Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Parrot News-parrots play 'cat and mouse' with a dog and a horse


Ava and Mio, both aged two, have become locally renowned for stalking their owner's dog and even playing with a horse from a nearby stable.

The blue-and-yellow macaws like to fly together in unison looking for mischief.

Helicopter pilot Julian Knott, who owns the birds, said they loved nothing more than to tease his seven-year-old mongrel Flitzer.

"It's an interactive game between the birds and Flitzer our dog," said Mr Knott, 25, from Hamburg.

"The games are sometimes initiated by the parrots and sometimes by Flitzer, but in the blink of an eye the hunter becomes the hunted and Flitzer follows the macaws.

"We let them out each morning and it only takes a few minutes before they have emptied the apple tree. After they have eaten, they both rest in a tree, then become active towards the evening.

"This is playtime for the parrots and they even manage to play with Lasso, a 15-year-old horse from the stable behind us."

He said local people had become acquainted with the large, brightly coloured birds, which have an impressive four-foot wingspan.

"Sometimes they call me, that they have seen them on the river, bathing or visiting a shop," he said.

"We don't care – they come home every evening. They feel totally at home with us and we don't have to be scared, that they would get off."

Blue-and-yellow macaws, one of the largest species of parrots, are intelligent and social birds, known for their ability to mimic human speech. They mate for life, which can be up to 60 years, and also tend to bond closely with their owners.

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Toco Toucan

Toco Toucan, KL Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by my_soul_insurance2004.
The Toco Toucan is the largest member of the toucan family & are found throughout South American rainforests & the Cerrado savannah.

Keel Billed Toucan

Trimming a Cockatiel's Wing Feathers


You can give your cockatiel varying amounts of flight capability depending on the amount of feathers you clip on her wings. With cockatiel chicks who haven't mastered flying, it's a good idea to gradually clip their wings. Cockatiels who learn to fly, land, and use their bodies to move about a cage are surer of themselves when they've lost the ability to fly. For this reason, start by clipping just the two outer flight feathers on each wing of a cockatiel who is just learning to fly. The cockatiel will be slowed down but will still fly quite well. About a week later, clip the next two feathers. The next week, clip the next two feathers, and so on. With this schedule, by the time a cockatiel is grounded, she will have gradually lost the ability to fly and gotten progressively better at controlling her mobility. She'll still confidently hop about a cage and will know how to land. Ideally a breeder will use this method of clipping before you ever get your bird. You can give your own bird the chance to learn about flying at any age, though, by letting her wings grow back and gradually clipping them back in this way.

Cockatiels who are clipped as very young chicks, before they attain motor skills and know how to handle their bodies to fly and land, often "crash land" and break their tail feathers or hurt themselves.

When trimming a cockatiel's wing feathers, be sure to do a symmetrical job, trimming both wings an equal amount. Your cockatiel not only will look good but, more importantly, will be balanced when she flies or sails along. You don't want to make her clumsy.

How often to clip

When deciding how much to clip your cockatiel's wings, consider her environment. If she lives in an aviary with a safety area, then flight is permissible for her, and she'll get lots of exercise. If you plan to enter your cockatiel in exhibitions, the judges will consider her total confirmation, so you'll want to show her with unclipped wings. If your cockatiel lives in the company of cats and dogs and you want to be sure that she can escape from them, you may want to leave her some flight capability. If you want to allow your cockatiel to fly in the house, but slow enough that she's not likely to hurt herself, leave more of her wings unclipped. If your cockatiel may be able to get outside, or could go through a window or door in your home because they're often open, you probably want to give her the most severe clip. If you have a bossy, dominant male cockatiel, a fairly severe wing clip will change his attitude. If you're just getting to know a new, older cockatiel, clip rather severely also. A severe wing clip will help you to work with an older cockatiel, as she'll be more dependent on you to help her get around. If you need to chase after her, you won't have to go as far, either! She also won't hurt herself in any mad flights about unfamiliar territory.

What to clip

Don't clip more than 10 primary feathers from a cockatiel's wings (see Figure 1). If you want to give your cockatiel some ability to fly, clip fewer feathers or clip the feathers farther down, merely shortening them. Your cockatiel will still need to have wing exercise, especially with clipped feathers. Take some time every day to hold her feet and encourage her to flap. Chances are good she'll develop some strong chest muscles by using what wing feathers she has to get around. It really isn't possible to ground a cockatiel. You'll be surprised how well your clipped cockatiel can get around.

Grand Champion Pearl Female Cockatiel

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Dancing Goffin Cookatoo

Dancing Cookatoo

Parrots of the Rain Forest

Parrots Of the rain forest

Of the more than 10,000 species of birds in the world, the majority are found in the tropics with 50 percent of all bird species found in the Amazon Basin and Indonesia.

One of the most recognizable bird groups in the world is the parrots (about 315 species) with their bright colors, distinctive loud calls, powerful beaks, and feet with two toes facing forward and two facing rearward. Parrots are most prominent in the rainforest, although they are found in countless other tropical habitats around the world. Parrots feed on seeds, fruits, grass, leaves, and plant shoots and use their strong beaks to crack hard shells, grind their food, and as a third limb for climbing. Parrots come in a range of sizes from the 39-inch (1 m), three-pound (1.4 kg) hyacinthine macaw of Brazil to the pygmy parrot which rarely reaches three and a half inches (9 cm) and weighs only about half an ounce (15 g). Besides size variation, some parrots have very unusual habits,like the Southeast Asian hanging parrots which sleep hanging upside down like bats. Many parrots live in flocks or in life-long partnerships with a single mate. When one member of the pair dies, the other mate either lives out its life in lonely solitude or joins another pair to make a triple. Many parrots show marked sexual dimorphism with males usually more strikingly colored than females.

Parrots Have a role in The Rain Forest
The way I see the job of parrots, particularly in the rain forest where the food is high in the canopy, parrots eat seeds, fruit, a lot of things. But parrots are sloppy eaters. They will pick up a piece of fruit, take a bite and let the rest fall down below. One day it hit me, they are throwing it down to the ones below. In the Amazon on the ground it is dark. It gets lighter as you go up through the trees and much of the activity is in the canopy. The parrot food also sticks at different levels, so that is their job to pick for everyone below them. I don’t know what the job of parrots in the desert might be.

My Screaming Cookatoo

My Cookatoo is Screaming.What Should I do?
One of my Cookatoos had the same problem. He wanted attention. When he would scream I would go to the room where his cages was and get him and bring him to the room I was. We never kept him in a cage(only at night sleep). All day his cage was open for him to go in and out as he wished. He was a spoiled bird. So I had to change his behavior to stop the screaming. so this I was did and you should do the same.


Tips to address screaming for attention

  • Extinguish screaming.
  • Reinforce any other behavior besides screaming.
  • Remember the extinction burst is a good sign! The end might be insight. Change your feeling from frustrated to hopeful when your bird really goes for it.
  • If you need to leave the room, but can’t focus on training, offer another positively reinforcing activity prior to leaving the room. This may buy you a short window of time to move freely between rooms without screaming behavior. However you will still need to include training sessions at some point.
  • Get some earplugs to help you cope with the screaming during the extinction burst.
  • Plan to wait in the other room. Prepare in advance a quiet activity you can do when trying to deal with a screaming session.
  • Leave the room immediately when your bird screams for your attention.
  • Manage your activities to help set yourself up fo

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Black Cookatoo


In the wild.

Red-Bellied Parrots


Besides being extremely acrobatic and awesome looking, Red-Bellied Parrots are excellent talkers!

Many Red-Bellied Parrots try to imitate human voices before they're even weaned. They are capable of a few words or maybe a phrase by the time they're three months old. They love to imitate whistles and can learn to whistle a certain tune based on a verbal cue. They are very easy to train. With a little patience and tons of repetition they can learn to do many things on cue such as; whistle, talk, and even flap their wings!

Red-Bellied Parrots are extremely enjoyable birds. They are fascinating to watch even years after you've brought them home.

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The AVES International Parrot Convention August 13th to 16th

South Grafton Ex-Servicemen’s Club | 2 Wharf St South Grafton – NSW Australia
Thursday 13th - Sunday 16th August 2009

The concept for the AVES International Parrot Convention is to promote and improve aviculture, particularly the keeping and breeding of Psittacines. Speakers are chosen from around the world for their expertise in Aviculture to formally deliver their presentations and informally disclose their particular expertise. Social events are held throughout the Convention program to enable delegates and speakers to trade personal knowledge, whilst renewing friendships, contacts and promoting new business opportunities.

AVES 2009 will formally commence on the evening of Thursday August 13th with a `Meet the Speakers’ Dinner. Friday commences with a special aviary tour, with coach and private cars departing at 8am and taking in aviary complexes in the Grafton & Coffs Harbour area. Lunch is provided on tour and the presentations commence at 2pm, followed by a finger food dinner and light entertainment.

Saturday is a day full of lectures accompanied by generous food breaks. On Saturday evening delegates are invited to the AVES Gala Dinner, commencing approximately 90 minutes after the last lecture to allow delegates time to prepare for the night’s entertainment.

Orange-winged Amazon

Sunday commences with a sunrise breakfast for those who can rise to the occasion. Following breakfast, lectures recommence with food breaks throughout the programme. At the conclusion of the speaker program, delegates and guests make the short journey by courtesy bus or private transport to Casuarina Parrot Gardens where visitors are welcomed to view one of Australia's premier parrot collections and enjoy a variety of food and drinks at the traditional post-AVES social BBQ. As the convention is non-profit, generous amounts of beverages and food are included in the delegate registration fee!

This completes the convention for the majority of visitors, however the Outback Tour entices people from all around the world to continue their parrot experience.

Hyacinth Macaw In flight


A thing of Beauty

Boise couple creates a sanctuary for tropical birds others didn't want


Tropical plants thrive; the humidity is palpable. A waterfall trickles over multi-colored rocks.

Parrots are everywhere - macaws, conures, cockatoos and other birds in colors from white to pink to electric blue. Squawks and beating wings create a cacophony of bird sounds.

Welcome to Gretchen and Brian Baker's basement.

"We ran out of space in our old house," Brian Baker said. "We bought this one for the birds."

Their 10,000 square-foot home is a sanctuary for parrots and other birds whose owners no longer want them, have died or whose lives have changed in ways that make it impossible to keep birds. They range in size from canaries to a 5-pound Hyacinth Macaw - the largest parrot species in the world.

The Bakers care for the birds until they find good homes for them, which can take months, years or may not happen at all.

"Some we won't adopt out," Gretchen Baker said. "They're flock birds. They just get along better with other birds."

The TLC includes a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, food, toys, cleaning and veterinary care. The Bakers pay all the expenses.

Dan Wayman, who volunteers at the sanctuary, says it's obviously a priority in the Baker's lives. "With the exception of their kids, I don't think they care about anything as much as they do the birds."

They also run a boarding service, Idaho Bird's Nest, for people who leave for a vacation or a weekend and can't take their birds with them. It's what led to the sanctuary.

"We were boarding a bird whose owner wasn't able to take care of him any more," Gretchen said. "She decided that he needed to stay with us. He was the first bird we took in for someone."

That was three years ago. Today, sanctuary birds outnumber boarders. Of some 40 birds there early this month, more than 30 were birds the Bakers saved from situations ranging from needful to desperate. One - they later named him Lucky - had been locked in a shed and left to die.

"His mate did die," Gretchen said. "Their owner didn't want them any more and went off and left them without any food. Lucky clawed his way out, but his mate starved."

Brian Baker rescued him by using a string to close the door of a cage where the aptly named bird had been lured for treat. Neighbors used a fork lift to raise it to Lucky's perch in a tree.

Most cases are less dramatic. Some people give up birds after developing allergies to them. Others move from homes to apartments or assisted-living facilities where tropical birds aren't allowed or are impractical to keep.

Lately, people have been giving up their birds after losing their jobs.

"The economy has really affected us," Brian said. "We've easily tripled the number of birds in the last six months."

People find the sanctuary through word of mouth, and the Bakers check advertisements for people wanting to give birds away. They also get referrals from Zoo Boise and Animals in Distress.

Only three of their birds have been adopted so far. Owners who will care for them properly can be difficult to find and have to meet rigorous standards meant to assure the birds' well being. Legal contracts ensure that the standards are met.

Stolen swearing parrot returned


A foul-mouthed parrot stolen in a burglary in Newcastle has been returned to its owner.

The one-legged African grey "which swears a lot" was handed in at Etal Lane police station, along with another parrot of the same breed, on Sunday.

A rose-breasted cockatoo also taken in the burglary in Woodbrook Avenue, Slatyford, on 2 July is still missing.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and bailed pending further inquiries.

A 20-year-old woman and 23-year-old man previously arrested in connection with the burglary were earlier released on police bail.

Insp Steve Hails, of Northumbria Police, said: "We're delighted the two African greys have been returned to their owner and hope that they fully recover."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has initiated a status review

12 parrot species to see if the species warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Acting on a 2008 Petition from Friends of Animals, the Service found that the petition contained sufficient data to warrant the full review.
The 12 parrot species are: crimson shining parrot (Prosopeia splendens), great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), grey-cheeked parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera), hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), military macaw (Ara militaris), Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), red-crowned parrot (Amazona viridigenalis), scarlet macaw (Ara macao), thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha), white cockatoo (Cacatua alba), yellow-billed parrot (Amazona collaria), and the yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea).
The 12 species face significant threats from degradation of habitat, capture for the international pet trade and low reproduction rates. In 1990 nearly 150,000 parrots were imported into the United States. After congress passed the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 which restricted trade in birds considered endangered by other countries, the number of parrots imported fell to just 17,000 per year.
Click the document icon beneath "Better Pig Smog Rules Needed in Central Valley" for additional federal regulations.

Courthouse News Service

Courthouse News Service

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Eclectus Parrots


"Hey..... We are Some smart Birds!"

Skating Eclectus

Eclectus Female


"Can I help you?"

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Eclectus Feathers


The feathers have like a hair-like quality on their heads, necks, breasts and bellies. Each feather is composed of single strands that are not locked together as contour feathers normally are. Each contour feather on the back, and the wing and tail feathers are formed the way such feathers are on most other parrots, as interlocked feather vanes.

Mating of the Eclectus


The Eclectus parrot has no regular breeding season. During courtship, the male pursues one female and attempts to get her attention by making excited squawking calls. When the female is ready to mate, she selects a nest site in a hole high up in a tall tree trunk. The entrance is usually about three inches across. She chews up pieces of wood with which to line the nest and makes a soft bed for the eggs.