Calling all veterinarians and PhD’s
to answer this one simple question
(none of you return my emails or respond to my Facebook questions)
How does artificial light really aid enable vitamin D/D3 syntheses in birds?
What is the best parrot for an apartment? The answers thus far have been pretty limited (on Quora).
We (Mitch & Catherine) used to (until 2019 when we migrated to Indiana) 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.
Elucidating Parrot Problems Posted in Aug 2017
How can I make a constantly loud parrot permanently silent (or at least quieter)? from Quora
With between 300 and 400 species of parrots across the planet to say they are ALL noisy is patently untrue.
Mitch,
Have you written about “bird sleep”? I watched an eagle chick go from hatchling to fledgling and during the process, both the chick and parents seemed to sleep only periodically, preening much of the night.
The question “How are African Grey Parrots to keep as pets?” came from Quora
“Come on, fess up!
You’ve done the unthinkable. You’ve actually thought of getting an African Grey but the horror stories of screaming, biting and plucking keep you “centered” or “sane”.
What if you had a mentor?
That’s why you have me!
Learn Amazon parrot care from one of Windy City Parrot’s customers – who gets it.
Hello, Mitch
I’ve followed your blog for quite a while and always appreciate your perspectives and insights. I was pretty much gutted when I read your article on Sunday … “Birds in cages suffer all their lives.”
I want my bird to have a happy and healthy a life as possible, but I read and hear so much contradictory information that I’m really not sure if I am providing what she needs— and I do try.
What are the pros and cons of having a pet bird? was asked on Quora. This answer motivated me to set the record straight.
Pros
If you do it right, you’re going to have a loving companion animal for the next 60 years.
Cons,
If you do it wrong, you’re going to have a very unhappy bird for the next 60 years.
They can live sixty years or more.
They’re loud (a cockatoo’s scream has been measured at over 100db, compared to 130db for a jet engine at 100 feet).
They throw food.
Quora is a cool place for content. Unfortunately, there are a lot of amateurs answering questions with some, well, wrong answers. This particular question ran off the rails quite early.
With 10,400 (plus or minus) species of birds, the question is rather vague. Parrots a.k.a. hookbills, parakeets, and conures all generally reside in temperate climates. One exception we know quite well here in Chicago is the Monk parakeet or Quaker parrot.
I’ve often said the perfect size cage for a Green Wing Macaw is 30 acres. Many birds can and do suffer miserably in cages. There are ways we can offset the majority of the stress for our captive birds — but many of us do not.
Full transparency — I’m a companion to one Senegal parrot and four budgies. That in and of itself does not make me an expert. What makes me an expert in my 15 years of interacting with tens of thousands of captive bird owners while operating the Windy City Parrot website
Dear Mitch, Catherine, and associates,
First thank you for the opportunity to contact you about my parrot, who’s a BF Amazon, named “Dollar.” I wish to add, I adopted him at 6 yrs old, and he wouldn’t let me call him any other name than what it had been.
So, he’s a fabulously happy birdie, but several years in a row around this time of year, he begins to regurgitate and swallow, over and over again. He holds the top of a bell and raises and lowers his head like an oil well, only really fast.
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