Support Phoenix Landing by Becoming a Member

Phoenix Landing launched a membership program! Now, in addition to volunteering as a foster parront, shopping at the PL store, and contributing items to their charity auctions, you can also show your support by becoming a member. Membership benefits include a nice bit of schwag.

The membership program debuted today at the Peruvian Parrot Party event. I joined at the Conure Level; $100 bucks a year allows me to support Phoenix Landing, and got me a 2009 parrots of Phoenix Landing calendar, subscription to the newsletter, a pin, a PL member T-Shirt, a small discount on toy purchases, and a couple other things.

Membership starts at $25 and goes up to $1000, with member benefits increasing proportionately. Very soon, you should be able to join on the web, but for now you can do it in person at any upcoming lecture. Update: You can now become a member via the Phoenix Landing website.

Phoenix Landing T-shirt (member logo)

In addition to my membership swag, I also bought a bunch of new toys, including another Barrel of Fun toy, an acrylic treat maze, and some pine and wicker chew toys. (Phoenix Landing events always feature a huge assortment of toys, but these are not available through their online store so I’m linking to my prefered online pet store: Drs. Foster & Smith – The Trusted Name in Pet Bird Supplies)

The event itself was also fascinating. Dr. Brightsmith, of the Tambopata Macaw Project, gave two lectures based on his research: one covering the reintroduction of captive bred macaws into the wild, and another about the diet of wild parrots compared to pet birds.

Like always, several foster birds were on hand for people to interact with. Today there were two vocal amazons, an affectionate sulfur crested cockatoo, several adorable cockatiels, a feisty green cheek conure, one noisy little sun conure, and a gorgeous but slightly cranky blue and gold macaw.

If you’re interested in learning more about parrots — whether it be adoption, fostering, diets and nutrition, socialization, training, species personalities, etc — and you live on the East Coast, I highly encourage to attend a Phoenix Landing event and consider becoming a member.

For more info and background on Phoenix Landing, a parrot adoption group based in North Carolina and Virginia, check out my interview with Founder Ann Brooks.

p.s. a BIG thanks to the volunteers who organized the “pot luck” (more like “feast”). I’ve never eaten so well or so varied at a lecture.

Enjoying the Outdoors in Travel Cages

After Mika had her shower on Saturday morning, I took her and Stewie out on the balcony in their travel cages to soak up some sun. Stewie admired her wet bird look and decided to take a bath in his water dish.

It was such a gorgeous weekend, the entire flock (myself included) enjoyed hanging out on the balcony.

Both of them now have similar travel cages.

The two travel cages are basically plain ol’ cockatiel cages you find at pet stores: much too small for permanent homes, but perfect as travel cages. Since the travel cage is only for transport and short stays, I’m not as concerned about the bar diameter or spacing; I just wanted something light-weight, roomy enough for either bird to move around just in case they had to stay in it for a few days, and easy to store.

Here’s a closer shot of Mika in her new travel cage showing off her pretty blue and green wing feathers.

Mika’s previous travel carrier was a mesh and polyester contraption that was very convenient for being able to fold down into a small space.

What was not quite convenient about it was that Mika managed to chew her way out of it!

On our last car ride I had to pinch pieces of it together to prevent her from sticking her entire head through the hole she created … we even stopped at a PetCo on the way home to see if we could find a travel cage right then and there.

In the end, I ordered the cage online at BirdCages.com, the same site I bought my other cages. In the past their delivery was so amazingly fast that I decided I’d even order a dinky little cage from them. Shipping was still free, but it took close to a week. Not bad at all, but my big 100-lb cages arrived in TWO days.

Six days is a perfectly reasonable amount of time to wait with free shipping, but I was in a hurry for it to arrive since I didn’t have anything to transport her in (except the now exceptionally well ventilated Port-a-Pet) …and you never know what’s going to come up that’ll require a trip outside the house.

p.s. You can often find good deals on used travel carriers for birds on eBay, Craigs List and similar sites.

Parrot Props and Trick Training Toys

When clicker training your bird, you should teach at least three prop behaviors before you work on non-prop behaviors (to avoid having the bird use his first and strongest behavior as way to beg for treats or attention). A training prop could be anything, it doesn’t have to be expensive, but sometimes it’s just easier to buy a prop specifically designed for bird training.

Since finding parrot training props isn’t as easy as it should be, I’ve gathered together various links I’ve bookmarked where you can find trick training toys for birds. If you know of other good sources for clicker training props, please leave a comment and and I’ll add it to the list. If you’d like to share your shopping experience with any of the parrot supply stores below, I’d welcome that as well since I haven’t tried all these sites out myself.

Parrot Clicker Training Kit

• “Getting Started” Clicker Training for Birds” Kit includes the definitive book on the subject, a clicker, a target stick and training treats!!

Birdie Basketball

• http://www.birdsjustwannahavefun.com/toys_trick_props.htm
• http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop_details.php?prod=1431
• http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop_details.php?prod=863
• http://www.birdsupplies.com/Parrot-Basketball-Hoop-Prop-p/mgo-1207.htm
• http://www.birdalog.com/index.cfm/S/32/N/263/Basket_Ball_Hoop.htm

Ring Toss Toys and Props

• http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=5059+16444+16446&pcatid=16446
• http://www.birdboardshop.com/fm213.html
• http://stores.parrotprops.net/Detail.bok?no=15
• http://www.birdsupplies.com/Shapes-Ring-Toss-Bird-Trick-Toy-p/bel-62.htm

Scooters/Skateboards for Cockatiels and Bigger Birds

• http://angelbird.bizland.com/scooter.html
• http://www.parrotsandprops.com/Products.php
• http://www.birdsupplies.com/Bird-Scooter-p/mg%20o00200.htm

Bird-Sized Roller Skates

• https://www.parrotmountain.com/ShowProducts.asp?GroupId=408
• http://www.naturechest.com/rollerskates.html
• http://www.birdalog.com/index.cfm/S/32/N/133/Bird_Skates.htm

And if money is no object for your feathered genius, check out this bicycle built for parrots.

Obviously some of these parrot tricks are much harder to teach than others, and your bird would have to be macaw-sized to operate anything as complicated as a bicycle, but don’t get discouraged — some of the behaviors are actually not that complicated to teach! Ring toss and basketball are only one step removed from retrieve (teaching your bird to fetch), which is one the first prop tricks to teach a beginner bird anyway. (Stewie’s first real trick was to put a ball in a cup, and I’m a terrible trainer. If we can do it, anyone with a little patience and a lot of humor can do the same.)

The obvious disclaimer: buy from these online parrot toy stores at your own risk. I’m not vouching for them.

Should-be-obvious statement #2: “Because they do cool tricks” is not a good reason to run out and buy a parrot. Tigers jump through hoops of fire – doesn’t mean you just run out and get one because of that. Ok, enough preaching.

For your viewing pleasure: A Macaw Parrot Riding a Bicycle, among other things:

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Update: Wayne’s Back in Business

After being MIA for a few weeks, WaynesParrotStuff.com is live on the Web again. Wayne updated his site to let everyone know that he is now working with The Golden Cockatoo to distribute his bottlebrush gyms. This will leave him free just to build his parrot playstands while the Golden Cockatoo deals with taking orders and fulfilling inventory.

Disclaimer: I see that The Golden Cockatoo also sells parrots. I’m really not a fan of pet stores selling any birds larger than cockatiels, so I have mixed feelings about recommending the store. Take that for whatever it’s worth to you. (Please visit Petfinder.com if you’re looking to add a bird to your family.)

See my previous post for my review of Wayne’s bottlebrush parrot stands.

Your Parrot Won’t Play with Toys?

One question that seems to come up a lot (at least based on Google searches that drive traffic to this site), is about pet birds not playing with toys.

Q: Why won’t my parrot play with his toys?

It’s possible your parrot doesn’t know how to play with toys. If he’s never learned, your pet bird may need you to show him. You might want to take a toy and play with it in front of him; it helps if there are a couple people doing this. Don’t give it to him, just demonstrate how much fun you’re having (don’t feel silly about being overly animated). You can even make a show of keeping it away. This should stoke your parrot’s curiosity. Like children, they want to know what the fun is about and have what they think they’re not supposed to.

After a while of having fun with the toy yourself, include your bird. Show him how it’s supposed to be played with and then play with him. Once he understands the concept he will very likely start playing with it by himself.

If you do that a couple of times, he’ll probably have an “ah ha” moment when he realizes that toys are meant to be played with and he’ll start playing with other toys on his own. And “toys” don’t need to be limited to stuff that’s marketed as “bird toys.” Anything made of bird-safe materials can be fun!

Photo of Hector by redvers

If your parrot is afraid of toys or new things in his cage, you can take a similar approach. In this case, you’ll want to keep the objects out of his cage and let him look at them from across the room — allow him to get used to and comfortable with the toys from a distance. After a day, you can bring the object just a little bit closer to his cage and, again, let you watch you play. If he’s fearful, you might need to tone down your enthusiasm and play with the toy gently. Hold it against your face, stroke it, show him that it’s something gentle and nonthreatening.

Do you have the wrong kinds of toys? If you bought lots of acrylic toys because they’re marketed as being “bird proof” and indestructible, you also have toys that aren’t as much fun to play with. Parrots like to… they need to… destroy things. It’s an instinct they need to satisfy.

Sometimes people stop buying wooden toys for the parrots because “my bird only destroyed it.” That’s great! To a bird, that IS playing. The whole purpose of wooden bird toys is for parrots to make toothpicks and sawdust out of them. Indestructible toys just aren’t very satisfying if that’s the only kind of toy your bird has.

Buying new toothpick-making materials on a weekly basis can get pricey, but there are plenty of sites on the web that will show you how to make cheap, fun toys for a fraction of their retail cost.

Photo of Kiwi by The Gut

Some birds, especially larger parrots, are big fans of puzzles and mechanical objects to manipulate (like screws and bolts). I’ve read more than one story about cockatoos and macaws dismantling their own cages. For those kinds of birds, a playstation with bird-safe stuff to manipulate can provide lots of entertainment. Other birds might not be interested at all. I got Stewie a toy with gears and cranks and he couldn’t care any less about it.

You’ll need to experiment to see what tickles your individual bird’s fancy.

Q: What are some of the best toys for conures or other parrots?

The simple answer is: the ones your bird will play with. Like I said earlier, that may require a little bit of experimentation. Just because you bought him a toy once and he didn’t touch it, doesn’t mean that you should stop giving him things to play with.

Photo of Hatch by lkalliance

You also want to provide your bird with a wide variety of toys: toys that birds can manipulate, shredder toys, toys to preen, toys that encourage foraging behavior. (Check out Stuff My Conure Likes for Stewie’s toy and treat recommendations)

I prefer Drs. Foster and Smith for most of my bird supplies. Click on the banner below to support this website.

Stuff My Conure Likes

I thought I’d compile another list of things my conure likes. Mind you, this is only Stewie-approved stuff… it doesn’t include things I think he ought to like, things I’ve purchased for him and he’s not interested in or things I just think you ought to have in case of birdie emergencies.

The list may expand in the future, but without further ado, in no particular order, stuff my conure really digs:

• Happy Hut Hideaway by Multipet
• Colored Rings Game
• Medium Cozy Corner
• Sisal Boing
• Sunny Orchard Nutri-Berries 3 lbs
• AvianMaintenance Pellets
• Small Shredder Pinata
• Hanging Foraging Puzzle
• Triangle Teaser Chew Toy
• Dehydrated Veggies
• Last, but certainly not least, Wayne’s Bottlebrush Play Gym

Every bird has its own peculiar likes and habits, so your mileage will vary, but for what it’s worth, these are my bird’s favorite toys and treats.

In Praise of Wayne’s Bottle Brush Gyms

UPDATE (August 2009): As much as I’m a fan of Wayne’s bottle brush gyms, I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about deteriorating service in terms of orders getting fulfilled in a reasonable timeframe (when you order through his website). This makes me very sad because I love the gyms, but I don’t want people placing an order on my recommendation and then end up not getting what they paid for. You may want to buy from a distributor like The Golden Cockatoo or The Platinum Parrot, which may provide more reliable service. I’ve never ordered from them so I can’t vouch for their reliability, however. Caveat emptor.

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One of the best investments I’ve ever made was a bottlebrush gym from Wayne’s Parrot Stuff. The website, to be really honest, is atrocious, even by 1997 standards. Sorry. But, and this is a big BUT… The parrot play gyms he sells on that site are absolutely superior. Wayne clearly spends more time hand-crafting his parrot play stands than he does thinking about websites.

The picture on the left is from when I unpacked and assembled it months ago. At this point it’s covered in toys. Sorry for the terrible white balance – for reference, that tray is made of formica manufactured to look like wood and it exactly matches my “birch effect” Ikea furniture! Wayne has some other faux-wood and solid-color finishes to suit most design aesthetics.

I Needed Convincing: Why Buy Another Gym?

I’ll admit that I was really skeptical about his claims. He made it sound like gyms made out of bottle brush wood were the answer to everything. Having heard quite a few good things, I decided to contact him.

I explained that Stewie has a gym that he doesn’t really use. At the time, Stewie wasn’t flighted, so he’d stay there if I put him on it. And he’d climb to the top if he was looking for a safer/higher place and it was close by. But he didn’t play on it.

Wayne assured me that this is a problem with conventional playstands but not bottlebrush parrot gyms because the wood is softer and has lots of texture. The reason parrots don’t use most play stands fully is that they don’t feel very secure, their footing unsure on the slippery perches.

Hmm, was I really going to spend a couple hundred dollars only to end up having Stewie sit on one branch like a lump on a log? I thought I’d take that chance (nothing’s too good for my little Stu-monster).

Stewie’s Reaction to the Play Stand

Stewie being the scaredy bird that he is first looked at that contraption with suspicion, but he didn’t freak out as he was prone to doing. (You’d have thought he was an African Grey or something, with those phobias.) I used a Nutriberry to lure him on

… and it was love!

Remember those happy conure noises I wrote about earlier — the “eeeeh of glee” in particular? He makes those all the time now while chewing on the bottle brush.

I won’t go on about the various attributes of Wayne’s bottlebrush gyms, since you can go read about that on his website. Suffice it to say that Stewie really likes his – surprising because he’s not the kind to go gah-gah over anything. Everything Wayne told me about the benefits of bottlebrush was true.

Now that Stewie is flighted, he pretty much flies to the play gym as soon as I let him out, going back to the cage only to get a drink of water.

My only minor critique would be that the branches extend all the way to the edge of the platform, which means that when Stewie is sitting on the edge of a branch anything (everything) he drops lands on the floor not in the tray. It’s a trade off, though. If the branches were shorter there would be less usable space to climb on; if the platform/tray were bigger the play stand would take up more space.

Really, I’m Just a Happy Customer. Honest!

Any biases or special interest you need to know about that may have influence this review? Nope, I’m not an affiliate of Wayne’s Parrot Stuff; I don’t benefit in any way if he ever sells anything else. I gave his products a shot because I heard good things from other bird owners and now I’m doing my part to spread the word about his very cool parrot stands. This is just an example of genuine word of mouth marketing in practice.

I’ll post some more pictures of the stand — all decked out in toys and with a birdie playing on it — when I get a chance.

Visit The Golden Cockatoo to purchase one of Wayne’s creations.

Update #4 (November 2009): I’m closing comments on this post. It’s great to have a discussion about options, but I don’t want to host an on-going thread about complaints that don’t actually help anyone. This isn’t the BBB and I don’t want to open myself up any liability if the comments wander into libel territory. It’s getting too hard to make the judgment calls on what gets to stays and what needs to be left off. Sorry. I’m sorry people are having problems with this vendor.

Clicker Training Coins in a Piggy Bank

I found a cute little toy store in Clarendon with a completely unusable Web interface, but a great brick-and-mortar store. As soon as I walked by the Kinder Haus I knew I had to go in (and my companion knew it was for Stewie, no foolin’ him) and I found lots of great, high-quality (German-made) toys.

Since I’d been looking for a piggy bank, I was very pleased to find a small ceramic bank that was just the right size for Stewie. And Stewie already had “coins” he could use for this prop trick: the little chips from the Connect Four game were the perfect size. (I don’t want him using real coins because they are usually filthy, plus I don’t know if the metals are a problem.)

So the next prop trick we’ll be working on is “coins in the piggy bank.” I’ve introduced the prop to him and so far he’s not very adept at putting the coins in the slot. Mostly he just places them flat on top and then watches them slide off. Silly bugger. But he has gotten it a few times, so I’m optimistic he’ll master it in just a few sessions.

Small Clicker Training Props for Birds

This is the bird prop I got for Stewie from Nature’s Chest — it’s intended to teach him color discrimination. Unfortunately it’s too small. He doesn’t have the dexterity to get the rings onto the peg.I’m going to try to teach him pull the rings off the peg instead and give them to me. He can already retrieve, and he can get the rings off the peg, so the advanced version is for him to give me the color I ask for.

Update: we spent a whole training session just taking the rings off the peg and giving them to me. To start teaching colors, I just said whatever color he was going for anyway (that way he always gets it right!) — so if he went to grab a red ring, I’d say “Bring me RED!” and then reward him. Once we get comfortable with that, I’ll put my hand on top of the other ones so the only one he can get is the one I asked for. Just need to be careful not to get nipped at because he doesn’t like it when someone interferes with his props mid trick.

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This one is the small Psitta Puzzle. For this trick, he needs to put the shapes in the corresponding hole. The description on NatureChest.com says that it might be too big for cockatiels, so I got the smallest one they had, but I probably could have gone a size up on this one too.

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Just How Smart Are Cockatoos? Check It Out!

This cockatoo’s puzzle solving skills are really impressive.

Doesn’t she look like she’s having fun? Just another example of children’s developmental toys making good (large) bird toys too. (Imagine having to keep a toddler entertained and healthy … that’s at least how much work a cockatoo takes too!)