Ten Things to Consider Before Getting a First Bird
Young smiling male seller showing cage with canary bird to girl in pet shop

Ten Things to Consider Before Getting a First Bird

or adding another parrot to your life

Taking care of a parrot is a lot of responsibility. Most of you already know this but a few may not.

Your friends that don’t own parrots probably look at yours and think they want one too, so please pass these points along to them so they can make a wise decision.

Whether you are buying your first parrot or your 10th, you need to think these things through as well.

Sharing life with a parrot is very much like living with a poorly mannered undisciplined 3 year old who will not grow up and go away to college.

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I Want My Freakin Bird Back but She’s Held Hostage by Her Eggs
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I Want My Freakin Bird Back but She’s Held Hostage by Her Eggs

Mark Hagen is to Parrot Knowledge as Dennis Yu is to social media or as Michael Jordan is to basketball.

His knowledge base of parrot breeding is second to none.

He’s got a Master’s Degree in agriculture and runs the largest single parrot research Institute on the planet – HARI.

He IS the creator of Hagen bird food.

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This Is Your Bird on Eggs. Can Chronic Egg Layers Anonymous Help?
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This Is Your Bird on Eggs. Can Chronic Egg Layers Anonymous Help?

“I’ve got a lot of addictions but not a lot of time so I’ve been going to polkaholics anonymous because they offer a two-step program” mitchr

So Popcorn our cockatiel, (pictured above) has become a prolific mom and if we put our hand within 12 inches of her in her cage, my arm will be ripped off by the doting mother sitting on 2 nonfertile eggs. We feel your pain and we are about to embark on a journey trying to figure out why this is happening and how to fix it.

Recommendations are to leave the egg(s) in place for 11 days past the time the last egg of the clutch is laid. Normal cockatiel clutches have about six eggs. Popcorn is sitting on two – does that impact her? (more…)

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Birds and Full Spectrum Lighting. We Got It Wrong.
Two parrot Corella on a background of tropical flowers

Birds and Full Spectrum Lighting. We Got It Wrong.

I was at my first AFA convention last week. It was the 41st annual convention of the American Federation of Agriculture. You’re familiar with the organization – right? Or not so much.

Members of the AFA are the unsung heroes helping solve legal, behavioral and nutritional problems if it has anything to do with an exotic bird or parrot   (more…)

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Will Changing the Term “Cage” to “Home” Fix Our Bird’s Behavioral Problems?
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Will Changing the Term “Cage” to “Home” Fix Our Bird’s Behavioral Problems?

 In a recent article in birds.about.com, Patricia Sund a “Pet Birds Expert”, states the case that the word “cage” is brutal, antiquated and out of date.

She feels bird cages should be called a “house” or “room”.She compares it to a child’s “playpen” because we never refer to a child’s playpen as a cage (even though the older wooden styles look like a cage) and she actually finds the words to be “a little offensive” and “harsh” terms for your pet bird’s home.

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Why Do Eclectus Parrot Moms Peck Their Male Chicks to Death?
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Why Do Eclectus Parrot Moms Peck Their Male Chicks to Death?

Feathered factoid: Eclectus parrots represent about 20% of parrots that are sexually dimorphic meaning you can tell the sex of the bird by it’s color.

Eclectus boys are green, girls are red. Only male Indian Ringnecks – have the ring.

It’s like headlines ripped from supermarket check-out tabloids. (more…)

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Got Pigeon Milk – For Real?
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Got Pigeon Milk – For Real?

Birds can have weird habits. I knew a Cherry-Headed Conure that loved to attack toes. Some birds will only eat food that has been through their water dish or will fall in love with a particular pair of shoes on your closet floor.

African Green Pigeons take weird habits to a new level. Pigeons in spite of not being mammals meaning I have no breasts are able to in fact produce milk. Pigeons generally incubate their eggs for about three weeks.

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