mantled Rosellas(they are just too beautiful for names). I also have 5 cats(all former strays), I can trust all but one of them with the birds, so at dinner time he goes out so the birds can play.

How have your birds impacted your life? Well, every morning I get up and fix breakfast for the birds first, every evening I come home and fix dinner for them, and often I am toting baby birds around with me during the day. I have to coordinate vacations(never more than 4 days) around when I have babies, or making sure they can come with. The birds have their own room in the house and as we make renovations to the house we will probably add an aviary, and possibly outdoor flights as well.

Do you belong to or volunteer at any local bird rescue or rehabilitation facilities? No.

Do you belong to any local bird clubs? Are you interested in joining something? No I maybe interested in joining one.

Do you run any bird-related businesses? Are you interested in making your passion for birds into an income generating business, too?
No. I am not sure if I would like to run a bird type business or not. It would have to be selling things like bird beds etc that I would sew.

Are your birds a casual “hobby” for you? Or are they more than that?
Just a hobby.

How did you acquire your first bird… and how many do you own today?
Was given the first budge by a relative which then grew into a breeding flock as a kid in England. Here in Canada I have 4 Cocketials, 2 Budgies, 2 Zebra Finches, 2 Lovebirds, all are old birds except for the Cocketials and the the ONE Mulucan Cockatoo.

How have your birds impacted your life?
The small birds are pets and just live in one big cage with the lovebirds in another not come out only if they escape on me. The Molucan has his own home and has taken over my life mostly, but he can be so loving when he wants to be.

I bought 2 cockatiels from a pet shop where they where abused. when I went to their cages. They started starring at me so I just needed to buy them. I was training them every single technique nothing works. when I enter the room they hide in their nests, and don’t come out until I leave
the room. I need a soloution

I used to always have a house full of birds. For a while I had a breeding pair cockateils and a breeding pair of finches, several budgies, and a parrot. Being a book lover, I often named them after literary characters or authors. My favorite was a cherry headed conure that chose me. I was visiting a breeder when this gorgeous creature flew to my shoulder and started whispering in my ear. He stayed with me as I wandered around looking at all of the other birds, and allowed me to pet him. I fell in love instantly, and went back to visit him every day until payday.
When I got him home he was very frightened from the ride. I allowed him to come out of the box at his own pace, but sat nearby with treats and water to encourage him. It wasn’t long before he ran out and climbed up on my lap and let me pet him. I could feel him trembling, but he calmed down and soon made himself at home. I named him Elliot Nest.
He learned to talk quickly, and my children taught him to argue with me at bedtime, although he would go to bed willingly, he just said he wasn’t going. He was so much fun, and always had us laughing. When I would go for a walk outside (I don’t reccommend this to others) he would stay on my shoulder most of the time. He occassionally would go explore something and then would come right back, often with a gift for me. Everywhere I went that he could go, he went with me. He loved car rides, and stayed on my right shoulder. One day though, I was stopped at a stoplight, with a carful of elderly ladies in the car next to me who could not see the bird. He began making female sexual enjoyment sounds (I don’t know where he picked that up) (wink) and the ladies were LOOKING AT ME, like I was doing it. I was thoroughly embarrassed at first, but it was hilarious!
Unfortunately things got pretty rough financially, and I was offered a lot of money for him, and I was dumb enough, and desperate enough, that I took the offer. Although the person that bought him is someone that I know is taking good care of him, and I check on him when I can, I still miss him, and have not had another bird since. That was twelve years ago. I would give my left arm to have him back, but the family that bought him loves him dearly.

was given a small yellow sun conure bird by my granddaughter then we got a red,orange face one. and they breeded, but the red,orange face one laid six eggs in a week span and none hatched the first three she didn’t want then the next three she laid on them over a month and never hatched so I removed them. how can I get her to hatch her eggs? often she never let the male lay on them either. can you help me

I have always had various pets growing up (dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, hamsters, ferrets, fish). When we lost our Blue Quaker, my kids were so upset that I decided we would go out and look at a different species of birds. We waited about 4 months after the lost of our beloved Quaker, Kiwi to visit an Aviary. Well, my husband and my boys fell in love immediately with a Blue and Gold. As beautiful as she was, I was afraid of her bill. I just kept thinking if this bird chomps down on one of my kids fingers it will take it right off. It took a couple of visits and the love of one young girl who woeked at the Aviary to convince me to purchase her. So, we purchased Tango at 4 months old, kept her at the aviary until she was 6 months old before taking her home with us and she will be 1 year old in about a month. I also have a white bellied caique who we all fell in love with. She was sitting up at the front counter when I was paying for the Blue and Gold and I couldn’t bear to leave her there, so I bought her too. Her name is Rainbow. She is absolutely beautiful and lots of fun! These are my babies now. Definitely more than pets . . . family!

About 4 months ago, my husband’s boss had his 3rd heart transplant and could no longer care for the birds he had. So, I have inherited a Green Winged Macaw (a little over 2 years old. His name is Red) who is as smart as a whip. He is hysterical. I also inherited a Sun Conure (His name is Sunny Bird), who at first only allowed my son to carry him, and another Blue and Gold (5 years old). I was worried at first at how I would give equal attention to all of these animals (did I tell you I also rescued a rabbit), but like children you find time to love all of them. I spent 2 months working with the Blue & Gold (named Blue) trying to get her to not bite and to eat a proper diet. (Her previous owner feed her seed). My best friend fell in love with her and Blue took a similar liking, so 1 month ago Blue went to live with her and her family. She bakes for Blue, she plays games and although there have been a few nips and pecks, all is well.

I am still working with all of them on a daily basis to help them adapt to everyone. So far all is going well. I love all of my babies and can’t imagine life without them. Red, is a true character. He is sooo smart! He would only go to my husband, when he first came to live with us. But, using some of your techniques and some of my own, he now will step up on my children’s arms and play with them, without nipping. He actually will tap you on the arm, when he no longer wants to be held or petted. The hardest part is training my husband and the kids to recognize the bird’s signals. Do you have a technique for this? LOL!

Thanks for helping all of us who have been given the privilege to be loved by these wonderful creatures!

On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM, PAULA HOLMES wrote:

While living in the Republic of Panama 2004-2006, one of the Natives wanted to sell their wild caught Amazon Parrot Yellow Crown (which they had for a year). They needed the cash and the bird spoke Spanish which I was trying to learn – so for $30 – I had a new amiga. The bird had been raised strictly on a diet of rice and milk.
We introduced fruit, vegetables and seed/pellet mix – within a couple of months a baby Red Lored Parrot was added to the family. I hand fed the baby (cereal,banana mix with a syringe) and within a few months the Yellow Crown taught the baby to say a few Spanish words. I “cared” for the birds for 2 years, caging them at night for their protection. I fed them fruits/veg (& occasionally nuts) in the morning – let them free in the trees in the daytime where they consumed noni, guava & bananas. They were bribed from the tree perches at dusk with peanuts in the shell – which they loved. If you didn’t get them from the tree before dark, they would not come down. We ran a small resort (torioresort.com – check it out) and the birds loved to meet the guests, chat and entertain.
I used your training methods when possible as food rewards were not so motivating when they grazed freely in the daytime. The birds loved the clicker – and responded well to it.
Unfortunately, in my absence, the birds were left out in the trees at night and both were attacked and killed by an owl. My heart was broken as I truly loved the birds. They sang to me, comforted me and delighted all…
Someday I will have another bird. They possess unique and intelligent personalities and have the capacity to love – of that I have no doubt. Once when I was gone for two months and returned – they flew over to greet me and rubbed their beaks on my shoulder saying “hola, hola, hola! I will never view a bird (wild or not) the same. What a wonderful gift they were!

I have a blue and gold that was a gift from my husband 2 years ago and we just received an older blue fronted amazon that has a past of neglect. They are part of the family and wouldn’t have it any other way. We belong to a bird club out of Bryan, Oh called Classic Feathers. To show the love and beauty of our birds and any other bird I do make hand crafted mini clay birds, all with feathers. They are really neat, I just like others to be able to see the beauty in them like we do.

I do not belong to a bird rehabilitation facility mostly because I spend a lot of time with our local fire rescue department as a core member. I do not have enough time for both. Besides, I am too worried about bringing home airborne diseases to my own parrots if working in a shelter. I do belong to a local bird club but they are not very active. I prepare their monthly newsletter and attend one meeting a month.

My parrots are all important family members. It is more the case that I live with them in our house. They seem to rule the roost. They have all become a huge part of my life. Occasionally I will make and sell bird toys but there is no real profit in it for me.

My first bird was a cockatiel that I found swimming in the ocean in Key Largo of all places! I picked him up, rinsed the salt water away, dried him off, and tried to find him a home. I couldn’t find anyone who wanted him so I kept him. It wasn’t long before a 1 bird household turned into an 8 parrots plus 3 baby lovebirds household that will go to new homes as soon as I am done hand feeding them. I will not sell the babies but rather give them to approved stable homes.

I’ll bet my story is unique. You are not supposed to find parrots in the ocean and who knew I would later become a feather-brain because of it?

im 14 and got my first bird as my 14th birthday present from my parents he is a african grey congo called johar (joe) he is only 7 months old hes grate to have around hes more than a pet hes a constant companion and friend. he enjoyes playing with me and he eats with me and the rest of my family when we eat. theres 6 of us in all but hes great and i love him. i just bought a doberman a week ago so it was hard to introduce them. but it w