Hellos and Goodbyes.

A new year brings hope for a peaceful, prosperous time when everything goes right. I can’t say that 2015 was such a year. I lost good friends, precious birds, and some of my self confidence. So understand that whatever I post in this blog is my opinion and should be considered as such, not really expert advice.

A Fool for Lovebirds

My flock had a great holiday. Everyone got millet, even the big parrots. Maynard was less than thrilled but the greys loved it. And every cage got one new toy or swing or something. Sun conures Zazu and Sunny got a long boing that hangs from the top of their tall cage, with a round boing attached at the bottom. They have been attacking it and playing on it non-stop.

The Colorful Tree

Imagine you could train parrots and other birds to sit still on a holiday tree! You could decorate a tree as tall as the sky, and have the most stunning creation ever. Which birds would you use? Here are my picks.

What to Get Your Parrot for the Holidays

Fresh food would be at the top of the list for at least half of my flock. The other half still turns up their beaks at quinoa and broccoli. If I get them toys, I have to leave them nearby until they stop being scary. Probably should start now for next year.

What Your Parrot is Thinking

This will be a short post. Just kidding! Actually, as we know, birds are a lot smarter than many people think. It seems crows are up at the top, maybe smarter than Congo African Greys, although I find that hard to believe. But the evidence can’t be argued with. http://www.welcomewildlife.com/worlds-smartest-birds/

Lovebird Nursery

Lots of parrots and other birds have great personalities and are fun to be with. If I had to choose only one bird to have, I would cry a lot. But I think I would choose a lovebird. Right now I am handfeeding 3 violet mutation lovebirds, and it blows me away how much personality they already have, and how different they are from each other.

A Parrot’s Holiday List

Today’s blog post is written by Maynard, the double yellow headed Amazon parrot who owns me.

Happy Holidays, folks! You know, your parrot needs to celebrate special days as much as you do. So be sure to include the feathered kids in the planning and decorating. For instance, when you bring a dead tree into the house, leave a few bare branches for parrots to perch on. We will add a few colorful decorations for you. You don’t even have to ask.

Endangered Birds

This time of year, there are lots of cliches out about helping and giving and remembering those in need. I hope to avoid that while still reminding your that there are ways we can help save some birds from extinction. Even if we aren’t on the front lines, fighting to save important habitat lands and nesting sites, even if we aren’t conducting artificial insemination on endangered birds in captive breeding, there are many things we can do.

Winter Birds

One of the common questions I hear when people look at my aviaries is how the birds manage in the winter without a source of heat. They don’t tend to ask that about the wild birds in the area, and that’s rather interesting. But here’s the key to keeping outside birds in Southern California winters.