What Should I Know Before Getting That Nice Bird?

You like birds, you like them so much that you are deciding whether to bring one into your home. Maybe you are attracted to this bird for its beauty, charm and personality. Maybe it is the way it looks up to you with that twinkle in its eye, or the way it speaks to you. Whatever reason, you are deciding whether to get this bird.

Good for you! Birds make excellent companions. They are true wonders, and they bring much joy and happiness into many families lives. Birds are about the only animal that can speak back to you in a human language, and it is believed that these birds know and understand most of what they are saying. Birds also work hard to please you when they try to preen your hair and some even try to feed you! But, did you stop to think about what the bird's needs are? If you did, you are a step ahead already, but if you did not, you could be asking for a lot of trouble. The animal rescues are full of birds from people who didn't know, some rescues are so crowed that they are closing.

You see, birds have many needs from emotional to dietary. They can be a lot of work. Our bigger pet birds like the cockatiel and larger birds have been compared to children going through the terrible two's- for life! Oh, they are worth every effort, from keeping the water bowls clean and cleaning  food dishes, cleaning  cages to giving them healthy vegetables, they are clearly worth the effort, but many people don't know or realize all the other things that are involved until it is sometimes too late. Here are some of the things your pet store selling that nice bird might not tell you in the interest of making that sale to you.

Did you know that birds require a diet that is nutritionally balanced? One specific to that species of bird? The best diet is one based mostly on pelleted foods, with just a sprinkle of seeds and some fresh foods. Birds need to be converted slowly from all seeds to mostly pellets, very slowly. Some birds have been seed junkies for so long, they cannot be converted, so you want to be very careful doing this so your bird doesn't starve itself to death. Birds need vitamins, and nutrients, especially vitamin A. They can get this with a healthy diet of pellets and greens, like carrots with the tops still on and broccoli too. If you don't feed your bird a healthy diet, your bird may develop many social and health problems and you will need to spend a lot of time and money at the veterinarian's office. Some people- as unbelievable as it sounds, feed their birds only macaroni and cheese! That may be ok for humans once in a while, but not every meal, every day for years. Do you see macaroni and cheese growing in the wild anywhere? It's not natural in the birds diet either. The person feeding this to the bird clearly never attended a local bird club meeting or picked up a book on the care of that bird. Then when the bird became sick, the person just dropped the bird off at an animal shelter and went out to get another.

Birds also require a lot of attention. Your bird will depend on you for everything. You will become a member of the flock and your bird will look to you for things to keep busy with. Whether it's just talking back and forth, grooming each other, or letting your bird play with different toys. Your bird has an active brain, and must have things to do to help it remain challenged and happy. If you don't, you risk making your bird bored, restless and have all sorts of behavioral problems.

Some people who are unaware of the natural noises birds make when they call out like they do in the wild, become annoyed, and some lock these birds in dark closets thinking that will teach the bird and shut him up. What happens is that solitary confinement causes the bird to go insane and it will try everything to hurt and kill itself. People who do this know no better, and clearly were unaware of the problems that this could cause. Had the person attended our educational bird club meetings they might have learned more effective ways to help their bird before the problem became out of control. Birds are loud. In the wild they have to scream to their friends and may scream in your home from time to time, more so when there are problems.

Birds need room to stretch, so buy as large a cage as you can afford and fit in your home and stay away from anything coated with zinc, which is very bad for your bird. Look for "Bird Friendly" or "Bird Safe" in their descriptions. Zinc causes many problems including the worst case of feather picking and death.

Birds have very efficient lungs. They have evolved to extract even the tiniest of particles out of the air to get as much oxygen into their system. Pollutants therefore can be many times more deadly to them. Heated Teflon whether coming from non-stick cookware or from certain stoves can kill your bird in seconds without you even knowing there was a problem. Aerosol sprays, scented candles, bug sprays, cigarette smoke can all bring your bird unnecessary distress or death. You will need to keep your bird away from these airborne pollutants.

Birds like to fly, it's a good source of exercise. Too many people forget about the bird being able to fly and leave a door or window open. Once the bird gets outside, it seldom returns as it becomes quickly lost and scared in the new unknown world. Its days are numbered. Most people recommend having the birds wings trimmed regularly (and don't forget those toe nails that need regular trimming too or if necessary, the occasional beak trim!). If you want your birds to be able to fly, you will need to be conscious of this all the time and never take chances.  Indoors, curtains should be pulled over windows and large mirrors should be covered to prevent dangerous collisions.  Also, ceiling fans  should be turned off when birds are loose in the house. 

Birds having such active curious minds and liking to chew on all kinds of things can get into trouble if left out of their cages unsupervised. They find all the wrong things to chew on, including electrical wires and the paint on your walls. Lead poisoning can bring heavy bleeding, electrical shock can bring death. Birds need to be watched when outside of their cages as there are many hazards for them to get hurt with. To learn and keep up with all the hazards, I recommend attending educational seminars regularly.

Birds like to feel secure in your home, so keeping the family cat and dog away from them is a good idea. Keep the bird cage higher than the family cat or dog. Otherwise you risk all the problems that ongoing stress brings, including behavior problems and illness. It is also important not to have the bird's cage higher than your own head if you intend to keep the bird friendly to you. Height is a sign of dominance to many birds, so if they perch higher than you there can be dominance issues between you and your bird.   

Birds are naturally messy and noisy. That is how they live in the wild. Some birds much better than others.

Many of the larger birds live 75 to over 100 years if properly taken care of. If you love your bird, be sure to include in your will what you wish for your bird's care in your absence and make arrangements to pay for their care for the rest of their lives. They will have a tough enough time dealing with losing you, try and make it easier on them.

Many of the bigger birds like the Blue and Gold Macaws are overfilling animal shelters throughout the country because people didn't realize what work it is keeping a bird like this. Avoid problems by reading books about the bird you are interested in, talk with the local animal rescues and bird clubs before setting foot in a pet shop. Arm yourself with knowledge so you know as much of the cons as you know of the pros. Most pet shops will tell you what you want to hear to close that sale. Remember, most pet stores that sell live birds are in the business to make money on that sold bird and may not tell you something that might make you reconsider that purchase. The good pet stores won't sell live birds at all, they will sell food and toys and recommend that you adopt. Most pet stores that sell live birds are interested in closing the sale whether or not the bird and you are right for each other. When you can no longer handle the bird, where will you take it? The pet store that made the sale? Not likely, the bird may be dumped on someone else to take care of like a shelter or rescue, or worse, let loose to fend for itself in a hostile environment. Wisconsin is very different from Australia or the rainforests. The same beautiful colors that attracted you to this bird also attracts predators and make them easy targets for hawks. The lack of food, confusion and stress from being thrown into this new world will weaken them. They only have hours or days at best before their early death. And why? What did the bird do?

I highly recommend that if you are still looking for a pet bird, to please work with your local humane society or animal shelter and adopt. Not only will you be given a better education on how to care for your bird you will be told what to expect. Shelters and humane societies are looking out for you and the bird because they don't want to see you unhappy and bringing the bird back or a bird having 25 homes. You will also be helping ease an overpopulation crises of birds in these shelters.

If after reading this you still feel you want that bird, no one can stop you. But please consider joining a local bird club so you can at least learn from others, learn of new and old hazards, the latest on nutrition, and how to handle behavioral and nutritional problems before they get out of control. Bird clubs also hold educational meetings, raise funds to help avian research, and have many books and resources on various species of birds. Bird clubs work to educate, to support, to help one another, to give your new friend the best you can offer him in your home. Your bird is your ambassador to the avian world. Always remember though that birds are still wild animals, yet sensitive, with feelings, emotions, fears and attachments, just like you and me. Imagine the pain a bird feels when it gets locked into a closet for years for doing nothing but talking. Or being punched, burned, or mutilated because it's no longer wanted or hated by a member of the family. And birds go through mating and molting seasons that send their hormones into overdrive and they grieve for the loss of a member of their flock, whether it's their mate or you. Having any pet is a responsibility, having a bird is an even bigger responsibility, because they are smaller, they can fly, they are more active and they are more sensitive. Knowledge is a powerful thing. It's good to know up front the pros and the cons before you put down the money and make a commitment to that bird for life. Putting down the money is the easy part. If you love your bird, so too is the commitment.

Thank you for reading!

Steve Fitzsimmons