Congratulations – You’re No Longer a Caged Bird Keeper.
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Congratulations – You’re No Longer a Caged Bird Keeper.

You’ve been elevated to zookeeper

Dear Mitch,

I need advice in so many “bird” areas that I don’t know where to begin.  It seems that all the personal bird stores are disappearing and even the good vets are a rarity.  I have been involved with birds for almost thirty years.

I ordered a small crock on Amazon about a year ago and that is how I became “connected” with Windy City, your Sunday newsletters, etc.  It is the result of a vision “issue” that discourages me with the computer and I do much better “talking”.

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Humans Have Lots of Bird Advice – Don’t Get One, They’re Hard to Raise
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Humans Have Lots of Bird Advice – Don’t Get One, They’re Hard to Raise

The following content is from 3 inquiries we received that we thought would be helpful by sharing.

We have four zebra finches in an outdoor aviary, with three walls being the exterior of our house, and the fourth wall is wire mesh.

We are in San Diego, and our nights can drop down to 40-50 degree. We are planning to add plexiglass panels over the mesh at night, and we are trying to decide on a heat source.

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My Birds Don’t Diminish My Air Quality – Doc.
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My Birds Don’t Diminish My Air Quality – Doc.

Water Wind & Stars replied  – Oct 4, 10:12pm

After writing my first message I took a big pile of towels and curtains from the bathroom where my birds’ cage had been located and carried them to the basement to wash the bird dander out; the pile was big enough to cover my nose and mouth.

Not more than 5 minutes after I came back upstairs, I started to cough in the breathless, slightly spasming way that has been the main symptom of my lung issue.

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What Is the Best Parrot for an Apartment?
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What Is the Best Parrot for an Apartment?

What is the best parrot for an apartment? The answers thus far have been pretty limited (on Quora).

We (Mitch & Catherine) live in a three-flat apartment building, erected circa 1885 in the geographical center of the city of Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood.

It’s 1800 ft.² with 9 1/2 foot ceilings. The all-brick building is quite solid.

We like parrots. We are in the (caged bird) pet supply business. It’s our job to know about them.

For the record, we don’t sell any birds. We simply teach proper care for about 750 captive bird species out of approximately 10,400 species of birds on the planet.

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Birds That Work for Money – You Won’t Believe Some of Their Jobs

The Police featuring Sting, one of my favorite artists (and groups) were singing a great little ditty the other day on satellite radio and it got me thinking. The name of the song was Canary In A Coal Mine.

The theme of the song was “you live your life like a canary in a coal mine”. We’ve all had friends like that, but I digress.

For the unindoctrinated or too young to know about this, years ago caged canaries were brought down into coal mine shafts.

They acted as the first warning sign that oxygen was being depleted and replaced with dangerous gases such as methane or carbon monoxide. Their method of warning the coal miners – was to die (in most cases).

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Poicephalus – 9 African Parrot Species not Ending in Grey
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Poicephalus – 9 African Parrot Species not Ending in Grey

Editor’s note: this post was written almost 4 years ago to the day. I’m using it in an answer on Quora regarding how to quiet birds.

There was no way to have predicted at the writing of this article that we would become companion to a Senegal (poicephalus) parrot. The universe is too complicated to be arbitrary.

Thank you to Ann K. one of our Facebook fans. She’s planning on getting a Cape Parrot soon and was unable to find a lot of information on this particular species.

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Can Soy Contribute To Bad Parrot Behavior?
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Can Soy Contribute To Bad Parrot Behavior?

Hello! I have a question concerning Indian Ringnecks.

I have 2 males, ages 9 and 11, both rescues, each very unique, due somewhat to their reasons for rescue.

I just read that soy might contribute to hormonal behavior. Agni, full-flighted, gregarious, toy lover, loves soybeans.

Eats them every day with fruit and other veggies. Should I cut him off in Springtime?

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