How Long Should It Take for a Cockatiel to Grow Back Clipped Wing Feathers?
Cockatiel-sitting-on-a-partial-moon-looking-down-blog2

How Long Should It Take for a Cockatiel to Grow Back Clipped Wing Feathers?

How long should it take for a Cockatiel to grow back clipped wing feathers?

 

I have a 7-month-old cockatiel, he’s super happy all the time and is “shedding” his down feathers constantly lately. The people we bought him from at about 2 to 3 months old were clipping his wings and he still hasn’t been able to fly properly. We keep him clean, happy, and healthy.

 

My answer

 

For the record, we are proponents of keeping birds flighted. But if a person loses a bird because it is flighted and they walked outside with the bird on their shoulder un-tethered – they are a dumbass.


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The Bird of Time: Cognition and the Avian Biological (Circadian) Clock
25089727 - image of yellow parrot sitting on alarm clock

The Bird of Time: Cognition and the Avian Biological (Circadian) Clock

Front Mol Neurosci. 2012; 5: 32.
Published online 2012 Mar 22. Prepublished online 2012 Feb 1. doi:  10.3389/fnmol.2012.00032
PMCID: PMC3309970The bird of time: cognition and the avian biological clock
Vincent M. Cassone* and David F. Westneat
Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ►
 
abstract

Avian behavior and physiology are embedded in time at many levels of biological organization. Biological clock function in birds is critical for sleep/wake cycles, but may also regulate the acquisition of place memory, learning of song from tutors, social integration, and time-compensated navigation.

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At What Age Do Parrots Fully Mature?
Woman with Parrot on Shoulder Standing by The Van

At What Age Do Parrots Fully Mature?

Apologies in advance, I’ll be stepping on some toes here. But first I will man up and say I don’t have a good answer, here’s why.

Captive bird keepers regardless of their avian resume cite all sorts of, “facts”. Certain species mature at this age, other species mature at another age.

A question I ask rhetorically all the time is, “if we have all these facts at hand – THE right cage size – THE right perch size – that pellets are the ONLY food parrots should eat…

In that we know so much about birds with certainty, why has captive bird ownership in the US done nothing but decrease for the past 10 years while bird rescue populations have done nothing but rise?

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Cockatoos – Learning About a Few of the Species
Close up of a black cockatoo eating seed out of a woman's hand

Cockatoos – Learning About a Few of the Species

By request from one of our Facebook fans, Teresa – we will start off talking about the Goffin cockatoo. Known formally as the Tanimbar Corella. These adorable little birds are about 12 inches long from head to tail.

The males weigh about 300 g (about 10 oz) and the females weigh about 50 g less. Like many other cockatoos they have a crest they raise and lower on top of their head.

As Cockatoos go, this one is a quieter Cockatoo which makes it a terrific pet. You have to be careful what you do in front of these birds like opening the cage latch because they will watch it and mimic it rather quickly.

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More About the Importance of Lighting for Captive Birds
2-lights-over-budgie-cage-aviary

More About the Importance of Lighting for Captive Birds

Birdcage lighting for 3 parrots

 

Hi Mitch,

 

I am fairly new to reading your blog, so I hope I am not asking questions that are too redundant. I have three birds – an almost 4-year-old male Bodini Amazon, a 2-year-old male Blue-headed Pionus, and a feisty little female Parrotlet. I have two questions really.

 

First, I would like to know if what I am currently doing is adequate or not. My birds have their own room where their cages are. The room is furnished with a fountain, a tree, hanging toys, etc. – basically a parrot playground. There is only one overhead light in the room that is just an LED daylight bulb.

 

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My Ringneck Parakeets Are Biting Me One Day After I Bought Them – Help
2-african-ringnecks-on-bird-water-bowl

My Ringneck Parakeets Are Biting Me One Day After I Bought Them – Help

You may have noticed the “live help” tab at the bottom of the site coming on now and then: Here’s a “fly on the wall” look

Chatting with Guest (Egypt)

Mitch: Hello, how can I help?

Visitor: I brought 2 Indian parrots 6 months old yesterday.

Visitor: Yesterday they were nice but today they tend to bite so hard.

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Do Power Lines Affect the Health of Birds, When They Perch on Them?
Quakers-in-large-Quaker-nest-1

Do Power Lines Affect the Health of Birds, When They Perch on Them?

Questions about birds I answered on Quora the week of 3/13/17.

Do power lines affect the health of birds, when they perch on them?

I can’t speak to power lines but I know that Quaker parrots are colonial animals. They build large nests where a whole colony can live enabling them to survive brutal Chicago winters.

A heat source they seek out and build their nests in is electrical transformers. ComEd has access to a number of Quaker rescues who will come and get the birds when requested.

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How Can You Compare the Personalities of an African Grey and a Macaw?
african-grey-macaw-blog

How Can You Compare the Personalities of an African Grey and a Macaw?

That is not really a fair question. The personality of a captive bird is determined by many factors and the environment that humans provide for them.

The bigger question is are we seeing the paratroop personality or does being a captain of birds change everything? In other words, would a bird be different in the wild than in captivity?

There is no single event, procedure, or training apparatus that will cause a bird to act like this or that, be an uncontrollable screamer, feather self-mutilation, or toe-tapper (a neurological issue in some Eclectus parrots).

Most people fail in raising captive birds because they don’t “speak bird”. It is essential to look at a pet bird holistically because every component of their life impacts their behavior.

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