Bintel Has Issues

This is Bintel! He is such a character! He is visiting while his house is being painted inside.


Bintel has some feather issues. I am always trying to make him comfortable and content. I thought he might enjoy some time in the extra large enclosure in my living room. Wrong! He didn't like it at all! He held onto the side as if he were in jail. Poor Bintel. He feels more comfy inside a smaller cage. So I tried various toys and distractions. The one thing that was a hit...a peanut. Not the best thing for a feather picker but it made him calm and happy.

It's The Simple Things That Count

This is Odie. He is a sweet gentle umbrella cockatoo.

He wasn't interested in any fancy toys. He enjoyed chewing on the corrugated cardboard that I wove in and out of his cage bars. He really loved the small foot toy that I made by rolling up some of that cardboard with an almond inside. I used a small zip tie to secure it. He held this and nibbled on it for an hour! Some birds have a very short attention span. Some, like Odie, can work on "a project" for a long time.

Cassie Rules The Day

We had another Grey Play Day and, as usual, Cassie had the most fun of all of us! Some people might consider her handicapped because she has only stubs for legs. Since this happened when she was a tiny hatchling, she doesn't act at all handicapped!

Cassie supervises her mom (and the rest of us) from her basket nest in the middle of the table. With all the toy making supplies around her, she chooses only to destroy her own basket and the few things that are supposed to be "off limits". Yeah, right. That only spurs her on! Christine, her mom, finds it especially difficult to say "no" to this little imp. They have a wonderful respectful relationship. Although, I believe Cassie has the upper hand!

With over 11,000,000 birds in the United States, I sincerely feel they add a wonderful sense of humor to our daily lives. We shouldn't feel sorry for them just because they have to be caged. They interact with us and observe us as we do them. We both benefit. We entertain them....they entertain us!

This blog accepts comments now, so please feel free to post yours! Is guilt a part of your life with birds?

Shower Personalities

Here is a sampling of different shower personalities.


My macaw, Lucy and my Alaskan guest, Sierra, have learned to relish the experience. They spread their wings and can't seem to get enough water on them. Barnaby, however, just sits there. He tolerates the shower. I find this very unusual. Usually amazons come unglued in the shower. They often turn inside out to get the water on every feather. Whereas macaws are less animated, at least when they're dry. This just goes to show you that one shouldn't generalize when it comes to parrots!

A Little Burd Told Me

Burd is one of my smaller clients! His mom went to see the inauguration.

I arrived and, at first, Burd didn't quite know what to do. However, once I showed him his little treat cup, he came right out! No surprise!

After that, it was all easy as pie. Except Burd loves to fly! My job was to see that he got some exercise. He did! And he was so light that I hardly noticed when he landed on my head.

Needless to say, we had a very fun time. Burd is a talkative and active little budgie. He chattered and sang and seemed extremely happy.

He has a lovely home where he reigns as King. Long live the King!

Toy Making Success

Here you can see how brave and bold Barnaby is. I installed one of the toys that I put together and he didn't waste any time at all getting over to it!

Sherry is hoping for the same success, however, a grey has a whole different approach to any new toy. Most greys take a while to warm up to anything new. Part of that is that they don't want to give you the satisfaction of thinking you did something right.

Greys like to make you sweat. Niki looks at the wonderful new creation with a judgmental stance.

I made Chauncey a tube feeder out of a cardboard tube. I wanted to have him dig out one Harrison's cube at a time. He tends to shovel his food all over the floor. Fun eh? Not when it costs a small fortune! When he saw the simple tube with the tiny hatch at the bottom, he moved to the opposite side of his cage and froze. Such a scardy cat!

Barnaby At Parrot Club Med

As you can see...


Barnaby is having the time of his life while he waits for mom to return from the snowy midwest. He benefited from our toy making party yesterday. All the other birds look at our new creations with a wary eye...Not Barnaby. He climbs right on and starts investigating every detail.

He also seems to revel in the warm sun outside. I've never seen any bird more content to just bask.

Barnaby has a big personality and adds a lot to this crazy parrot home.

Yet Another Outdoor Cage

Someone sent me a CraigsList posting for an outdoor cage! I, of course, couldn't resist and purchased it. This unseasonably warm weather has every bird itching to be outside.

This top photo is Sierra testing out the huge manzanita perches and roomy 8' x 6' x 6' cage.

Also shown are photos of my son, Paul, and his friend, Alan, putting the cage together using stainless steel J clips.

Now, almost all of the big birds can enjoy the sunny days at the same time.

Now the weather will surely turn cold! But I am ready for any day warm enough for some outdoor time!




Keep your eye on CraigsList to secure your own outdoor aviary! What a delight!

Untame Parrots

This is Esha and Delilah. Esha is the Congo Grey and Delilah is the Blue Front Amazon. Esha is handle able but not very socialized to strange surroundings. That is livable.



Delilah, on the other hand, is especially wild and not open to being handled at all. She has a wonderful personality as long as you don't want to touch her! Her delicate voice and "Hi Sweetie" is endearing but the immediate response to opening the cage is "Go ahead, make my day!"



She pins her eyes, lowers to a horizontal position, and flares her tail. Don't mess with me is her stance.

To tame a bird like this, takes a lot of time and a whole lot of patience. Sitting near her cage with the door open and just reading or watching TV would be a good way to desensitize her to the cage door being open. From there, small encouragements using food treats and a calm submissive approach with downcast eyes would hopefully eventually get her to trust you and move towards you peacefully. Perhaps her owners do this and have a better rapport with her than I did.

I unfortunately had to trim her nails and wings upon her arrival which gave me a place on her "pooplist" so to speak!

Toy Success

You can sure tell that the birds around here are all in favor of our toy making parties! Buster goes to town on the newest cluster of goodies.

Barnaby is closely inspecting the large rolled mat toy that is installed in the Exotic Enclosure for all to play with. He eventually climbed all over it.

Some birds are fearful of large new scary toys...not Barnaby! He went right over to take a look! What a guy.

The birds all love to watch when the toy making gathering is taking place. With their keen vision, it must be very stimulating. All those neat parts! Let me at em!

A Chance To Stretch

Every parrot home should have a place for the bird(s) to get away from the cage and really stretch the wings.
In my home, this place (during cold weather) is The Ropes. This setup works like magic for any size bird. These photos show Oro and Azul absolutely having a blast.
They crawl all over the apparatus and flap and hang upside down. It helps dissipate some of their energy. Hanging out on top of a cage or on a T stand just doesn't provide the same opportunities. As you know, I strongly suggest The Atom hanging from the ceiling with a ceiling guard as the best possible investment. Birds usually don't come off of this as they would climb down the base of a regular stand. Please purchase your Atom from the inventor and originator, Michelle at Mother Pluckin Bird Toys. www.mpbirdtoys.com They last "forever" and you will not regret this investment in your bird's play and exercise. After all, good mental and emotional health will aide in many behavioral problems.

Lost and Found

When all the cockatiels are out and having fun, I periodically check on them to count noses. They love to climb around and visit each other's cage tops. Shelley was helping me get the morning chores done and when I suggested she pop into the tiel room to take a count she didn't immediately find Munchie.
After looking all around, she heard a rustling. Deep down in the trash bag! Munch had found a cozy little space and set up his "nest". What a guy! He did NOT want to "be saved". He preferred to nestle in and hide from us!
We eventually coaxed him to come out. Munchkin is 9 years old and he wants to set up housekeeping!

Cozy Place to Chill

This is PJ. Can you see her? She has some feather issues and, therefore, wears a disk collar and chest protector. Don't feel sorry for her because she is very happy. Her most comfortable place to chill is in her Limbo Swing. (Hanger Toys) This allows her to hide and feel cozy. We should all have such a place!