Hi Mitch,
First, we took a look at soft-billed birds which lead to an exploration of the differences between softbills – hardbills – hookbills & waxbills.
First off, I love your site and am grateful to have found it. I like local shops, don’t shop Petco, and most pet stores don’t have a great bird section anyway.
I’m writing because I have a question about Bell, my quaker parrot. He squeaks. He didn’t used to, and it seems to be getting more pronounced. When he sleeps and sometimes when he eats – it just occurred to me that it must be a breathing thing. I should take him to the vet, maybe. (more…)
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…)
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.
Remember the letters E-B-F. All your birds emotions are built upon 3 activities.
Eating – Breeding – Fleeing
This is a tail of separation anxiety between my bird and me and my mom and her village.
from the Joni Mitchell song “big yellow taxi” come the words “you don’t know what you got till it’s gone” So it was interesting to hear that popcorn was “beside herself” in my absence – I learned this from a 1000 miles away – in Oklahoma – maybe. How did I get here? Funny you should ask.
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Eclectus and African Greys have the ability to breed year-round, many times, and never show changes in their behavior.
They both reach sexual maturity around the age of three and eventually mature and grow out of it. Conversely, Amazon parrots reach sexual maturity between the ages of five and twelve.
You can expect a great deal of aggression for one to two years during this period. The good news is Amazon aggression will settle down once they are no longer hormonal.
