Birds For Dummies

Brian L. Speer, DVM, is the owner and director of the Medical Center for Birds in Oakley, California, and an active member in and former president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians. Kim Campbell Thornton has been writing about animals since 1985 and is a recipient of multiple awards from the Cat Writers Association, Dog Writers Association of America, and American Society of Journalists and Authors. Gina Spadafori is the award-winning author of Dogs For Dummies and Cats For Dummies.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Birds 5

Chapter 1: Birds and Humans: It’s Only Natural! 7

Getting to Know the History of Birds 8

Food, feathers, and (finally!) friendship 9

Humans’ enduring involvement 9

Deciding If You’re Ready for a Bird 14

Putting in the time 14

Shelling out the bucks 17

Dealing with the noise and mess 17

Chapter 2: Narrowing the Choices 19

Deciding What You’re Looking for in a Bird 20

Judging interactivity 20

Considering size 21

Making a mess 21

Bring in da noise 22

Talking ability 22

Paying attention to price 23

Considering the Species 24

The hands-off color and songbirds 25

Small parrots 27

Medium-size parrots 33

Large parrots 36

Toucans, mynahs, and some others 42

Chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, peafowl, and turkeys 42

Chapter 3: Deciding on a Bird of Your Own 47

Telling the Girls from the Guys 49

Checking Up on a Bird’s Good Health 51

Making Mature Decisions about Age 52

Weighing the pros and cons of baby birds 52

Considering the prospect of an older bird 54

Finding a Reputable Source 56

Pet stores 58

Breeders 60

Private parties 61

Protecting Your Rights 62

Part 2: Caring for Your Bird 63

Chapter 4: Preparing for Your Bird’s Arrival 65

Shopping for Cages 66

Considering size: Bigger is better 66

Focusing on material: Wood or metal? 67

Knowing what to look for in a cage 68

Shopping for a travel carrier 69

Perch Perfect: Finding the Right Perch for Your Bird 71

Diving into Dishes and Waterers 75

Keeping Your Bird Entertained 76

Play stands and gyms 77

Food as entertainment 78

Clearing the Air 81

Cleaning Up 82

Stocking up on cleaning supplies 82

Preventing messes in the first place 83

Chapter 5: Starting Your Bird Off Right 85

Setting Up the Cage 86

Settling In 88

Managing Introductions 90

Kids 90

Cats 90

Dogs 91

Other birds 93

Building Trust through Training 93

Rules for you 94

Teaching the “Step up” cue 95

Target training 96

Carrier training 98

Keeping Things Clean: A Basic Regimen 99

Setting up for cleaning 100

Everyday cleanups 101

The big clean 103

Identifying Your Bird in Case He Flies the Coop 103

Banding 104

Microchipping 104

Chapter 6: The New Art, Science, and Fun of Feeding Birds Right 107

Understanding Bird Nutrition 108

Macronutrients 109

Micronutrients 113

Knowing What Your Bird Should Be Eating 115

Pelleted diets 115

Fruits and vegetables 118

Food for people and other pets 120

Nuts 120

Seeds 121

Converting Your Bird’s Diet 123

Feeding Birds of a (Slightly) Different Feather: Lories and Lorikeets 126

Chapter 7: Beyond Food and Water: Bird Basics 129

Translating Bird Body Language 130

The eyes have it 131

Say what? 132

Beak bulletins 134

Wing things 136

Tail tales 137

Posture primer 138

Getting a Handle on Your Bird 140

Meet “Mr Towel” 141

Practicing Good Grooming 143

Trimming nails 143

Clipping wings 145

Raining down with showers, baths, and misting 148

Bird Care When You Can’t 150

Pet sitters 150

Boarding 152

Harness Training 153

Types of harnesses 154

Harness-training tips 155

Taking Your Bird with You 156

Hitting the beach 156

Hitting the road 157

Flying with your bird 158

Part 3: Keeping Your Bird Healthy 161

Chapter 8: How Birds Work: The Short Course 163

The Outside: More than Just Beautiful 164

Built for versatility: The beak 165

A bird’s-eye view 170

The better to ear you with 171

Beautiful, functional feathers 171

A leg to stand on, times two 176

Finding Your Inner Bird 178

Them bones, them bones 178

Live and breathe: The cardiopulmonary system 180

Ya gotta eat: The gastrointestinal system 180

Chapter 9: A Preventive Care Approach to Your Bird’s Health 183

Understanding Why Preventive Care is the Best Care 184

What your bird won’t tell you — and why 185

More arguments for preventive care 186

Following a Three-Part Plan for Preventive Care 189

Starting with a healthy bird 189

Providing proper care and nutrition 191

Working with the pros 192

Finding the Right Veterinarian 193

Why “any veterinarian” may not be right for your bird 193

Special care for a special pet 195

Who’s out there, and what are they offering? 196

Chapter 10: Your Bird in Sickness — and Back to Health 201

Remembering That Birds Are Birds — Not People, Not Dogs 202

Understanding the Role of Home Care 204

Knowing First-Aid Basics 205

What qualifies as an emergency 205

Who to call, where to go 208

What to do, in what order 209

Emergency! The veterinarian’s role 213

Looking at Infectious Diseases That Panic Parrot Lovers 215

Tiny beings, big problems 215

Psittacine beak and feather disease 216

Psittacid herpesvirus and Pacheco’s parrot disease 217

Avian polyomavirus 218

Proventricular dilation disease 218

Psittacosis 219

Aspergillosis and candidiasis 219

Offering Supportive Care 221

The hospital stay 221

Home care 222

Giving medication 223

Chapter 11: Lifelong Care for Your Bird 225

Why Birds Are Living Longer 226

Domestically raised versus wild caught 226

New views on nutrition 227

The veterinary contribution 228

Health and the Older Bird 229

Chronic malnutrition 229

Cataracts 232

Arthritis 232

Heart disease 232

Chronic pain 233

Knowing When It’s Time to Say Goodbye 235

Euthanasia options 237

Dealing with loss 238

What If You Go First? 241

Part 4: Living Happily with Your Bird 243

Chapter 12: Behavior 101: Getting to “Good Bird!” 245

Setting the Stage for Good Behavior 246

Ensuring your bird’s health 246

Being fair to your bird 247

Being consistent with your bird 251

Becoming your bird’s life coach 251

Problem-Solving Unwanted Behaviors 255

Feather picking 255

Biting and other forms of aggression 260

Screaming 261

Deciding What to Do If You Can’t Solve a Big Problem 264

Chapter 13: Living in a Multiple-Bird Household 267

Deciding Between Companion Birds and Breeders 268

Choosing birds for companionship 269

Deciding whether breeding is right for you 270

Understanding the Closed Aviary Concept: Rules to Live By 271

Choosing Compatible Birds 272

Species and gender issues 272

Size and temperament issues 273

Recognizing the Joys and Challenges of Breeding 274

Pair bonding: ’Til death do us part 275

Setting up your birds’ love nest 276

Taking care of eggs 277

Raising babies 279

Chapter 14: Caring for Chickens and Other Backyard Poultry 283

Chickens with Benefits: Seeing What Chickens Have to Offer 285

Considering Different Chicken Breeds 287

Buying Chicks or Chickens 290

Poultry Keeping 101 291

Setting your chickens up with a proper coop 292

Keeping predators at bay 293

Feeding your chickens what they need 294

Protecting your lawn and garden 296

Controlling waste 296

Keeping your chickens healthy 297

Providing your chicken with enrichment and training 299

Outfitting your chicken with diapers, sweaters, dresses, and more 300

Keeping Your Chickens Safe around Other Family Pets 301

Keeping Other Kinds of Poultry 304

Ducks 304

Geese 306

Turkeys 307

Guineafowl 308

Game birds 309

Peafowl 309

Part 5: The Part of Tens 311

Chapter 15: Ten Bird Myths Debunked 313

Birds Are Low-Maintenance Pets 314

Birds Are High-Maintenance Companions 314

Birds Are Fragile 315

A Hand-Fed Bird Makes a Better Pet 316

Seed is the Best Diet for Birds 316

Birds Get Mites and Lice Easily 317

Birds Catch Colds from People 317

A Sick Bird is a Dead Bird 318

Lovebirds Will Die of Loneliness If Not Kept in Pairs 318

All Parrots Talk 319

Chapter 16: Ten Steps to a Healthy Bird 321

The Physical Examination 322

Having Your Vet Review Your Caging and Husbandry Techniques 324

Feeding Your Bird a Healthy Diet 325

Performing a Behavioral Checkup 326

Introducing a New Bird to Your Household without Endangering the Birds You Already Have 326

Ordering Blood Tests 327

Screening for Bacteria, Viruses, and Fungi If Necessary 327

Testing for the Specific Causes of Some Diseases 328

Determining Your Bird’s Gender 328

Considering Vaccination 329

Chapter 17: Ten Questions to Ask When Buying a Bird 331

Where Do You Get Your Birds? 331

How Many Birds Do You Sell per Year? 333

What Are the Terms of the Sales Contract and Post-Purchase

Warranty? 333

What Are Your References? 334

How Old is This Bird? 334

Does This Bird Have Any Medical Problems, Past or Current? 336

Does This Bird Have Any Behavioral Problems? 336

How Have You Socialized This Bird? 337

What Have You Been Feeding This Bird? 338

May I Visit and Get to Know the Bird Before Buying? 338

Chapter 18: Ten (Or So) Must-See Avian Websites 341

Fun for Kids — and Adults, Too 341

Behavior Help and Then Some 342

Enraptured over Raptors 343

Help Us Get Home 343

Meet Alex, the Star 344

Birds of a Feather, Flocking Together 345

Sources for Health Information 346

Helping Birds in Need 347

Chapter 19: Ten Best Birds for Beginners 349

Canaries and Finches 350

Budgies (Parakeets) 352

Chickens 353

Cockatiels 354

Quaker Parakeets 355

Poicephalus Parrots and Parrotlets 357

Pionus Parrots 358

Pyrrhura Conures 359

Amazon Parrots 361

Peach-Faced Lovebirds 362

Chapter 20: Ten Common Dangers to Your Bird’s Life 363

Predators 364

Flying Free 364

An Open Door or Window 365

Inhalants 366

Toxic Plants 367

Certain Foods 368

Heavy Metals 368

Over-the-Counter Medications 369

Your Feet 369

Electrical Cords 370

Chapter 21: Ten Disaster-Planning Tips for Bird Lovers 371

Consider the Possibilities 372

Make a Contact List 373

Make Sure Your Bird Carries ID 373

Make and Trade Bird-Care Files 374

Collect Food and Supplies 374

Keep a First-Aid Kit Fully Stocked 375

Plan, Plan, Plan, and Practice 375

Keep Your Bird Secure — and Separate 375

Keep a “Lost Bird” Kit Ready 376

Be Prepared to Help Others 376

Appendix: Resources 377

Index 387