Not only has the Drs. Foster and Smiths sweepstakes been extended, but for four days you can win $500! No purchase necessary (but don’t your critters deserve a nice present? 
) Just enter each day for another chance to win: click to enter!
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Only four days left, and I’d love for a Best in Flock reader to be on the winners board!
Every year, the Blogger’s Choice Awards gives people the opportunity to support their favorite blogs in a variety of categories. If you like Best In Flock — tales of Mika’s and Stewie’s life, interviews with parrot trainers, tips about raising healthy parrots, and fun bird-related stories/videos — please go vote for this blog.
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Stewie says “wuck-wuck” (“thank you”)
Speaking of flying… the video below is of a French guy, who rehabilitates eagles, flying with one of his birds off a mountain top. He’s been teaching the eagle (who has a two-meter wing span!!) to fly and this is the bird’s first long flight at high altitude. The thin air tires the bird out easily so he returns to perch on his “instructor’s” arm, who is accompanying him via paragliding chute.
If you do research on whether you should allow your bird on your shoulder, you’ll find a lot of sites warning that this is a definite no-no. “Shouldering your birds leads them to think they are dominant to you.” “Allowing birds on your shoulder can cause you to lose an eye.” Etc.
Gabriel, African Grey. Photo by: halle
While absolute rules are easy to understand and pass along, the question of whether to allow your parrot on your shoulder is not as black-or-white as some other parrot-related advice. The messy truth is that whether your bird can safely be on your shoulder depends entirely on your bird.
Reasons why shouldering your bird could potentially be dangerous:
Misconceptions about why you shouldn’t let your bird on your shoulder:
If you have an bitey, unpredictable bird, don’t let him on your shoulder. Not because he might start thinking he’s higher than you in the social pecking order, but because you might get hurt. It’s really just that straight forward.
Cooper, Rainbow Lorikeet. Photo by: nettsu
Here’s a funny irony: I allow Stewie, the more aggressive and bitey of my two birds on my shoulder all the time. He’ll bite me, sometimes pretty hard, if he’s unhappy or he thinks I’m trying to coerce him into doing something he doesn’t want to do (e.g., I’m trying to pick him up to put him back in his cage). But when he’s on my shoulder, he’s a content little conure. If I turn my face, he’ll oh-so-gently and deliberately groom my eyebrows. He’s at his gentlest when he’s preening my face.
On the other hand, I prefer that Mika not be on my shoulder too much. While she’s a sweet and gentle soul, she’s also a little unpredictable and clumsy. She (almost) never bites, but she also doesn’t have separate settings for gentle and aggressive. She only has one setting which falls somewhere in between.
If she’s “biting” me, she beaks me aggressively. When she’s preening me, she preens me aggressively. All contact seems to be at the same level, not quite hard enough to be hard, but not quite gentle enough to be delicate either. She’s also very clumsy – which means that her idea of “preening” my face means falling forward into my face and pinching my eyelids. Yikes!
Boid, Moluccan Cockatoo. Photo by: sparktography
Last, but not least, Mika is a profuse pooper. My god can this girl poop. Stewie tends to poop in certainly places — not necessarily places I want him to poop, mind you, but he does seem to have his own rules about places he finds acceptable. As a consequence, he rarely poops when perched on my shoulder. Mika, on the other hand, poops whenever, wherever and as often is most inconvenient.
Thus, reason #3 not to let your bird on your shoulder: bird crap all over the back of your clothes.
I’m nursing a bruise on my knuckle.
Stewie bit me “for no reason!” (Gratuitous use of quotation marks? No, keep reading.)
He was sitting on my arm while I was working on the computer and he ran down my arm, bit down hard on my knuckle and wouldn’t let go. I yelped and flailed around ’til I basically shook him off.
(If you’re asking, Why didn’t you just ignore the bite? You’re supposed to show no reaction whatsoever… um, have you ever been bitten by a parrot? It’s almost impossible not to react when a parrot bites down. But more on that in a later post.)
The way to stop a biting habit is to avoid getting bitten in the first place, and Stewie and I have worked pretty hard at getting to the point where I trust he’s not going to bite just out of the blue … under normal circumstances. Under normal circumstances, if he’s sitting on me, he’s actually very gentle.
Non-ordinary circumstances include (but are not limited to) me holding certain evil objects; the mouse joins the Swiffer and my cell phone (the new one, the old one was just fine) on the list of things that Stewie will not tolerate me having contact with. Those I had to find out about the hard way (which means getting bitten several times before it dawned on me what I was doing wrong.) And I strongly suspect the camera would get me bitten as well if I’m not careful.
He’s fine with them if they’re just sitting there, but if I’m holding any of these objects and he’s perched on me, he will clamp down and not let go.
Why does my bird bite when I’m holding my cell phone? I don’t know. And it doesn’t really matter why he’s doing it. Parrots are funny creatures. Or rather, parrots are not domesticated animals. Who knows what’s going through their heads, what ingrained instincts they’re acting on. Maybe he’s trying to protect me from things he thinks might hurt me (in the wild, parrots will bite their mates to prompt them to flee from danger), maybe it’s redirected aggression (he wants to kill the Swiffer but can’t, so he takes his anger out on me) – there’s no way to tell. The only thing to do is make sure to be very aware of where he is if these things need to be used.
The point of this long story is actually this: a bird never bites for no reason; there’s always a reason … it’s just that sometimes that reason isn’t clear because it makes no sense to us.
If I didn’t know Stewie and his body language, and when he behaved like this, I almost certainly would have thought he bit me out of the blue and completely unprovoked. Learning how he reacts, and to what, took a while; I certainly didn’t have him figured out in a few days, weeks or even months.
So if you have a seemingly bipolar bird who “goes crazy all of a sudden”, take a close look at what happened right before the bite or what’s going on in the environment. Do these events have anything in common? You might figure out that he’s not so unpredictable after all, and all you have to do is put that evil cell phone away (or whatever) .
(For more information identifying antecedents to biting and how to solve problems with a biting parrot, check out this PDF article by Susan Friedman. Click for the PDF.)
p.s. Mika’s has never bitten me hard, and only twice did she pinch me in a way that it was clear she meant to (and once was when she had only just met me and I asked her to step up, so I suppose she was entitled). But that doesn’t mean that she can’t. As I’ve said before: there’s no such thing as a parrot who doesn’t bite.
Case in point, DP, who is very leery of the Stu-monster, was bird sitting for the Feathers and told his roommate “Mika is so sweet, she doesn’t bite at all [implied: unlike Stewie]“. Mika, naturally, takes this opportunity to show that yes, in fact, she knows how to draw blood! The roommate, a total animal person and former parrot owner herself and therefore not reckless about approaching animals, was pretty upset. (Sarah, It really wasn’t personal!)
So if someone tells you that their parrot doesn’t bite, take that with a big grain of salt; all that means is that the bird hasn’t ‘t bitten lately, or it hasn’t bitten the owner yet, or generally doesn’t bite if in a familiar environment, or they’re just lying through their teeth because they are trying to sell their bird as quickly as possible.
Thank you Mika for not biting me, even though I totally respect that you could if you wanted to. Scritches!
p.p.s. For more help understanding your parrot’s body language and behavior, I recommend Barbara Heidenreich’s Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavior Problems in Companion Parrots.
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The ASPCA released its annual estimate of pet care costs, and according to them caring for a bird costs $270 in the first year and $200 each subsequent year … to which I respond a resounding “AS IF.” Maybe for this bird, but that doesn’t even come close to what I and other parrot owners I know are shelling out.
While they do say the estimates were based on a budgie parakeet, I think people will generalize this to small parrots and be unprepared for what the costs will really be. For example, the ASPCA’s calculations are based on a $70 cage. Seventy dollars. HA! The cages I’m looking at for my potential second bird are in the $300-$500 range. I got a fantastic bargain on Stewie’s flight cage at only $150.
(You may have seen cheap little cages for $70 at PetCo or PetSmart, but no bird lover I know would use something like that as anything but a travel cage for a parrot. Even budgies need room to move, stretch, flap and play. Granted, budgies don’t need $500 cages, but budgies are not the norm.)
Next up, medical costs. Stewie’s initial vet check-up, including all the necessary bloodwork, came to around $300. Thank goodness he got a clean bill of health, or I would have had to pay for treatments and medication. None of this was included in the $150 adoption fee.
From the very get-go, just bringing Stewie home cost me more than $500 and that doesn’t even take into consideration what people pay for the birds themselves.
You can get a budgie for $20 at a pet store, but I wouldn’t recommend it. U.S. breeders charge anywhere from $300 to $500 for a sun conure; slightly more exotic species can cost $1000 easily. Generally, the bigger the bird, the more expensive it will be to purchase and the more expensive their care is.
I’m not exaggerating when I admit (sheepishly) that I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on bird toys and supplies, including perches, feeding dishes, ladders, etc. The cost of fresh foods and veggies also add up, although that’s not something I’ve tracked.
And I almost forgot about Wayne’s Bottle Brush Gym! That again was several hundred dollars.
Getting the picture?
Photo credit: birdfeed by striatic. Birds aren’t “cheap”
Some people may not spend $400 on a cage, and they can save money making their own toys, but even given a minimal standard of care and a good deal of bargain hunting, I just don’t see how a pet parrot only costs $270 a year.
Here’s a more realistic look at what your parrot-related expenses will be.
If you’re thinking about getting a pet parrot, be aware that the bird’s purchase price is but a fraction of the cost of having a (happy and healthy) pet. Do your research, educate yourself on the expenses that come with keeping parrots and honestly assess whether you want to make that kind of financial commitment.
p.s. I’m not going to link to any price lists for birds for sale by breeders because I want to encourage you to check out your local animal shelters or parrot rescue organizations when looking for a new bird
Updated: I just read a really heartbreaking story about someone who was pressured into free flying their parrot before he was ready, a move that ended in tragedy. I want to make it extra super clear that I’m not advocating that you free fly your birds (i.e., let it fly outside without a harness) or even that you leave your bird unclipped if you know that circumstances make it too risky. You alone have to decide whether you can leave your bird flighted and do so safely. All I wanted to do in this post is bring up some common objections, show how I solved those problems (or not) and inject a little humor into the subject. Use common sense and keep your birds safe, please!!
Concern #1: It’s Easier for an Un-Clipped Bird to Escape
Solution: I don’t know the stats, but clipped birds probably escape as much as flighted birds (this is a guess, based on anecdotal evidence – don’t quote me!). Too many people believe that their clipped bird can’t fly – that is simply not true! Add a bit of adrenaline or a small breeze to an unfamiliar environment, and even a clipped bird can take off and not touch down again for miles. Don’t count on clipping to be enough to keep your bird safe.
Whether your bird is clipped, partially clipped or fully flighted, don’t leave doors or windows open, make sure your parrot is in his cage if people are coming and going, and keep him on a harness or in a cage if you’re going outside.
(Recall training can be a life saver, literally, but don’t get overconfident about your parrot’s recall abilities in unfamiliar environments.)
Eclectus photo by Looking Glass
Concern #2: A Flighted Bird Can Fly into Windows and Hurt Itself
Solution: Parrots generally don’t fly into things if they know the lay of the land. I frequently reintroduce the windows to Stewie by holding him up close, tapping on the glass and letting him touch it. I don’t believe I’m overestimating him when I say that he understands that it’s solid.
There are also safe places for him to land in case he spooks and takes to the air (which happens a lot). As a flighted bird, when he takes off, he simply flies in a circle and lands back where he started instead of falling to the floor and then being helplessly “trapped” there. Stewie has several landing spots he seeks out when he’s airborne in the living room: his cage, his playstand, the back of my computer chair and me.
A newly fledging parrot, or one who is learning to fly as an adult, might be a little clumsy, but don’t let one minor mishap send you running to the pruning shears. Like toddlers learning to walk, birds may need a little practice before they get the hang of it.
Concern #3: Bird Flies Circles Around Your Head to Get Your Attention, Hitting You in the Face with His Wings as He Sees How Close He Can Get Before You Stop Ignoring Him.
Solution: If you know of a remedy to this problem that doesn’t involve a recipe for parrot pot pie, please let me know, because I haven’t figured out how to discourage it.
But seriously, some people complain about a bird getting “attitude problems” when flighted, and it’s true that a flighted parrot might demonstrate an increase in confidence. Just like a toddler starts getting into things they shouldn’t once they’re mobile, a bird who can fly probably won’t stay put if there are more interesting things to do elsewhere. The best way to deal with a confident flying bird is to channel that energy into training; training is even more important with flying birds because they are are self-determined. A flighted parrot shouldn’t be any more difficult to handle than one that can’t fly if the parrot (and the owner) are well-trained. Obviously that’s easier said than done.
Now about that parrot pot pie recipe…
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This fun children’s book, If You Were A Parrot, leads the young reader into a magical world where children can imagine what it’s like to be a parrot. We learn about parrot behavior and the children in the story mimic these behaviors.
Particularly noteworthy is that the book even has a section that encourages would-be parrot owners to think carefully about the work, expense and inconvenience before getting a bird for a pet.
The book includes an craft project where children can make their own beak.
A delightful book suitable for young children who love animals and are interested in learning more about parrots. Get If You Were A Parrot at Amazon.
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Welcome to my parrot blog, where I share insights with other and would-be parrot owners on ways to keep their pet birds happy. I'm not a professional trainer or avian expert; these are just my opinions, observations and insights based on my life with Stewie and Mika, and my efforts to do the very best for my birds. I also read voraciously and will share other cool stuff I find related to parrot ownership and training.
Enjoy the blog and please leave comments!
