A clear theme that emerges after reading endless threads on Facebook is “my bird won’t play with toys” – “my bird doesn’t play with toys” “my bird only wants to chew the keys off my notebook computer”.
How do Amazon parrots use light to synthesize Vitamin D having no preening gland?
As I was curating this post on Amazon parrot questions it got me thinking about one of my favorite subjects, full spectrum lighting and the synthesis of vitamin D in birds.
Amazon parrots are relatively unique having no preening gland (along with doves, pigeons and Hyacinth macaws).
The uropygial aka preening gland oozes a slippery goo which a bird rubs its head and beak against. Then spreads this oil over its feathered body.
Hi Didi
We rescued an 8 1/2-year-old female Senegal parrot about 13 months ago. She’s not our first rodeo.
We operate an avian-only pet supply business. We get bird food delivered five days a week. It’s inevitable that bags break and that’s what Peaches gets as I explain in the video below.
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The Truth About Seeds White Paper | March 25, 2004
Over the years many have misunderstood the role of seeds in a quality psittacine food. Bird handlers, bird breeders, magazine editors, chat rooms, store owners, avian veterinarians, and manufacturers, have at times made misleading, and probably unknowingly naive, and harmful statements in regards to this subject.
One should consider that lay knowledge of complex nutritional and metabolic systems in animals usually leads to the loudest voice in the din being heard the most.
Your African grey may have upwards of 8000 feathers. Feathers keep a bird warm, and dry and enable flight.
For a molt to occur, the old feather must be removed. Before molting begins blood vessels that support the feathers dry up so the attached feather becomes loosened by the surrounding tissue.
You’ve been elevated to zookeeper
Dear Mitch,
I need advice in so many “bird” areas that I don’t know where to begin. Â It seems that all the personal bird stores are disappearing and even the good vets are a rarity. Â I have been involved with birds for almost thirty years.
I ordered a small crock on Amazon about a year ago and that is how I became “connected” with Windy City, your Sunday newsletters, etc. Â It is the result of a vision “issue” that discourages me with the computer and I do much better “talking”.
Hello! I have a question concerning Indian Ringnecks.
I have 2 males, ages 9 and 11, both rescues, each very unique, due somewhat to their reasons for rescue.
I just read that soy might contribute to hormonal behavior. Agni, full-flighted, gregarious, toy lover, loves soybeans.
Eats them every day with fruit and other veggies. Should I cut him off in Springtime?
There is no perfect seed, blend or pellet diet for any exotic bird species. Our Senegal parrot Peaches eats whatever broken bags or tubs we get with our deliveries. Â
She probably has five or six brands in her food storage container currently. I even toss in large parrot food and simply crack the big nuts open for her.
Not all pellets on the same. The concept behind pellets is they are an engineered food  containing 100% of all the nutrition that a bird needs.  At the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute  they have third generation quaker parrots who have been eating Hagen Tropican exclusively for 25 years.
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.
