04/19/2026
So let’s have a *civil* conversation.
In the past few days, (scroll back, I’m not going to rehash it here), a conversation has been started in regards to how we handle our companion parrots.
In Australia, there is a woman, who is the gold standard of husbandry. She feeds the best diet, her birds are raised in these giant aviaries and get to be birds, who are well exposed to humans. But they spend the majority of their time being birds. From the very beginning of their lives, they are given every advantage with the very best environment.
And this is a very stark contrast to how the average American keeps their birds.
Here in the US, let’s just start with what is available at the pet stores for food.
We see “Supreme” “Gourmet” mixes of foods that are neither supreme or gourmet. They are sunflower seeds with peanuts and a bunch of other filler crap shoved in there to make it look colorful.
**IF** you’re lucky, your pet store will carry Higgins inTune, Roudybush, and Lefebers pellets - but that’s not a given.
The cages being sold in most pet stores are wildly undersize for pretty much any species of bird.
The cockatoo epidemic in the United States is a very real thing. Every time I get a call or surrender application for another surrender cockatoo, my soul dies just a little.
You see, the birds that are raised with what the woman in Australia provides her birds? They are well adjusted. They are not relying on a human being for every single one of their needs - which is great since we are in no way, whatsoever equipped to handle those needs.
But a solitary, non-flocked cockatoo (or any bird) needs to rely on the human to give them nutrition, enrichment, exercise, companionship, a mate-bond, medical attention, as much space and freedom as the person can possibly provide.
Is it any wonder why currently Shellie at Cockatoo Ranch currently is housing 34 special needs cockatoos, and since she’s so packed, she really only takes the problem children. Every last one of them has been through something.
I have 17 cockatoos right now, with a mile long waiting list to get into our program.
When I counsel not to provide boxes for your birds to play in, what I’m saying to you is, we don’t want to encourage nesting behavior. The same way we wouldn’t offer a nesting box to a bird whom we are not wishing to breed.
I counsel against allowing cavity seeking behavior for your birds. That means cuddling under blankets, allowing them to roam the floor and going under cages and under the couch and…
What we see with allowing those activities is “land shark” behavior, nesting behavior which results in biting and attacks, which I’ve always attributed to “nest” protection. I see that probably the worst, in blue and gold macaws of both sexes.
And then, the elephant in the room…let’s discuss the petting.
Here in the US, as long as I’ve had birds, I have always been counseled not to pet or rub birds under the wings, belly, back or tail. The general consensus of pretty much everyone is that we should only pet on the head.
Now, that’s not to say we shouldn’t touch everywhere, as I’ve made videos before with my birds - it’s important to be able to touch for checking for injury or issues, helping with broken blood feathers and exams etc. But you can do all of that without getting too touchy.
Why do we offer that advice in the US?
Because these birds aren’t bonded to another bird. They’re not in a flock, usually. Which means you, dear human, are their pair bond.
I work pretty hard to not have that sort of relationship with my birds. Gwen, my Congo African Grey has been a plucked mess since I met her. She’s on a great diet, she has tons of freedom.
But, if I look at her the wrong way or even pet her head some days, she’s regurgitating, and trying to mate. Every time I get her refeathered, here comes breed season, and it looks like a pillow fight erupted.
The medical fallout from the hormone issues of all of these birds is incredible. Egg binding, prolapses, self mutilation, feather destruction.
I’ve seen lots of advice to give them Prozac or other drugs for depression and mood stabilization. I hate it.
This isn’t a small, isolated problem. This is a pandemic across the US for sure, as we are all packed full with rescue birds.
So let’s have this conversation.
In Australia, that woman is doing it beautifully.
Here, we are treating the symptoms, not the root cause of the issue.
And, what she is saying is correct. If you do all that she does for them, they don’t see you as the mate. You can pet them like we are seeing in her videos because they don’t have all the problems that we do here in the US, with our culture on aviculture.
But, I am a single person. I’m not sure I have the ability to change the culture.
Please weigh in on what we can do to change the face of aviculture and husbandry guidelines in the US.
And, I would love your take on how we go about that with birds who have lived the life described above on a terrible diet with inappropriate handling, who’ve picked up terrible behaviors such as plucking or self mutilation, from the humans that caused their issues before they get here.
Let’s have a larger, inclusive conversation.
Negativity or troll behavior will not be tolerated.
Help, or S**U. 🙂
Picture of Phoenix, our Timneh African Grey, recovered from serious trauma and plucking, whom has serious liver damage from his prior home.
