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LIFE
SPAN: Varies with type of bird.
- Amazon Parrots: 110 years
- Cockatiels: up to 100 years (most 20-40)
- Medium Parrots: 20-40 years
- Small Parrots: 20-40 years
- Canaries: 8-16 years but 20-30 possible
- Finches: 3-6 years but 20 possible
ACTIVITY LEVEL:
Parrots and Cockatiels are very noisy, messy, and are high maintenance in terms of their relationship demands from their
human. Birds need lots of space, interesting and destructible toys to keep them from getting bored and subsequently
fussy. Lorries and lorikeets are the messiest. Captive bred birds (as opposed to those captured from the wild)
make the best pets.
Birds can
be both a prey and predator species. However, they have the majority of characteristics associated with
prey species: hiding illness, eating on the run, flight for survival.
SOCIAL
PATTERNS: In the wild, birds live in large flocks
of the same species. They fly many miles a day, land on and do what they please. They are highly intelligent and
social. Cages are unnatural homes which means you will have to make additional arrangements to accommodate their natural
predilections.
Birds like having limits that are reliably enforced. They are
hierarchical. If you do not take the lead, they will. Birds establish dominance by being physically higher than
a subordinate bird, including you. Some species are more aggressive than others. If you are going to have more
than one bird, keep them all about the same size. Birds that have been hand raised by humans form bonds more easily
than birds from the wild.
NORMAL PHYSIOLOGICAL
& BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS: Birds are omnivores, that is, they eat pellets, fruits, and vegetables.
They cannot digest dairy products. They
have keen eyesight and stare at what frightens or fascinates them. Birds "flash" (change their pupil size) when they
are excited or angry. Birds have color vision and can see well both close up and long distance, as well as almost 360 degrees.
To really focus on an object they will turn their head and look at it with one eye. They can turn their heads all the
way around. Their hearing range is narrower
than the human range but they hear more detail than humans do. They
are highly vocal. They talk (Amazon and African Grey parrots), sing, whistle, purr, tongue click, growl, and chatter.
Birds also communicate via body language: crouching, quivering, position of the head, etc. Tail fanning, for example,
is a warning of impending bite if not left alone.
Many birds can be taught
to eliminate on command, a real virtue that can spare your furniture.
Birds can be moody---loving
and playful one minute and demanding and peevish the next. They are demanding on their human caretaker's
time. They need lots of stimulation and should be provided with interesting, destructible toys for recreation.
Unhappy birds will feather pick to the point of baldness.
SPAY/NEUTER
INFO: not applicable.
MOST
COMMON PROBLEMS: Noisy, messy, destructive, high maintenance in terms of care and required interaction.
Behavior problems related to boredom, lack of enough time from caretaker.
VET
CARE: Birds must be seen by avian vets specializing in "exotics." After the initial well bird exam, birds
should be seen yearly for routine physicals and as often as necessary as recommended by your avian vet.
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