Pepper Our Two and a Half Year Old African Red-bellied Parrot
red-bellied-parrot-standing-on-mound

Pepper Our Two and a Half Year Old African Red-bellied Parrot

Catherine,

Sorry for the delay.  I had full intentions of providing you with my take on the African Red Bellied parrot several weeks ago and life got in the way.  🙂
First of all, let me introduce Pepper our two-and-a-half-year-old ARB.  I am emphasizing two year old because we are going through what I can only hope is the terrible 2s stage and not a lifelong trait with him.

For a bit of history, this is not my first rodeo.  I was very active in owning, caring, training, and taming parrots many years ago.  I go back to the days when most were wild caught birds that required significant patience and attention.

(more…)

Continue Reading
My Bird Won’t Play With Toys or Eat New Foods Are Two Problems That Solve Each Other
african-grey-parrot-playing-with-ball-on-play-stand-blog-e1637448748668

My Bird Won’t Play With Toys or Eat New Foods Are Two Problems That Solve Each Other

A clear theme that emerges after reading endless threads on Facebook bird groups is “my bird won’t play with toys” – “my bird doesn’t play with toys” “my bird only wants to chew the keys off my notebook computer”

From Wikipedia we learn Ho·lis·tic – hōˈlistik – adjective – characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.

Another way of putting it is “we are not connecting the dots” Bird food is connected to bird toys which are connected to bird cages and bird stands and everything has to work together.

There is a large overlap of caged bird keepers who claim the birds will eat nothing new nor with a play with toys – which is the problem and the solution – we need to combine the toys with the food – for starters.

(more…)

Continue Reading
Why Cage Timeouts Will Not Solve Your Birds Biting Problem
amazon-parrot-chair-biting-finger-600

Why Cage Timeouts Will Not Solve Your Birds Biting Problem

A little bit about Facebook private groups. Because they are private groups, I cannot share the content that the members post nor any of the photos or videos from that group because they are “private“.

That said, the subjects themselves are well worth sharing so the only content from the group discussion will be that of mine with just a synopsis of how the problem was related to the Facebook group.

The conversation started about what the gentleman had referred to as a “hard tip” feather that was annoying the bird. Not surprisingly he got bit when he tried to pull the feather out. Not understanding the impact of what we call a broken blood feather as innocuous as it sounds can be responsible for the death of a pet bird.

(more…)

Continue Reading
My Caique Chews on Everything in Sight – Help
white-bellied-caique

My Caique Chews on Everything in Sight – Help

Hello

 

I love your birdie brunch and read it first thing every Sunday. Thank you!

 

I hope you can help me. I have an 8 yr. old white-bellied Caique. Conrad has owned me since he was 3 months old. I am also a strong proponent of flighted birds (seems to me they were made that way), so Conrad is fully-flighted.

 

He’s delightful and we are strongly bonded. He’s really a great bird and good company. HOWEVER, I don’t seem to be able to stop him from chewing on everything in sight. He has numerous toys of varying types and textures in all his houses (currently 3, not including travel), but when he’s out he chews on furniture, window sills, molding, electric cords, shoes, to name a few.

 

(more…)

Continue Reading
Is Sugar in Bird Food Good or Bad for My Bird?
Red-masked parakeet (Psittacara erythrogenys), individual perched on the branches while feeding

Is Sugar in Bird Food Good or Bad for My Bird?

Hi Windy City Parrot.

All this blogging about food but I really need to know what you feed the budgies – and what they actually will eat. Standard seed mix? Any pellets? Avicakes? (molasses = sugar)

People food? Mine eat an uncolored mix (millet, canary seed, oats) and Harrison’s pellets, which they seem to eat more of than the corn pellet bits that come in their seed mix.

(more…)

Continue Reading
Comparative Human and Bird Digestive & Respiratory Systems
young-woman-macaw-cockatoo

Comparative Human and Bird Digestive & Respiratory Systems

Comparative Physiology: Human and Bird

The human body uses food and liquids for energy, growth, maintenance and repair. Before it can use food and liquids for these purposes, it must go through a process called digestion, which is carried out by the digestive system. The digestive system consists of the following organs: Mouth, salivary glands, oesophagus, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, stomach, large and small intestines, duodenum, rectum and the anus.

(more…)

Continue Reading
Making Your Own Bird Safe Birdcage Perches
lorys-top-tree

Making Your Own Bird Safe Birdcage Perches

If you are considering making your own birdcage perches from trees in the backyard or local forest preserve, it’s important to know which wood species are safe and which ones are not. Please use the list below as a reference.

If you do introduce outside wood into your bird’s cage you should disinfect the branches with a good quality disinfectant like Mango Pet Focus – and allow them to dry completely before putting them in your bird’s cage.

(more…)

Continue Reading
Windy City Parrot Videos- November 2016
cat-eggs-budgie-wp

Windy City Parrot Videos- November 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghkn57fQw_A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmitjN24eYI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yQMbVhtnGk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZUzJgpboRw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLXmc7l5DKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GIJ1BBe5EE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUaVdivyDsQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8BZuzkmark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh4Bu89h02U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE3KR3eWQTc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMpDW48uA0

Continue Reading
Close Menu
Independently verified
13 reviews