The Care of Parrots
The web is full of information about Parrot Care. Well, it has a little. None of the sites I have seen have been as good as my parrot bibles, "My Parrot, My Friend," by Bonnie Munro Doane and Thomas Qualkinbush, and
"Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot," by Mattie Sue Athan. These are focused on behavior but also include plenty of health information and things you need to know about cage size, feeding, etcetera. I advise new bird owner to buy both of these books. There is also an annual pet bird publication put out by Bird Talk which can answer some questions a new bird owner might have: get it before you buy a bird.
As a supplement to these books, I have taken a subscription to Bird Talk. I have also been recommended The Pet Bird Report, which is supposed to be more substantive in content than Bird Talk. But bird talk is fun, and you know you've become "one of them" when you find an article on crocks and water bottles more exciting than celebrity fashion faux pas.
Alhtough there is much to talk about, let me start by telling about giving your bird a bath. Parrots love baths and conures like to have them EVERY DAY. You can use a CLEAN spray mister and dampen your bird in or out of the cage. You can tell they love it because they will fluff their feathers up and close their eyes in ecstacy. Watch the fun as the wetter your bird becomes, the louder he gets!
Bibo just goes directly into the shower with me. When I had Opal, I used to turn the shower on really lightly, at a moderately warm temperature, letting it spash off of the wall and turn into a fine mist, and hold her on my arm so the mist could wet her down. This was so successful that I started to let her perch on the white wire rack hanging off of the shower head while I was taking a shower. It didn't seem possible for her to get to wet during a twenty minute shower. By the time I got Bibo, I bought a shower perch for him to sit on while we're in the shower. And he just loves it!
Some good links for avian information are:
the Up at Six Pet Bird page
Birds 'N Ways
Also see the rec.pets.bird newsgroup for lots of good tips! If you don't know how to get into a newsgroup off of your browser. just go to DejaNews and choose browse by subject, then type in rec.pets.birds.
If you live in Seattle and are thinking about getting a parrot, let me recommend to you Denise's Parrot Place, an informative web site and a wonderful store. She is a responsible breeder who is interested in training birds and owners to be more compatible.
Only buy domestically raised birds, never wild caught! Many parrots are endangered in the wild, and buying wild-caught birds only exacerbates the problem. For more information (and some great parrot pictures), click on the World Parrot Trust image below.
Bibo's diary
Conure information
Parrot care: food
Parrot care: bird psychology (just like for kids!)
Teach your bird tricks
Make your own bird toys!