How To Behave So Your Parrot Will Too

05/06/2024

A guide to the do's and don'ts of bonding with your new parrot!

08/05/2024

While infanticide in mammals and birds is still poorly understood, it often appears to be motivated by sexual selection, or the drive to reproduce. For instance, a male may kill the offspring of a widowed female so that he can mate with her more quickly.

Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While both males and females of many species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social advantage, other animals have been observed caring for the young of dead or missing comrades.

16/03/2024

Choosing the Right Pellets for Your Companion Parrot

Picking the right food for your parrot is key for their health, and pellets can be a big part of their diet. It's important to choose pellets that meet their nutritional needs and help them stay healthy and live longer. Look for organic, cold-pressed pellets without added preservatives, sugar, or fillers. These kinds of pellets are closer to what parrots eat naturally and are full of good nutrients.

If you choose to feed pellets, check and understand the ingredients. The best pellets have healthy ingredients like whole grains and legumes listed first, along with important vitamins and minerals. Avoid pellets that list corn, fruit or seeds as the main ingredients, as these might not give your parrot all the nutrients they need. Also, choose pellets with less fruit to avoid too much sugar. A good mix of vegetables, grains, legumes, and a little bit of fruit is best. Cold-pressed pellets keep more of their nutritional value, and organic pellets mean your parrot isn't eating harmful chemicals.

Edited to add: a varied diet is important, with fresh foods, some fruit, even herbs, spices and flowers and a good quality seed selection. Each parrot has different needs according to their species, size, age and energy expenditure. If you choose to provide pellets, they can form part of a healthy diet when combined with a multitude of nutrient rich ingredients that complement your parrot’s life style.

Learn more about keeping a happy healthy parrot: https://www.parrots.org/publications-and-fact-sheets/happy-healthy-parrot

16/03/2024

Surprisingly, WPT is usually right on the mark but plenty of misconceptions in this post. This reply from Shuana covers the issues of the post.

"I'll start at the top. Organic pellets are a choice. There has not been any evidence that organic provides better nutrition but it is better for the environment and also more expensive. As far as nutrition or health organic or nonorganic doesn't matter, what matters is providing enough daily balanced nutrition. Keep in mind that even organic farming uses pesticides etc. and those most often need to be applied more frequently than synthetic ones. It's not like the only thing that touches organic produce is soil and sunlight.

Cold-pressed pellets don't offer any better nutrition than extruded pellets. What offers better nutrition is a pellet product that uses an actual person or persons with a degree in the avian nutrition field for their recipes. These people tend to have PhDs in the field. Cold pressed could be another personal choice but is not going to be healthier for a parrot.

Avoid corn? why? Corn is a nutritious whole grain like other whole grains. Corn combined with legumes in the right proportions provides the essential amino acids (protein) which is a daily requirement. Unfortunately, corn is sometimes referred to as a "cheap filler". It's not a cheap filler but is one of the less expensive grains which has nothing at all to do with its nutritional value. Using a less expensive grain helps keep the cost down of a product. If you'd like to pay more then...."

Choosing the Right Pellets for Your Companion Parrot

Picking the right food for your parrot is key for their health, and pellets can be a big part of their diet. It's important to choose pellets that meet their nutritional needs and help them stay healthy and live longer. Look for organic, cold-pressed pellets without added preservatives, sugar, or fillers. These kinds of pellets are closer to what parrots eat naturally and are full of good nutrients.

If you choose to feed pellets, check and understand the ingredients. The best pellets have healthy ingredients like whole grains and legumes listed first, along with important vitamins and minerals. Avoid pellets that list corn, fruit or seeds as the main ingredients, as these might not give your parrot all the nutrients they need. Also, choose pellets with less fruit to avoid too much sugar. A good mix of vegetables, grains, legumes, and a little bit of fruit is best. Cold-pressed pellets keep more of their nutritional value, and organic pellets mean your parrot isn't eating harmful chemicals.

Edited to add: a varied diet is important, with fresh foods, some fruit, even herbs, spices and flowers and a good quality seed selection. Each parrot has different needs according to their species, size, age and energy expenditure. If you choose to provide pellets, they can form part of a healthy diet when combined with a multitude of nutrient rich ingredients that complement your parrot’s life style.

Learn more about keeping a happy healthy parrot: https://www.parrots.org/publications-and-fact-sheets/happy-healthy-parrot

09/12/2023

24/10/2023

25/09/2023

https://fb.watch/nh3G4Vy_z3/?mibextid=NnVzG8

13/09/2023

An IAABC Foundation Publication

26/08/2023

Learn the impact of Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease's on parrots & birds. Identify symptoms and causes for effective disease management.

14/08/2023

Science Sunday!

Correlation vs causation: how do I know if something is related? How can we check if the ice cream sales and shark attacks are related? How can we tell why not?

When we think something applies to our birds, how can we be sure there is a direct relation between the treat and the step up?

What do you think? Answers in comments!

04/07/2023

25/06/2023

17/06/2023

Many species of birds are social by nature and enjoy time as part of a flock. Smaller birds such as canaries, finches, and budgerigars can often be kept together in a large cage providing social interactions with their kind. Larger birds are usually housed separately from each other but can still enjoy having other birds in the environment. Often, the humans in the home are the bird’s “flock” so we need to make sure they are truly part of the family. Rather than petting your bird excessively, as this can be interpreted as mating behavior, we recommend including your bird in daily activities, providing foraging opportunities, and working on trick training with your bird. Visit our blog for more enrichment tips: https://www.aav.org/blogpost/1778905/AAV-Enrichment-Tips

02/06/2023

31/05/2023

Parrots can make wonderful companions but we need to make sure we’re meeting their needs and giving them the opportunity to express their natural behaviors. Animal Trainer and Behavior Consultant Cassie Malina joins Steve Dale to discuss her lengthy career working with birds and her top tips for k...

25/05/2023

17/05/2023