Hi! I very much enjoy your emails and all the information you provide. By the way, my green conure (Wyndle) looks just like the bird you have in the picture with you, Mitch.
Wyndle is a “mutt”, not a pedigree like my Sun Conure was. She has a HUGE personality and is full of spunk; very strong, inquisitive, eats all day (not overweight, tho), etc.
Start with the Endangered Species Act from 1973
Quaker parrots are illegal to own or sell in
1 – Weigh your bird
Birds are prey animals. Evolution has taught them that if they look weak they are more subject to an attack by a predator in the wild. Thus it is not uncommon to see a bird appear to be healthy one day then fall over dead the next because there are no visual symptoms like you can see with a cat or dog.
One of the most precise tools you can obtain for a mere $19 is our best bird scale ever which can be used to weigh birds from budgies to large macaws.
When you weigh your bird regularly at least twice a month you can easily see large swings in weight gain or loss possibly indicating an illness without being visible by looking at the bird.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T that is what your parrot needs
Aretha Franklin famously sang the song Respect where that word was spelled out as above. The song was about demanding that a man respect her if he wanted her love. But the same word applies to our parrots just as much if we want to develop good, healthy, loving relationships with them.
These magnificent animals are not like domesticated dogs and, in some cases even cats, whereupon first meeting, positive interaction is likely.
Cora Q. is concerned about,
My Green Cheek conure is having a problem molting.
His feathers are not replacing fully.
Lots of downy feathers.
Not replacing color.
It has been almost two months.
Marsha C. asks,
I need a 66-inch manzanita perch for my macaw’s cage.
It is a large, double-wide cage and my bird is destructive so I really need another manzanita perch.
Do you have any single branches that long?
It amazes me that a lot of bloggers have a hard time coming up with ideas. I have an inventory of ideas for our Sunday morning get-togethers. Ideas are…
To start with, begin understanding the scope for your choice of pet birds. Here is a list of more than 500 species you can choose from each having its own nuances.
I stress making this distinction because so many people talk about things like “make sure you don’t get a bird larger than a conure or a parakeet”.
If you break down that statement it’s really nonsensical because conures range from 64 grams (green cheeks) to 280 g (Patagonians) the size of a Timneh African Grey.
Cecelia B. writes,
Hi, Mitch and Catherine,
I’ve been living with conures for thirty-five years and am seeing behavior that is new to me.
I have two male Sun conures who are brothers.
They are about fifteen years old.
Until a few weeks ago, they were a very happy bonded couple, mating frequently, grooming and feeding each other, sharing a cage, and getting along just fine.
One of them, Max, recently started pulling Min’s head feathers out, pecking Min’s head and leaving bloody spots.
Just as the name implies, this is a series of quick and easy ways to help your birds stay happy and healthy around the clock.
This is a series of short but incisive ideas you can apply today bringing you closer to bird care nirvana.
The number of things necessary to provide foraging enrichment for your birds can be found in a series of quick and simple ideas.
