Bird-Center.net

Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

By Azmi Adnan

Your parrot relies on you, the owner, in providing a safe environment. As a responsible parrot owner, it is your duty to see that this is provided. Medicine and chemicals are to be stored safely in cabinets and out of reach of your free flying parrot. Keep watch on your parrot whenever you let it out of its cage. Parrots are instinctive and curious birds and will cause harm to themselves in the house if they are not watched. 

Window curtains and coverings are to be properly secured. Make sure that all cords are out of reach and not knotted or looped as your curious bird could get itself entangled. Parrots are known for their fondness of knots so you need to make sure it is safe.

Replace all damaged parts of a toy as this is harmful if chewed and swallowed. Examine the toys each day and ensure that they do not cause any danger. Ensure that perches are in good condition and affixed correctly. Visit the veterinarian immediately if you suspect that a piece of a toy has been swallowed and your bird behaves abnormally.

Even if you use a carrier while traveling in a car with your bird, ensure that a seat belt is used. This is to prevent the carrier from rolling forward and cause shock to your bird should you brake suddenly. It is also a good idea to prop up the cage so that your bird is able to see out of the window while you are driving. If for some reason the bird is frightful of traveling in a car, use a blanket to cover the carrier.

Keep a list of important phone numbers in case of an emergency. This would include the veterinarian emergency number, bird specialists and fellow bird enthusiasts should you need to consult them for some apparent reason.

Educate your family members on bird care and what is dangerous to birds such as soap powder, liquid detergent, rat poison, glue, ceiling fans, etc. Ensure that these are not exposed whenever the bird is out of its cage.

Develop a disaster action plan. Keep stock of bird food and other supplies in the house in case you are not able to go to the pet store due to bad weather like a snow storm, windy season or floods. Find alternative pet stores to widen your supply base. Learn to perform minor medical treatment in case your bird injures itself during bad weather and you are not able to rush to the vet. Keep stock of bird medication. Talk to your vet and find out what are the likely ailments your bird could suffer and what you could do about it in case a vet is not immediately contactable.

Azmi Adnan is a writer and a bird enthusiast. Subscribe to his newsletter for fresh video clips on parrots and other bird species, ezines and interesting bird stories at his website http://www.power-to-live.com/parrot.html

Article Source: Azmi Adnan

• Don’t buy compact or pocket-sized binoculars (typically 8 x 21, or 10 x 21) as your primary pair for birding. The size and weight are attractive, but no matter how good the optics, compacts provide a lower quality image than mid- or full-size binoculars. Another drawback is that most compacts have a narrow field of view, which makes it very difficult to locate and follow birds.
• Don’t buy zoom binoculars. Expert birders report them as being inferior.
• Don’t seek advice on buying optics from non-birders. Hikers, hunters, and boaters have different needs than birders. Looking at birds is not the same as looking at other wildlife. Pocket binoculars are fine for looking across a savannah at an elephant or a cheetah, but they are not suitable for birding. Marine binoculars provide a sharp, bright image, but are too big and heavy to carry around all day.
• Don’t buy binoculars until you have tried them. Make sure they feel comfortable in your hands. Look through them and be sure you get a clear, unobstructed view. Different models suit different people, and each instrument varies. If ordering by mail or online, make sure that you can exchange them.

One thing about binoculars – you don’t always have to have the best specs for bird watching. Any binoculars are better than none at all. The thing to remember is that you need to have something to magnify the birds you will be looking for. If you are serious about bird watching, take heed of the tips for buying binoculars given above. They will be well worth the money!

www.Bird-Center.net

Birds have long delighted people all over the world because of their beauty and their power of flight. Birds are  everywhere, and everywhere they are different. Birds are mysterious, beautiful, and sometimes wonderfully elusive.

Historically, they used to be considered omens. The ancient Romans believed that the flights and calls of birds could foretell the future.

Today, modern science still uses birds as a kind of oracle. Changes in bird populations can reflect the health of the environment.

Birding also fulfills another basic instinct—the quest for knowledge. Birding is about acquiring knowledge. Not just about birds’ names, but also about their songs, their behavior, and how they relate to the rest of nature. It’s a perfect opportunity to enjoy a unique human pleasure—the successful exercise of lore.

In fact, amateur birders often get to make real contributions to scientific knowledge. Today, much of what ornithology knows about birds has come from the observations of ordinary but dedicated birders.

Some birds are indicator species, like the USA’s national bird, the bald eagle. They forecast environmental conditions. The knowledge of birds can help us plan a better, more sustainable relationship with nature.

Maybe we watch birds because they are accessible: wherever we go, birds are there, usually active while we are active, sleeping while we sleep. In our own backyards, we lure them with birdfeeders and birdhouses, and by placing shrubs, water, and appropriate plants in the landscape. More than any creature except perhaps insects, birds visibly share our outdoor space, and if we have to travel miles and sit quietly for patient hours in order to see a rare or elusive bird, that makes it a treasure hunt.

We love treasure hunts and we love novelty. Birds provide both. While many birds have very wide ranges, the birds of one country tend to differ from the birds of another; even if you find the birds at home rather ordinary, you will be thrilled by unfamiliar birds when you travel. You will see the same type of bird in varied locations, but the birds will be different.

Birds are beautiful. Their brilliant hues offer a companion to their color vision. Birds flash past in every shade from emerald to vermillion, beautiful as showy flower blossoms but usually more surprising. An endless variety of patterns, shapes, and sizes delight us. Even the common crow has a lovely sheen and certain elegance. Yes, birds are an awesome part of life – how could we not watch birds?

Bird watching is FUN! It gives you a great excuse to leave your television behind and venture out into the elements. Need a good reason to head out and go for a walk? Bring along your binoculars. It provides a healthy activity that just about anyone can enjoy. You don’t need good knees like skiing. You don’t even need to be able to venture beyond your own back yard. Bird feeders placed on window sills allow individuals with limited to enjoy birds with little or no effort.

Birding is also the ideal solitary sport. There’s a special pleasure in going out alone to bird. Your mind settles down. Your senses open up, and all nature seems to become your friend. Birding is a sport of many moods, and it serves the causes of companionship and solitude equally well.

Be warned, however, Birding can be addictive. You may find yourself obsessed with some rare species that may have been reported locally. You find yourself getting up earlier and earlier to put in a few hours of birding before work. You begin looking at your landscaping in a whole new way as you start planting more bird friendly plants, installing feeders and bird baths and reducing the use of harmful chemicals.

As we’ve said, birds can be fascinating creatures. If you’ve never watched them before, just try for a few moments in the early morning light. Look at how they soar through the air. Listen to their morning songs. You can find great peace and great enlightenment in birds. How would you be able to truly enjoy these creatures unless you watched them? It’s time to get started in bird watching!

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?

The best part about bird watching is that you don’t need much in the way of tools to do it effectively. You should just start with a good pair of binoculars, a field guide, a notebook, and a camera. Let’s look at each component individually.

Binoculars

You need binoculars to better see the birds. You will soon discover an ironic fact. The best birders have the best binoculars — even though they can identify a bird 100 yards away by its silhouette. Newcomers with a cheap binocular see a fuzzy ball of feathers and don’t have a clue which bird it is. There is an unbelievable difference between a $59 binocular and a $900 binocular.

Binoculars are a birder’s eyes on the world, and they can greatly affect the quality of a bird outing. Good binoculars make for good birding, while bad binoculars can lead to missed birds and severe headaches induced by blurred images, double vision, and eye strain.

Binoculars come in many different shapes and forms and carry such descriptions as “roof prism,” “close focus,” “armor coated,” etc. At the outset, you don’t need to spend too much time deciphering this arcane lexicon. If you really get hooked on bird watching, you can learn more about binoculars later and trade in for a better pair. A decent pair of binoculars will run you around $60 depending on where you live.

There are a few simple rules to consider and questions to ask when purchasing your first pair of binoculars:

1. Make sure the power (or magnification) is at least 7-power. The power is the first number given in the numerical notation that describes binoculars. For example, a “7 X 35″ pair of “glasses” will make objects appear as if they are seven times as close as they actually are. Seven-power binoculars are about the minimum needed to see birds well. Binoculars 10-power or stronger can be difficult for some birders to hold steady.
2. Make sure that the second number (“35″ for a “7 X 35″ pair of glasses) is at least five times as large as the power (e.g., “7 X 35,” “8 X 40,” etc.). This second number describes the diameter, in millimeters, of the large lens that faces the object of interest – the “objective” lens. The larger this lens is, the greater the amount of light the binoculars gather and thus the easier it will be to see characteristics in dim light or on a dull-colored bird.
3. Are the binoculars too heavy for you to carry and use for at least two hours straight? Don’t end up with a hunchback because your binoculars act like a yoke.
4. Can you flex the barrels of the binoculars fairly easily? To test to see if they are too flexible, spread the barrels out as far as possible and then hold onto only one of the barrels. Does the free barrel slip or fall from the spread position? It shouldn’t.
5. When held a foot away, do the large objective lenses reflect a bluish or purplish tinge? If they do, the lenses are color-coated. This coating reduces internal glare in the binoculars and increases the amount of light that actually comes to your eyes. Check lenses to make sure the coatings are free of any blotches or scrapes.
6. Can you bring the barrels of the binoculars close enough together so that the image you see merges into a single, clear image within a single, perfect circle? If the image isn’t singular or clear, the binoculars may be out of alignment or the eyepieces may not come close enough together to accommodate your eyes. These two problems may lead to eye strain and severe headaches.
7. Do you wear prescription eyeglasses? If you do, your binoculars should have rubber eye cups that fold back. This allows you to put your eyeglasses up closer to the eyepieces of your binoculars and gives you a much larger field of view.
8. Do the binoculars produce a clear image of an object only 20 feet away? Some binoculars do not focus on objects this close, so you may miss the sparrow or warbler that skulks in a nearby bush.
9. Look at a sign with large lettering. Do the letters close to the edge of the field of view appear as precise and well-formed as the letters in the center of the field of view? Image distortion towards the edge of binoculars is common in bad binoculars – like looking through a fish-eye lens. Look for a pair that has minimal distortion
10. When you focus on a license plate or small sign two blocks away, are the letters and numbers clear? If they’re not, choose a different pair!

Eclectus parrots are highly social, and extremely healthy. Maybe it is their overall good health that makes us forget that they can be killed by toxic materials. The most innocent things can be extremely deadly for Eclectus parrots, and it is vital to their continued longevity that you know what those toxic threats are.

First, as much as you may love your non-stick cookware, if you use it in your home where your parrot lives, you are putting his life in jeopardy. The Teflon in this cookware emits a toxin that can literally kill your Eclectus parrot in minutes.

You must also be aware of Teflon in bread machines and toaster ovens, and also realize that self-cleaning ovens also emit toxins that can kill your beloved bird. This means that you must go back to old-fashioned cookware, and manually cleaning your oven in order to protect your Eclectus parrot.

This isn’t the only thing that is toxic to your bird. You should also avoid the use of aerosol cleansers. In fact, most experts agree that you should avoid the use of aerosol products, no matter what they are for, if you have an Eclectus parrot in the home. Obviously, cleaning supplies are a danger to your parrot. Many of them are only toxic if they are ingested, but some are toxic if the fumes are inhaled as well.

You must also be aware of toxic foods. Chocolate, greasy foods, avocados, alcohol, and caffeine are all toxic for Eclectus parrots. Don’t assume that he is safe as long as you don’t give him these foods. He may find them lying about, and help himself. He doesn’t know any better. For example, if you have chocolates in a bowl, even if they are foil wrapped, he is perfectly capable of unwrapping them and eating them – and he will.

Other products that could be harmful or toxic to your Eclectus parrot include bleach, dish detergent, coffee grounds, leather sprays, tea tree oil, thermometers that contain mercury, aluminum foil and cooking bags, epoxy glue, most essential oils, all types of pesticides in their various forms, plant food and fertilizer, carpet freshener, plug in air fresheners, spray air fresheners, mothballs, cigarettes, cigarette smoke, medications, antifreeze, flea treatments, linoleum, film, potpourri oils, certain plants, personal care products, play dough, matches, pine oil cleansers, and spray starch.

For the safety of your bird, you should consider using only natural, non-toxic cleansers in your home. Even something as simple as commercial furniture polish can be harmful. These days, in an effort to clean up and save the environment, there are many natural products on the market, so you won’t have any trouble replacing your harsh and harmful cleansers. Not only will you be protecting your Eclectus parrot, you will also be doing your part in protecting the environment. You may even be surprised that you and your family are healthier as well.

Those who are interested in owning birds usually consider an Eclectus parrot. This is especially true if they want a bird that is truly social with human beings. Because Eclectus parrots are often hand fed, or hand reared, starting before their eyes even open, these birds learn to not only depend on humans for their care, they have a true social interest in those humans as well.

However, not all Eclectus parrots are social. Some can be downright mean when confronted by human beings, or at the very least, not very well behaved. What happens to these birds to make them anti-social, and how can you be sure that the Eclectus parrot that you adopt will enjoy socialization with you?

First, let’s look at why some Eclectus parrots, which are known for their socialization, may become less than social. This usually happens because they are not handled enough as chicks. An Eclectus parrot may be handled enough by the breeder, but then not handled enough by the people who adopt him, and this can lead to socialization problems as well. In some instances, a bird may become anti-social if he is not fed properly. So, as you can see, the cause of most social problems are not the fault of the bird, or a bad personality, but the fault of the people responsible for his love and care.

With that said, it is essential that you choose your breeder carefully. You want to select a breeder who really cares a great deal about the birds. A hand feeder is best, and you need to find out how much the chicks are handled throughout the day while they are with the breeder.

Once the chick comes to your home, you absolutely must continue having a great deal of contact with him. You should touch him all over, while he is young, so that he becomes accustomed to your touch. You should also talk to him constantly. Use a clam, serene voice when doing so.

It is absolutely vital that you not keep your Eclectus parrot caged all the time. He needs to be let out of his cage for at the very least an hour a day, and preferably for longer periods of time. Some owners allow their birds to roam free all day, as long as they are home to supervise, only returning the bird to his cage at bedtime, or when they must leave the house. This freedom that he experiences is actually a part of his socialization.

Finally, realize that there is no point where it is okay to stop giving your Eclectus parrot so much time and attention. This is time and attention that he will require for his entire life – just as you require time and attention from your human loved ones for your own well-being. If you continue to love and socialize with your Eclectus parrot, he will be well adjusted, and obviously quite social. In fact, you may find that he becomes your best friend, and your closest confidant.