Air Purifiers for Birds and Parrots - What Should I Look For?

Last Updated on February 26, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Barry asks, Do you have any recommendations for air filters that are safe for my bird?

Hi Barry

Just make sure that it is sized appropriately for the room, house or apartment so it actually does what it’s supposed to do – remove dust and allergen particulate from the air we breathe at home.

We use multiple small units in multiple rooms to conserve floor space. Also, a more effective strategy for a home where room doors are closed but a free-standing “whole house” air cleaner is in use.

If it’s undersized neither humans nor the bird will receive the benefit.

Just make sure you don’t get one with an Ionizer.

Although marketed as being able to “scrub the air”, these “ionizers” do not remove airborne dust to a significant degree but do generate ozone, an unstable oxygen molecule (O3).

Ozone is an effective germicide that has a number of legitimate uses, including the treatment of wastewater and exhaust gasses.

In case you wondered how the heck birds breathe AND fly – this is a great video!

However, both the Environmental Protection Agency and the American Lung Association caution against the indoor use of ozone-generating devices.

In relatively small amounts, ozone has been shown to trigger asthma attacks, reduce lung elasticity and lower the immune system’s ability to fight respiratory infections which get amplified by a bird’s sensitive respiratory system.

Aviculturists have linked Ionizers to individual and group bird deaths to ozone.

Should you be concerned about Teflon in humidifiers? Find out

Hope that helps

MitchR

Your science lesson for today is a brief refresher on how birds breathe. When you and I breathe, air flows in AND out of our lungs. Air sacs in a bird’s chest allow air to flow one way through the lungs.

Mother Nature provided benefits to using this unidirectional airflow. The first benefit is air moving through a bird’s lungs, which is mainly fresh air which means it has a higher oxygen content.

The second reason is if birds had bi-directional airflow through their lungs they would rise and fall as they flew much like a submarine taking on and releasing ballast to submerge and surface.

Trick question? How do you remove radioactive particles from the air? HEPA: High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration systems. I would’ve never thought of it not being recommended by the Atomic Energy Commission.

HEPA is used in spacecraft and hospitals and throughout various industries. They are actually capable of removing close to 99.9994% of particles down to .3 microns in size (about 1/25,000 of an inch!) from the air you would your birds breathe. Viruses and bacteria move around on the backs of dust particles which is a really good reason to have an air purifier.

As bird keepers, we remove things like Teflon and tobacco smoke from our homes. We know not to expose our birds to any noxious fumes, but it’s been a long winter. When was the last time you opened your windows for some fresh air? Do you live in a major metropolitan area? What’s your overall air quality?

Written by Mitch Rezman
Approved by Catherine Tobsing