African grey parrot housing myths

A myth that I have seen floating around many bird forums for a long time has been the idea that African grey parrots should be kept in smaller cages due to them being 'phobic' of larger spaces. This is not the case. There are reasons why people believe this and there are also ways to prevent this 'phobia' from developing all together. African grey parrots deserve just as much space as any other species would

Where did this myth begin? 

People noticed that their birds seemed very uncomfortable in their cages. They would be restless or simply wouldn't move at all. They seemed scared of their own cage. Odd, because most birds love their cages and recognise them as their own homes. Nobody came up with a logical explanation for this fear and suddenly the mass idea that African grey parrots need smaller housing popped up all over the place and everybody believed it 

So where does this 'phobia' come from?

You have to go right back to the start to figure this one out. Baby greys are naturally clumsy birds (adult birds aren't too elegant either!) and while learning to climb around their cage they do fall off the bars or slip off perches as they haven't perfected their balance yet. The bottom of a cage usually has either a tray or a grill and then a tray. You try to imagine this. You're learning to ride a bike and you lose control. You fall off. It's scary! You've cut yourself and you feel very put off. You might to want to ride the bike for a long time. Now imagine being a baby bird, falling from some height, on to a hard surface. That does sound horrible! They associate the pain and fear with being in the cage and poof! there's your fear

Alex, Abigail's Congo African grey parrot
Photo from ~ www.facebook.com/BeesFlock

Preventing this fear is so simple. Breeders who are hand raising should be putting something soft, like towels or cushions on the bottom of the cage so should they fall they won't injure themselves. If you're weaning a baby yourself then this also applies to you. You're going to want to have something to wash and something to wear, so to speak. Make sure it is always available to keep landings nice and soft 

I will make a separate post on this issue, but I will just say this now. I hate 'baby clips'. I do not agree with clipping a fledglings wings. Not only will having some nice big flights allow your bird to learn to balance better, it will also allow them to learn to fly! So please, do not clip your babies 

If African grey parrots really were phobic of living in large spaces, then how on earth would wild greys exist? Would they hunker down in a tree all day? Of course not! They'd be foraging, flying and living their lives 

Congo African grey parrot enjoying aviary life

Why companion parrot owners shouldn't buy a bird for a bird

A thing that I see quite often is people urging one another to get another parrot for their current bird's sake and well-being. It is a wonderful and considerate suggestion, however. In most cases, we buy hand raised parrots. Whether we buy them from a breeder, save them from a rescue or rehome them from somebody who can no longer care for them, they tend to be hand raised in the beginning. A lot of larger species may have been raised on their own and have been the only bird they've known for a very long time. They may not know how to be a bird and are considerably independent on humans for their companionship. This is where adding a second bird for 'company' can be dangerous... 

Parrots can be very jealous creatures. If you already have a multiple bird household then I'm sure you would have seen it. If I were to have Harvey, the cockatiel, on my lap having a good tickle then another bird outside of it's cage would purposely come down and shoo him away. My orange winged Amazon, lesser sulphur crested cockatoo and black capped lory particularly seemed to hate Harvey. Harvey was hand raised by myself and so he was very, very needy and he would sit on me all day if given the chance. My other birds were far more independent. As soon as he would step up on to me, other birds would be flipping out, screaming, thrashing toys around and such. Clyde, the OWA, would fly at my face. Everybody was jealous of Harvey! 

If you have a single bird, and wish for them to have company while you're out, then get a bird that you want. You would have to house them separately, but just being in the same room as another bird can really help with your birds separation anxiety. They have another living, breathing being in the room. The only real issue you may have with a situation like that however is that if you had a hand raised bird who hadn't been socialized around other birds then there may be little to no point in buying that bird for them. Again, buy the bird that you want. If you think that your bird is bonded to you, get a different species if you want one, get whatever suits you best

Sometimes different species can interact with no issues
what so ever. However, I do not recommend attempting it!
If your bird becomes head over heels for another bird and
the feeling is mutual then that is fine, but don't push it

Birds who have been hand raised on their own, or not well socialized, often consider you to be their flock member or themselves as human. It is not one bit healthy. This is where introducing other birds to them can be a problem. If you wanted a bird to house with them for company, how would your bird feel? Firstly, they'd feel jealous because you would then be dividing your attention between the two. Secondly, they would have absolutely no idea how to behave around the other bird and so signals and messages wouldn't be well received, leading to conflict. The bird may then feel threatened and thus cause more trouble than it is worth 

The sort of bird who needs companionship is a bird who was parent raised or has had the opportunity to be raised with a group of birds and so knows it is still a bird. Birds who have also been passed on to a new owner and therefore have nothing to be jealous of can also be quite accepting of a buddy

Smaller species, who easily lose their 'tameness' once introduced to other birds can be fairly easy to pair up too. I have hand raised budgies successfully breeding in an aviary with multiple birds. Cockatiels, budgies, parrotlets and sometimes conures can prove to be the easiest, though do not underestimate the aggression or power behind some of the smaller species. They still can, will and do kill one another!

There are species that you have to be extremely cautious with when introducing a second bird as a mate. Lovebirds most certainly do not live up to their name! They are one of the most aggressive little birds I have had to deal with, especially the peach faced. A hand raised bird would be worse, but a parent raised bird is almost just as bad. I had found out the hard way when my brother lovies reached sexual maturity. One killed the other and then proceeded to take out his issues on the other birds in the aviary. If you want to give them company, give them another lovebird in another cage so they can still chatter to one another with the safety of a barrier between them 

Pebbles (left) & CJ (right). Pebbles killed CJ when he
reached sexual maturity. He showed no previous
signs of aggression

Indian ringnecks, especially females, can be very violent birds with their mates. I have heard of people having to clip the females in the aviary so the males have got an easier escape! Try housing the birds near one another but unless you have an aviary it is a very risky situation to put either bird in 

Echo, a parent raised Indian ringneck, would seek out
other birds and attack them if she was in a bad mood

Lories and lorikeets are a strange one, as are caiques. If you see them together, you can see how happy they are as part of a flock. They play rough, and I mean rough. However, both species are particularly aggressive too. If they take a disliking to a bird, it can end up dead. Darwin, my black capped lory, was terrible around my other lories and lorikeets. My Blue Mountain Swainson's lorikeet was head over heals for my dusky lory though! They were happily housed together. She would lay eggs regardless of whether they were together or not so it made little difference to myself, it meant I just had to monitor her. She would preen him and feed him all day long. If you showed her the green naped lorikeet though, all hell would break loose. She would seek him out in minutes and would attempt to jump on him 

Darwin, a black capped lory, would stalk
other bird before attacking them

If you have purchased, rehomed or rescued an aviary parrot then you will have far more success in introducing a mate. They would have been raised by their parents and hopefully left with them long enough to understand parrot etiquette. They know how to be a bird. These birds may want little to no human companionship and owning them on their own is very much so cruel. A parent raised budgie in a cage on it's own that doesn't get let out much for said reason would appreciate a mate more than we could imagine! Flock structure is healthy  

Please consider your bird's situation before you introduce another. Just because they're of the same species, it doesn't mean they're going to get on. Only buy a companion bird for yourself!

Tips for successfully breeding parrots

Breeders, I have some questions for you...

Do you allow your birds to live in a social flock structure? 

Do you feed your birds a wide variety of foods to not only sustain them, but keep them from being bored of the same things?

Do your birds experience natural light?

Can your birds express natural behaviours?

Is your bird's partner compatible?

Do you provide your birds with enrichment?

If you said no to any of those then I suggest you read on!


How looking through a birds eyes helped my birds breed more successfully

I used to keep my breeding birds all in separate pairs, in breeding cages. I wanted to put birds together that would produce nice chicks, especially if I was breeding for mutation. A lot of the time I found that my birds were too miserable to breed. They were overweight, they were only eating seed (fresh foods were offered, but not much variety) and eggfood, they were living with artificial lighting over their heads with no exposure to the elements, they didn't like the birds I had paired them up with, they didn't have toys to play with as I was always told that it was a distraction when breeding

What did I gain from this? The occasional bird would breed. I had very little to no success. My birds didn't want to breed. If they mated and eggs were laid the chicks would often die. They weren't happy in the slightest

Now, I can't stop my birds from breeding! They're all over one another and I have a fairly constant flow of babies coming my way when birds are ready to breed

What success looks like

Here's how I did it...

When the birds weren't breeding, they were living in an aviary. A spacious aviary with plenty of space for everybody to hang out together with enough room to get away from one another if anybody were to bicker. This allowed them plenty of space to exercise and keep in tip top condition. Being in the aviary also meant that they could interact with each other and sitting back and watching the flock can be extremely fun! Personalities really start to show when you see them all together

I started to allow my birds to choose their own mates. They bonded with who they wanted (within reason, siblings and similar aren't allowed to breed!) and suddenly everybody was getting a bit randy. Fine by me

I provided them with both natural enrichment and toys. In the cages, whenever I did provide a toy, it was never ever used. Now my birds get through a toy in minutes! I have to buy very large toys for my budgie flock as they will all gang up on it when they get a new one. It always amazed me that some of the shredding toys would end up being attempted nest material

Their diets changed drastically. I stopped listening to other breeders and went looking for the best diets possible. Having been through seeds, pellets and fresh foods I decided to go as natural as possible and not cut out the seed diet. They do however now eat all of their fresh foods. When providing these fresh foods, birds seem to become more eager to breed. They know it is nutritious! Better fed parents also means better fed chicks, which means healthy, happy chicks

My birds love being exposed to the elements. They love basking in the sun, dancing in the rain (even bathing in the snow in the case of my kakarikis). Although these avian lamps are wonderful, they don't compare to the real sun, the real outdoors

All of these will improve the health and mental well-being of your breeding birds and help you produce wonderful, happy little babies. Just allow them to be birds for those months when they aren't breeding, they deserve it 

Another thing is to research what you species really likes, and stick to it. Don't think every species has the same requirements. Unfortunately, most people do put them all in the same category. I find this especially saddening with the eclectus parrots and their specialist diets. It's not just that though, it's nest boxes, housing, social structure etc. You have to dive deeper and get to know your individual birds too. In large flocks, it can be hard to tell who likes what but you can provide such a variety that helps them choose what they like themselves

The same chick. Weaned, healthy and very happy

Species in focus ~ Red fronted kakariki

I have decided to add another part to the blog, which I'm calling 'Species in focus'. I will try to do a different bird as often as I can between other blog posts. First off I will start with the red fronted kakariki, as they're on my favourite birds and I have been keeping them for a long time. Here's a short, sharp guide on caring for these wonderful animals that I previously wrote 

Kakarikis are a small species of parrot which originate from New Zealand. They are otherwise known as red crowned parakeets thought they are not to be confused with the Rosifron conure which is also known as the red crowned parakeet. Their latin name is Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae. There are three subspecies, the Chatham Island red crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae chathamensis), the Kermadec red crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae cyanurus) and the Lord Howe red crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens) which is now extinct

They are currently listed as a vunerable species. Their decline is mostly due to introduced species, especially rats, possums and stoats. They were once considered extinct on the mainland of New Zealand, however, records show that small groups of them still exist though most are suspected captive birds who have been released or who have escaped their enclosures

The red fronted kakariki is a predominately green bird with bright red plumage on their forehead and crown. They also have a red stripe across their eye and small red patched either side of the lower back. Their under tail coverts are a more yellowish-green. They have red irises, grey feet and a silver bill that ends in a black tip. Their outer flight feathers are a dark blue. Immature birds look similar to adults, though their irises are usually a dark brown or very deep red, have less red on their heads and have slightly shorter tails. They average on length between 27-29cm and have a wingspan of around 5 inches. They come in a variety of colour mutations including (but not limited to) lutino, dominant and recessive pied, cinnamon and buttercup (a yellow bird with black eyes). Mutations such as the lutino look a lot different to the nominate bird. Though they still have a red crown and eye stripe, they are bright yellow with a pink bill and pink feet. Flight feathers are often pale yellow or white. In captivity, mutations tend to be more popular than the nominate bird colour and so various programmes have been set up to conserve the 'normal' red fronted kakariki before they become completely unavailable

Black eyed buttercup red fronted kakariki, Flash
One of the many readily available mutations for this
delightful psittacine

Sexing the red fronted kakariki is fairly simple, especially if you have another bird to compare them to. Females are usually quite a lot smaller with a narrower head. Males often have large beaks 

Their housing requirements are a bit more tricky that that of other species. Although for every bird, bigger is always better, the rule really does apply to this species. Kakarikis are very high energy psittacines and need a large space to constantly move around in. If you wanted a red fronted kakariki as a companion parrot, you'd have to get the largest cage you possibly could. Even flight cages are fairly inadequate. A very large cage with small bar spacing is perfect so long as the bird can spend a lot of time out of it. The preferable way for keeping kakarikis is that they live in large aviaries. An aviary about 12ft long x 6ft wide x 6ft high would be ideal, though they can live in smaller providing that they are given a wide variety of enrichment 

Kakarikis are hard to keep entertained due to their high energy and endless curiosity. A wide variety of toys that they can shred, forage in etc. are appreciated and can help keep the birds occupied while they are in their enclosure. Kakarikis do best with natural enrichment. Natural perches are a must and they enjoy stripping the bark off themselves. Variety is key. In an aviary, leaf litter on the ground becomes a great foraging opportunity. A cardboard tube stuffed with newspaper and some treats hidden amongst the leaf litter would be even more fun. You have to get creative with them otherwise you'll have a bored and unhappy bird

Kakarikis love to climb (especially upside down) so make sure that the top of their cage isn't solid or their aviary is mesh. They usually run around upside down on the tops of cages/aviaries when they're trying to burn off any built up energy. I do not recommend clipping the wings of any bird, but especially not a kakariki. They are extremely agile fliers and can go from running to flying in the blink of an eye (you try returning them to their cage and find out how agile they are then!). They will often fly towards a wall and bail at the last second. They're very good at it, even if it is quite terrifying. They are very fast birds. Clipping them would be unfair and would take this amazing ability away. A high energy bird who can't fly would suffer from a lot of mental and physical issues

Chewee, dominant pied, 'hanging around'
Kakarikis are the masters of being upside down!

Being as they are so curious and high energy, keeping them safe can be quite difficult. They will get into absolutely anything and everything. Make sure cats, dogs etc. cannot get to them while they're out and any plants are removed. As terrible as it may sound, they're probably one of the easiest birds to tread on. When they're whizzing around running and flying, be careful where you step. Female kakarikis will bury themselves under/in furniture so always be aware of where your bird is, just in case anybody sits on them. Luckily, they aren't very destructive 

All of that being said, they aren't the most hands on birds to have as companion parrots. If you're wanting a fussy, cuddly bird then a kakariki is not for you. They love to hang out with you and on you but touching them is often a no go. Kakarikis will enjoy your company (and your food!)

They aren't particularly noisy birds, but they do chatter away quite often. They have a fairly enjoyable call too. I have heard of some kakarikis talking, though not many do. My first picked a few words and phrases up 

Kakarikis do not usually need their nails trimming due to the way they forage using their feet. They scratch around like chickens 

Feeding any psittacine is tricky to get right, but luckily, kakarikis are fantastic eaters who will often readily try just about anything you can hand to them. Again, variety is key. They enjoy food in all forms (cooked, raw, chopped, grated) and so giving them a daily variety is easy. I do not feed mine chop like I have done with my companion birds. The kakarikis eat things as they are usually and I try to make most days different. They get fresh veg and greens (kakarikis seem to have a personal favourite, carrots!) along with some cooked beans and grains. They occasionally get Harrison's High Potency Super Fine mixed in with their fresh foods. Because they are so high energy, feeding them little and often helps. Portions should be kept small so they do not waste what they're given. As well as the fresh foods, they also get a wide variety of seeds, nuts and dried goodies. I personally like to give them Versele Laga's Large Australian Parakeet for their seed mix and just add other bits and bobs to it afterwards. They also get dried herbs and seaweed on a small plate once a week that they are free to take what they want from. Fresh water at all times is a must and they will bathe all year round. They love getting the bowls as dirty as they can so keeping them clean is vital 

They usually have a short lifespan according to most sources, anywhere between 8-10 years old. However, I have known kakarikis live to be anywhere between 15-20 years + with the correct care. I recommend using F10 to clean everything as they can be very messy (especially when they're kicking their food around)

Breeding kakarikis is fairly simple. They require the same box that a breeder would use for a large parakeet or cockatiel with a thin layer of bedding. They will often lay (and successfully hatch) large clutches ranging on average form between 5 to 12 eggs. They hatch between 19-20 days later and within 6 weeks the chicks will have left the nest. The chicks wean quickly and the parents usually attempt to double clutch

Ralph, cinnamon, guarding his nest 

I do not recommend mixing kakarikis with other species, whether that be indoors or in aviaries. They can be gentle with other birds so long as you're keeping an eye on them but in an aviary environment, especially if they're coming into breeding season, they can be another bird's worst nightmare. They're often too high energy for other birds to cope with them and can go from playing rough to killing another bird in seconds

Although they do not mix well with other parrots, kakarikis
can be excellent companions for doves and finches

Finding out what a parrot's favourite treat is

A quick, short post. I have mentioned before about finding out your parrots's favourite treat, however I thought I would elaborate. Here's a few ideas...

For smaller parrots, try millet. Hang some in their cage near their favourite perch and let them get used to it (if they're not already, however, most small birds will take to it immediately). Once they're readily accepting millet you can use it cut into shorter pieces or individual balls as you won't need a whole spray. I like to use millet for budgies, parrotlets, lovebirds, cockatiels and other birds of a similar size. Some larger birds do like it but the small seeds make an excellent treat for your little ones

For larger birds, place numerous food items in a bowl in your parrot's cage. What does your bird eat first? What is your bird looking for? What does he eat the most? Keep a close eye on them eating. Remove the favourite food from the general every day diet if it is something they get often. This will motivate them to work for it more, as they know it's what they want and they won't get it any other way! With larger birds I use small, cut up pieces of fruit (apples, grapes and mango are usually the favourites) as well as nuts and favourite seeds 

If you are feeding your bird to a schedule, like I have mentioned in previous posts, then your bird's normal meals can become a training reward. I have offered my birds a bowl of chop for a few seconds so they can take a beakfull and continue, it does work

Smaller birds are easily persuaded with millet!

During hormonal times, you will find that birds typically prefer treats with more protein. Clyde, an orange winged Amazon, would eat anything before his season came but as soon as it hit he was only interested in nuts

A lot of the time, people don't know what to use as a training treat for lories and lorikeets. I have found that a grape cut into four can make an awesome reward and they readily accept them. A bite of apple is also welcome. I myself have used puréed fruit/veg baby food (intended for humans, 100% organic and no added ingredients) and fed them from the small packet/bottle things they come in. They have a nozzle where a child would suck the juice from and lories/lorikeets love to shove their tongue down there! 

I know this isn't a long, detailed post. I apologise for that, but I wrote it some time back and forgot to add to it and post it (right now it's getting pretty late) so I'm rambling a bit! I hope the post helps, just a little, to push you in the right direction  

Recipe ~ Spicy chick peas

I have been using this simple (and very yummy) recipe for my birds for about two years now and it still goes down a treat. Unlike the last recipe I did, I don't have a photo tutorial for this one but it is so simple you really don't need one! 

Ingredients

- Dry chick peas
- Ground cayenne pepper
- Ground chili peppers

Method

1) Place the chick peas in a bowl and fill generously with water, making sure they're all covered. Leave them to soak for 24 hours

2) Wash the chick peas thoroughly and simmer for 60 minutes 

3) Rinse well with warm water 

4) Sprinkle cayenne pepper and crushed chili peppers in a shallow dish

5) Roll the chick peas over the mix until they are well covered 

And that's it! That's all there is to it. Serve immediately and do not freeze or reheat! You can use a can of chick peas in water as opposed to dry chick peas however you will have to use the whole can (unless you don't mind waste, or can find a way of incorporating them in to your own meal!)

I use them as a training treat for larger birds or I quickly whizz them around the food processor to make a mush for any of the birds. My aviary flock of budgies really enjoy them but they have to be chopped up finely or mushed up as they're just too big to bite into and certainly too big to hold

By all means try them, but they're a little too hot for me!

Clicker training parrots ~ Stepping up and recall using target training

Another easy blog post to understand, again about target training but with recall and stepping up being the main focus 

I cannot express how important I believe it is to teach your bird recall training. Whether you do it to free fly outside, or fly on a harness or whatever, it doesn't matter. As long as you can get your bird to recall indoors then if they ever do get out you have a very good way of finding them. I will mention a personal story soon 

If you did read the previous post, then you will have gained the knowledge to start target training and you should already have your bird following the target back and forth on their stand (or wherever you're training them) and once they have got this perfected you can then work on stepping up 

If you have bought a young bird, freshly weaned from a
breeder, then they should already know how to step up
had they of put the effort into teaching it to them. It is one
thing all of my babies learn before they go to their new
homes!

To teach a bird to step up, simply follow these steps;

- Put your hand near the bird and the target in front of it. Get the bird comfortable with your hand around them by rewarding them for touching the target when your hand is close

- Gradually move the target over the top of your hand so that the bird is having to stretch over you to get to it. This will help get over their fear of your hand directly in front of them and will encourage them to make the big step

- Put the target just out of reach behind your hand. Fingers crossed your bird will understand that to reach the target, they have to put a foot on to you

- Again, move the target further away from your hand and the bird should be able to put both feet on you to get the reward

At this point you're going to be adding in your cue if you wish to use one. Most bird owners say 'step up'

- Once your bird has gotten the hang of stepping up on to your hand comfortably to reach the target, take it away. Hopefully your bird will now know that to step on to your hand (or arm, depending on the size of the bird) means an awesome reward will be coming their way

Keep it up from there! Teaching a bird to step up is important. You can get them out of situations you don't want them to be in, you can move them from A to B quickly and you can spend more time with your bird hanging out on you

Teaching recall is essentially the same. You just have to increase the distance from the perch to your hand/arm with the target behind it and get them to come further each time. Hopefully you will soon be able to do that without the target too

Once I began 'station' target training with Clyde, he became
very approachable and I was able to get very close to him
whereas before I couldn't even be on the other side of the
room without him yelling or panicking

I highly recommend that you teach your bird to fly to other 'stations'. Before Clyde (orange winged Amazon parrot) flew to me, I taught him how to fly between cages. He would happily do that without having to worry about coming to me. This built his confidence up over time and allowed me to get through to him in the end 

I just want to include here a little story about losing one of my birds, Kona. Kona (Alexandrine parakeet) was completely hands off when I got him but seemed to take a shining to myself immediately. He caught on with recall very fast and soon I was doing it with him all around the house. My intention was to get him a harness and start letting him explore the great outdoors. A few months into training, he managed to escape his cage AND get out of the house. I had absolutely no idea how... not one clue! But that's not the important part. As soon as I found out that he was missing I began ringing around, posting pictures and any information on the internet to get my baby back. He had been found within a VERY short period of time and I was able to collect him first thing in the morning! Do you know how I got him back? He flew to an older couple enjoying their time outside in the sun. He just went straight to them! Had it not been for the training, he wouldn't have known how to get to them. He had to go to the vets as soon as I got him back as I believe he was caught by a cat on the way to them, but at least they found him. He was put on antibiotics and had some subcutaneous fluids. Had I not have decided to train him recall, he would have probably just flown to some woods and would have been impossible to locate. I would absolutely love to free fly parrots in the (hopefully) near future and since losing my flock I haven't been able to carry on with that, but I will eventually try again 

Kona flying to me from the top of a wardrobe
Teaching birds to drop from heights can help if they ever say
get stuck in a tree or land on a roof (you get the idea!)