Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Rant-> Why we don’t know Jack about proper perch sizes for caged birds.

All these bloody geniuses on the Internet. YouTube rock stars of bird care. “Where are you getting your information?”

Avian vets have the of ability to predict the outcome of interactions between multiple birds. “Don’t put that bird near the other bird – an attack is imminent!”

Humans with no credentials will make videos about bird care without a stitch of evidence to present that the information they present is accurate.

We have 10-year-old pages on our website that will tell you precisely the diameter of perches certain size birds require. 

Search your browser for the term “proper perch sizes” and you get “About 1,720,000 results (0.43 seconds)”

This begs the question if all of this information is so accurate it should be easy to take care of a pet bird and yet there are only half as many households with pet birds in the United States today as there were 12 years ago.

The number of bird rescues is skyrocketed and all are bursting at the seams while underfunded.

Editor’s note: To add insult to injury because the pet bird market is so small, bird rescues get so very little notice compared to the preponderance of high-profile no-kill dog shelters.

Why is that?

The Internet is a wonderful thing. We make a living from the Internet. Everything we do is Internet-related.

We all have 6-inch screens, 10-inch screens, 15-inch screens, and even 40-inch screens.

We have Google so we know everything! Yet the number of birds ending up in rescues still exceeds the number of birds ending up in homes.

Why is that?

The answer is quite simple. Birds have no access to the Internet. They have no idea about the information that humans are manufacturing and acquiring about their needs.

Birds and their needs have not changed for 50 million years. Unlike humans, birds have not created massive and sophisticated civilizations like cities. Birds in the wild still live in flocks – not in the “bird” room.

Birdcage perches – the ultimate video guide – materials- sizing – placement – Video

Pet birds still need to be contained in birdcages because of their urge to be flighted and free.

Today we are tearing up the “digital instructions” that the Internet has built for us. We are going back to actually interact with our birds to determine what their needs are.

An amazing amount of cage bird keepers reach out to us looking for cages and accessories for their birds that the bird has gotten used to over the past years. They don’t want to disturb or upset the bird.

I’m sorry but what purpose does this serve? We create a set of criteria we feel our birds must adhere to for happiness. Do we ever get the input from the bird?

I wish had taken a picture or two this past weekend but we drove 75 miles to Demotte, Indiana with Peaches in her travel cage to get some winterizing done on our travel trailer.

Like most humans, we enjoy hot and cold running water and a problem caused our trailer to be deficient in running water at all. Concurrently a good friend reached out to us and asked if we wanted to stop by his place (100 miles away) in South Bend Indiana for spaghetti dinner?

Why not? We snatched Peaches from her Indiana cage put her back in the travel cage and the next thing we knew she was on Joe’s kitchen table waiting to nibble on some pasta that was smelling wonderful.

She ended up sleeping in her travel cage on a chair right next to me and even though the room was dark I allowed the front of the cage not to be covered so she could see my silhouette.

In the morning I brought the travel cage back out to the kitchen table. Now our Senegal parrot could enjoy the daylight.

Peaches the Senegal parrot flight training week 3 ~ Video

I like to sleep late but Catherine and our friend Joe were up early. Catherine opened the travel cage and let Peaches climb to the top and wait for me to awake

Eventually, I wandered into the kitchen where Peaches was beside herself to see me so I grabbed her, clunked her on my shoulder so we could all have breakfast together on a leisure Sunday morning with friends.

Question?

Do you make your birds part of your meals? Did you make it to a social activity for your birds?

Written by Mitch Rezman
Approved by Catherine Tobsing

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