Say that you want beat the holiday rush and get a bird carrier travel cage to take your parrot on holiday!  A HUGE selection of great travel cages and parrot evacuation kits can be found at www.BirdSupplies.com

You may not find a more affordable bird carrier value again this year.  Wingabago’s, Aluminum Bird Carriers, even Sky Kennels and Cabin Kennels have literally flown off the shelves at many pet stores this hurricane season.  The sale ends on September, 11, 2010.

If you don’t have time to evacuate, you may wish check with your local Humane Society.  Many shelters and even some veterinarians offer pet lodging services during emergency situations.  Also, check into pet friendly hotels.

Our SEVEN PARROTS devour this delicious cooked bird food! Birdie Thirty Cooked Bird Food has combined the top 30 healthy bird food ingredients into a simple to prepare cooked bird food diet that not only entices pet birds and parrots to eat a healthy diet but makes it easy for us pet bird parrot people to offer advanced nutrition to our pet birds.

Our favorite Board Certified Avian Veterinarian has endorsed Birdie Thirty Cooked Bird Food….So, we thought, “what the hey! Let’s we what the www.Birdsupplies.com flock think.” Watching their enthusiasm makes MY mouth water.  Each of our parrots gave Birdie Thirty Cooked Bird Food a serious “high four” wave of approval.

From Parrotlet to Moluccan Cockatoo! You know when you cook up and stir up bird food for your parrot and it raises its head with the cooked bird food all over its beak – and with a twinkle in its eye?  That’s what we saw with Birdie Thirty Cooked Bird Food.

Any time that a new product becomes available, well, seriously. We scrutinize it. Is it bird safe? Is it  parrot practical? And. for crying out loud, do our seven parrots endorse it?

Our parrots “Chirp N Squawk: for this cooked bird food more than any other cooked bird food that we’ve ever offered.

That says something!

We honestly try all cooked bird foods.  We interview the manufacturer and look for Avian Vet endorsement.

Doc Burkett endorses Birdie Thirty Bird Food. Our entire flock begs for more Birdie Thirty Cooked Bird Food.

We are soooo sold!  That is why you find this bird food at www.BirdSupplies.com

BOTTOM LINE:

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• Birdie Thirty Bird Food is recommended by a Board Certified Avian Veterinarian.
• Birdie Thirty Bird Food Ships as Fresh as Can Be!
• Birdie Thirty Bird Food combines the most nutritional bird food ingredients that all sized parrots love.

One of my latest reads, ALEX & ME, was over-whelming in terms of my enthusiasm for animal parrot research but it is  also a love story.  I imagine that if you love parrots, you’ve heard of Alex, the African Grey Parrot.  Dr. Pepperburg has painstakingly devoted her entire life to show the world that animals are more intelligent than anyone has EVER imagined. (DONATE HERE)

Dr. Pepperburg’s research is part of a growing mound of evidence that parrots and many other wildlife are intelligent and cognitive creatures with the ability to communicate.

What color?

Beat the Parrot Winter Blues

Can you parrot suffer from the winter blues? Sure! Just like we people tend to react to environmental stressors and holiday stressors, parrots can too.

WINTER BIRD SUPPLIES SALE.  COUPON CODE: Brrr (12/9/09-12/12/09)

As I write, the midwest U.S. is being pounded by a blustery winter storm, complete with lots of snow and brisk winds. And, the accompanying dry air. I’m chilled! My skin is dry and itchy. My throat nose is scratchy. It’s just plain uncomfortable for a summer person, like myself.

I’m prepared. I had the furnace checked. I’ve pulled out my flannels and my cozy winter robe. Got my warm, fuzzy slippers out of the box. Bought an electric throw and cleaned up and filled up the humidifier.

But, what about my parrots? They have dry nasal passages, itchy skin and are chilled, too! Thank goodness for Winter Bird Supplies. Visit Chirp n Squawk Bird Supplies to learn how to help your parrot cope with the Winter Blues. You’ll find a plethora of bird supplies to help most sized parrots feel warm and fuzzy this winter. From the Thermo Perch Heated Bird Perch, to parrot Feather Sweaters, bird misters and more.

Go Nuts Foraging Bird Toy

The Go Nuts Bird Toy is a refillable, foraging toy for parrots.  Made from 100% cotton rope, vegetable leather, and peanuts, this 5″ x 4″ bird toy is great for medium to large parrots that love to forage and untie knots. Leather patches have holes that reveal peanuts. But, your parrot has to think and work in order to get at the treats!

To refill, just untie the cotton rope and place nuts inside.

What’s so great about this bird toy, you ask?  It makes your parrot forage!  Foraging is when your parrot has to use it’s natural, inate behaviors to get at a desired item.  In the wild, parrots have to literally problem solve in order to get a meal.  With Go Nuts, your parrot has to problem solve how to get the peanuts.  Untie knots, squeeze peanuts through the holes, etc.  Wanna make it harder?  Get some stainless steel screws and nuts at your local hardware store for your parrot manipulate.   Or, put a larger, harder shelled nut inside!

We suggest that you purchase extra leather strips if your parrot is like Peachy who loves chomping through leather.

Amazon Parrot

I have a friend whose parrot contracted PDD while boarding during a family vacation.  I have a customer who just got a new baby African Grey who is experiencing symptoms of PDD.  Watching a beloved pet die of this disease is sadder than sad.  But, just last year, researchers discovered a virus that may just be the culprit. The nasty Bornavirus.  This virus is in the same family as the one that causes encephalitis in horses and other farm livestock. 

It will be a while before a reliable diagnostic test can be developed or before a prevention plan can be developed, but the discovery of Bornavirus is a real breakthrough.  For both captive pet parrots and endangered parrots! 

The University of California, San Francisco postdoctoral fellow spearheaded the research.  Using brand new research,  Amy Sistler and colleagues were able to isolate virus samples in 71% of birds tp determine that this strain of Bornavirus was dramatically different from previously identified members of the Bonavirade family.   

Current PDD Knowledge:

PDD used to be limited to Macaw’s, but now, there are at least 50 parrot species that have experienced the disease.  It may even be spreading to softbills such as Canadian Geese and Toucans.  Wow!  Without going into gory details, birds infected with PDD can not digest food and /or absorb nutrients.  So, what ends up happening is that they pass undigested food rather than absorb nutrients and slowly waste away. 

What do You Look For?

1. Weight Loss
2. Depression / Lethargy /Weakness
3. Regurgitation or passing of undigested seeds / food
4. Diarrhea or scant feces or polyuria (abnormal poop)
5. Motor skills deficits such as ataxia, weird head movements, seizures

Please see an Avian Veterinary Specialist shoud you see these symptoms!  An avian specialist will know what tests to run.  Keep in mind that a difinitive diagnosis as of Fall 2009 is oly available through a crop biopsy or via post mortem evaluation. 

What can you do?

• Buy from reputible breeders that allow you to view their breeding faciltity
• Always use safe quarantine practices.
• If you visit a bird fair or other public exhibit where there are other birds, remove exposed clothing and bath well with antibacterial soap prior to visiting your parrots. 
• Never, ever take your parrot to bird shows. 

Let me introduce you to my flock of talking parrots.  I’ll go from largest to smallest:

Peachy is our 14 year old Moluccan Cockatoo. I got him when he was 3 years old. I had gone into the pet store to look for a Blue and Gold Macaw for my husband, but every time that I walked by Peachy, he’d say, “Hey, come here.” I visited him a couple of times a week over the course of a month while doing a lot of research on Moluccan Cockatoo’s to make sure he’d be a good fit in my family. The bird store personnel told me that he acted much more animated with me than with other customers. I guess he originally picked me. Peachy is a good talking parrot. He says: Hi, whatcha doing (whatcha doing doing!), hey come here, mommy, Max (my son), Hello, step up, and he is always quick to yell out our dogs names to scold them when they bark too much! – The correct name for the dog that’s barking.

Smokey is an 11 year old Congo African Grey. I got him as a young baby and I have to admit, he is pretty spoiled. He is out on his Parrot Tower Bird Stand a lot. When he is around me or others he is a whistler and beeper. He’s also quite the prankster. Several years ago he learned my husband’s cell phone ring. You can imagine how many times Jim answered the phone and no one was there. He also learned that my husband would call me “Hey, Diane!” and I’d answer. One time, I kept hearing my name called from upstairs. I’d answer and get no reply. This happened over and over again until I was starting to get mad! What the H#%** do you want!” Turns out it was Smokey! Other than Hey Diane, Smokey says hello, hi, step up, chow chow, Timmy, Sissy and more.

Timmy and Sierra are 6 year old Timneh African Grey Parrots. I got them both as a young babies and even hand fed Sierra. Sierra is also is a mostly whistler and beeper. She knows a lot of words but prefers to communicate with her people flock  in a series of whistles.  Timmy, on the other hand, is a serious talker.  He says so many things that I don’t have room to list them all. I’ll bet, Timmy can say at least 30 phrases. He also whistles “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.” One of the funniest (and embarrassing) things he often asks the dogs is “Do you have to go pee pee?”  I guess he is determined to keep our carpet smelling fresh!   

Mandolina a.k.a. Mandy is a 6 year old flighted Orange Winged Amazon. I hand fed her from the time she was featherless until she was weaned. The most popular talking Amazon Parrots are the Yellow Napped and Double Yellow Head Amazon’s. Mandy thinks she doesn’t need her cage.  She has an open playtop bird cage and so she goes all over the bird room and the basement.  Mandy does not speak as much parrots of those species, but she knows several phrases. She also has several whistles and coo’s that she uses routinely to determine my whereabouts in the house or to just let me know she loves being out and following me about in flight, as I go about my business. 

Skeeter is a 6 year old Red Bellied Parrot. She is also flighted. She had come from an abusive background but she totally loves me! It’s mutual. Skeeter loves to ride around on my shoulder and preen my hair. Her cage usually has an open door policy as does Mandy’s so they hang out together most of the time. Skeeter loves to explore and can be a little mischievous, too. She has a larger vocabulary than Mandy, probably having about 8 phrases that she says consistently.

  

Mika is a 3 year old Pacific Parrotlet. Unlike the other birds in our flock, who have their own bird room, Mika’s cage is upstairs. I’ve had a lot of customers who tell me that they have talking parrotlet’s, but I’m not sure if Mika talks or not. She tweets a lot, but her little vocal cords are so tiny that I can’t decipher if she is actually talking. Mika loves to ride around on my shoulder. She is pretty feisty and territorial. She’s flighted, too.

 So, how did we get so many talking parrots? One of the earliest things I learned in my friendship with parrots is how important it is to prevent problem behaviors including screaming and biting. Parrots that talk and whistle to communicate with you are much less likely to scream for attention. While not every parrot is a proficient talker, there are a number of things you can do to promote a talking parrot.

1. Develop a training schedule.  Parrots are quick learners with short attention spans.
2. Study Clicker Training techniques.
3. Learn to read Parrot Body Language.
4. Match your parrots voice inflection training in the same tones or vocal capabilities that your parrot has.
5. Teach bird tricks to your parrot.  Each new learning experience adds to the learning momentum.   The more you train your parrot the faster it will learn the next, subsequent trick.

I sell a ton of Pak O Bird Carriers. And, it’s no wonder, because they are really top quality back pack for parrots.   Once your parrot gets accustomed to it, you won’t want another bird carrier!  Available in several size to fit any bird from Lovebird to Macaw, you can even order a customized Pak O Bird Carrier to meet you and your parrots personal needs. 

Here’s what our customer writes:

Here’s Truely in her new Pak O Bird Carrier. It is very well made with (OPTIONAL) stainless steel mesh front and sides. You can wear it as a back pack or …(PURCHASE) an (optional)  stroller. We left it on the floor with one of her favorite toys in it for a week, so she could get used to it before we used it.

Make a fun foraging toy for your parrot in five minutes or less!  We used a gallon milk jug with a screw on cap for our large Moluccan, Peachy.  We have used empty Coke cans and cereal boxes, too.  We’ve found that when our parrot watches us “load” the container, he becomes more interested. 

Peachy played with this toy for over an hour before finally figuring out that he had to chew the bottom to get the treats!  Usually he grabs the container handle and turns it upside down so that the treats fall in his mouth. 

Always supervise your parrots play when you give him items that require chewing but that can’t be digested.  And, only use clean food containers, never containers that have contained chemicals or cleaning products.

AviClean Bird Cage Cleaner

With AviClean No-Rinse Aviary and Bird Cage Cleaner, you’ll be able to quit scrapping and scrubbing cages and cut your bird cage cleaning time in half. No joke! This exclusive, bird safe, effective dual enzyme formula helps remove bird droppings for you. So, instead of spending hours cleaning up after your bird, you can spend time enjoying and bonding with your parrot.

Just shake AviClean and spray on effected areas. In about one minute, the enzymes break down your parrot’s poop and food splashes so that all you have to do is wipe the cage down. Because AviClean is made from natural enzymes, you don’t even have to rinse your cage. In fact, the natural enzyme residue may minimize future bird cage corrosion. This safe, economical and effective formula leaves your bird cage clean and smelling fresh. We use it on the floor for little parrot mishaps and even on furniture. Always test a sample of fabric before applying AviClean to large, exposed areas.

Click Here to purchase AviClean Bird Cage Cleaner.