About E.B. Cravens
"If we TRULY believe our captive-raised hookbills are important to world parrot conservation, we must work ceaselessly to ensure that…
Ask An Expert: E.B. Cravens
Browse by category: Parrot Care, Behaviour and Training, Conservation, Ethics and Welfare, Housing and Environmental Enrichment, General, Health and Nutrition
Hi EB, I was considering adding a female Cape Parrot to my flock. She's about 1 year old now and I've know her as long as she could see. She's very socialized but has never met any of my birds:2 male Quakers 4 & 5 years old and a male Sun Conure 3 years old. They all get along in a common aviary and play area.
Would this Poicephalus wreck the balance of our happy home? And, I have not found the life expectancy in captivity of a Cape Parrot, and that's very important to me as I do not wish my birds to outlive my love. Thank you so much for your help.
Kit
Would this Poicephalus wreck the balance of our happy home? And, I have not found the life expectancy in captivity of a Cape Parrot, and that's very important to me as I do not wish my birds to outlive my love. Thank you so much for your help.
Kit
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Dear Kit, That is a very difficult question. Flock dynamics depend on so many things. For example, how protective of their home cage are your three male conure/quakers? These birds can be protective of their territory, especially in threes which constitutes a sort of birdie "gang."More to the point, it is never a good idea to acquire a new parrot and then place it in a cage with bird or birds already in the home. All sorts of things can go wrong until you are sure the birds get along--bit toes, competition at the food dishes, stress. An extra cage is essential.
As to cape parrots and other birds. We have had many capes here since first getting into the species in 1994. To a bird, they do not like other parrots (sometimes even their own kind if not raised correctly). Capes are one of the most jealous psittacines we have discovered, right up there with hawkheads and some large lories. Our cape young babies get along okay with others in the house, and if raised into an environment where other birds already are living. Capes are one of the few full sized parrots we have encountered that will go after budgerigars in their cage!
Without knowing the birds and seeing your home, I would give it a 20% chance of success to bring in a cape parrot and expect it to get along in a cage with strange birds. Still, you never know if you had two cages and went very slowly. What about a trial meeting between your birds and she...?
A healthy, active cape parrot should live to be 35 or more.
I would also like to add that there is never any guarantee that any of us keepers will outlive our flock. Some sun conures can live into their 30s and human life can be frail also! There is plenty of parrot love in this world to take care of pets that are left behind if any of us die. It only takes planning ahead and getting the right people or organization in your will so that you need not worry yourself about such time frames.
With aloha, EB
filed under: Housing and Environmental Enrichment
I'm moving to a house where I can have an outdoor aviary for my Moluccan Cockatoo. Space is about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long. What kind should I get? Any recommendations?
Thanks,
Kim
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Kim, For a cockatoo you need to get very strong caging wire. Twelve or ten gauge twilweld from England is one of the best. Smaller the opening like half inch by three means less likelihood of rodents passing in and out. We normally do not put an extra safety space on the door area of smaller cages, since it takes up what the cockatoo would have as play space. They need the ground of course and lots of plants in pots or planted in the ground or cut branches hung from the ceiling. I would say it should be at least eght to ten feet high--at least on one end so the bird can experience perching up above human heads. Partially roofed for shade and open for sun and rain on the other side. A big food and water station, toys and logs and stuff to chew on, swinging ropes perhaps, or log on a chain. Some privacy boards in one corner for a place to hide out and nap if wished. Natural wood perches. Maybe a misting system for hot days. Good luck, EBfiled under: Housing and Environmental Enrichment
Dear EB, I am moving my blue-fronted parrot Manitou to a conservatory where he will be able to enjoy the moonlight, extra light from the double glazed windows and see the birdfeeders we have in the garden. I am wanting to make his environment interesting and stimulating and would like to grow the palm nut plant (palm oil palm) out there as I would love to see him pick off his own from the tree itself.
Also we are planning to grow the passion fruit and Kiwi plants, and an olive tree.
I would be grateful if you would kindly advise me if any of these plants would be harmful to him as he will be flying free in the conservatory as well as using a Double Nova cage.
Also please can you recommend sources of information regarding safe conservatory plants as we will always be developing a leafy green environment for him.
Thank you for your help.
Sarah
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Dear Sarah, It sounds like you will have room for many different plants in your new bird atrium. All varieties of palms will usually fruit different cluster styles of palm nuts once they are mature (usually seven or eight years or more) so you need not look for the really tall palms. We like cluster palms and arecas since they are easy to control and will take more chewing by large parrots without dying. We have used a variety of olive in the past and our birds showed no ill effects. They liked to eat the tiny green olives and buds. Passionfruit is not listed as toxic on any of the lists I have seen, but from years of having it here, we notice that our parrots, including the once wild adopted ones, never chew the vine or flowers. That prompted us to stop giving it and only offering the fruit which all our birds love dearly. I think other potential non-toxic vines and berry trees would be a better idea. Also consider the bamboos, prolific orchids, banana, juniper and some other evergreen like Norfolk Island Pine or casuarina. There is good information online if you google "safe plants for parrots" or "toxic plants parrots." Good luck in your endeavor. EBfiled under: Health and Nutrition
Hi EB, I want to ask you if is better to clip or not the wings. I have a baby Congo African Grey and I didn't clip his wings. He is 18 weeks. He is flying a lot and is so happy. Please tell me what it is best for him.
Regards,
Oana
Regards,
Oana
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Oana, Except in the cases of medical necessity or behavior safety (ie. mate killing, etc.) it is always more proper to leave parrots with flight feathers.It increases their aerobic and athletic health, makes them safer from falls and attacks by animals, increases self confidence and alertness, decreases problems like egg binding, and basically makes birds like your Grey "happier" in a natural way.
There are some dangers with flight--glass windows, parrots that have not been taught to come to an arm or fly down can escape the house, aggressive and jealous species may take to "buzzing" humans they do not like, and so forth.
Also in limited indoor spaces, it is sometimes appropriate to trim two or three of the outermost primary feathers at the front of the wing (one feather at a time over a two week period!) to increase flapping exercise in parrots that seem to be lazy flyers or only have room to glide and land....
Cheers,
EB
filed under: Health and Nutrition
I am writing because it is clear to me how difficult it is for the average person who shares his or her home with a parrot to create an environment where their parrot will actually thrive. Most parrot are social animals and need interaction with members of their social group. Since people often have to work, single parrots are left alone a large part of the day. Parrots evolved to fly in the open sky and we are often forced to keep them in cages. Given the complex nutritional requirements of these animals, it is not always easy to know what to provide as an appropriate diet. Parrots are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures and often do better with people who have taken the time to learn training techniques involving positive reinforcement. How many people can afford the time it really takes to learn effective ways to interact with their parrot? The number of abandoned parrots is powerful evidence of our failure to provide an environment where
both parrots and people can thrive. In addition to parrots that need to be re-homed, another indication of the difficulty of providing a reasonable environment for parrots is the number of plucked and mutilated birds that exist within our communities [see Joe Arbogast’s tribute to featherpickers: http://www.bird-tube.com/absolutevc/avc-view.aspx?videoid=127&categoryid= ].
If you share your life with a dog and you care about your dog, you have a reasonably good chance of meeting a dog’s need for social interaction, adequate diet and exercise. Your job is made a lot easier because a dog is a domesticated animal and has evolved to share its life with humans. In order for a dog to get exercise, it is possible to take a dog running or let it free in the backyard for a period of time. The average parrot person does not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots and parrots cannot be set free in the average backyard to enjoy the outdoors.
Parrots are often deprived of adequate social interaction either with their human companions or members of their own species and it is very difficult to give them opportunities to adequately exercise, forage for food and fly. Unlike dogs, parrots have not really evolved to live with humans. Although they are raised in captivity, parrots clearly retain their wild instincts and these instincts shape the behaviors that parrots display in our homes [e.g. parrot vocalizations] and new parrot owners are usually not educated to this reality. Since dogs are relatively common in our communities, people absorb information about how to care for them over time. Most people who share their home with parrots do not have this built-in educational advantage and essential parrot information must be sought out from a variety of experts who have spent their life working and living with parrots. The bottom line is that even if you are fortunate to have learned
about the basic needs of pscittacines, most people will have great difficulty providing an environment where these amazing animals can thrive.
So my question is this: Can we design and build community “Parrot Day Care” aviaries that might meet the needs of our parrots for foraging, social interaction and flight? I know that I, for one, would be willing to pay for “parrot day care” if I thought that my bird was safe & enjoyed the time it got to spend in an environment much closer to its natural environment. I would also be willing to drop my bird off at a facility like this. Further, it might be possible to help other parrot owners learn about how to better meet the basic needs of their birds if concrete examples were available for them to see at a “Parrot Center”. I realize that there would be issues with health concerns & aggression from other birds but I am hoping that these issues might be addressed by requiring health checks/vaccines [frequently already required before you can board a parrot], housing compatible species together (along with monitoring the birds while they were together). So the question is: is this a viable concept? And, if this concept does have the potential to solve more problems than it creates, can we develop guidelines for designing and building a “parrot day care” facility that would minimize dangers and maximize enrichment for our birds?
Thanks.
Terry-
both parrots and people can thrive. In addition to parrots that need to be re-homed, another indication of the difficulty of providing a reasonable environment for parrots is the number of plucked and mutilated birds that exist within our communities [see Joe Arbogast’s tribute to featherpickers: http://www.bird-tube.com/absolutevc/avc-view.aspx?videoid=127&categoryid= ].
If you share your life with a dog and you care about your dog, you have a reasonably good chance of meeting a dog’s need for social interaction, adequate diet and exercise. Your job is made a lot easier because a dog is a domesticated animal and has evolved to share its life with humans. In order for a dog to get exercise, it is possible to take a dog running or let it free in the backyard for a period of time. The average parrot person does not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots and parrots cannot be set free in the average backyard to enjoy the outdoors.
Parrots are often deprived of adequate social interaction either with their human companions or members of their own species and it is very difficult to give them opportunities to adequately exercise, forage for food and fly. Unlike dogs, parrots have not really evolved to live with humans. Although they are raised in captivity, parrots clearly retain their wild instincts and these instincts shape the behaviors that parrots display in our homes [e.g. parrot vocalizations] and new parrot owners are usually not educated to this reality. Since dogs are relatively common in our communities, people absorb information about how to care for them over time. Most people who share their home with parrots do not have this built-in educational advantage and essential parrot information must be sought out from a variety of experts who have spent their life working and living with parrots. The bottom line is that even if you are fortunate to have learned
about the basic needs of pscittacines, most people will have great difficulty providing an environment where these amazing animals can thrive.
So my question is this: Can we design and build community “Parrot Day Care” aviaries that might meet the needs of our parrots for foraging, social interaction and flight? I know that I, for one, would be willing to pay for “parrot day care” if I thought that my bird was safe & enjoyed the time it got to spend in an environment much closer to its natural environment. I would also be willing to drop my bird off at a facility like this. Further, it might be possible to help other parrot owners learn about how to better meet the basic needs of their birds if concrete examples were available for them to see at a “Parrot Center”. I realize that there would be issues with health concerns & aggression from other birds but I am hoping that these issues might be addressed by requiring health checks/vaccines [frequently already required before you can board a parrot], housing compatible species together (along with monitoring the birds while they were together). So the question is: is this a viable concept? And, if this concept does have the potential to solve more problems than it creates, can we develop guidelines for designing and building a “parrot day care” facility that would minimize dangers and maximize enrichment for our birds?
Thanks.
Terry-
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Your inquiry was long and there are so many aspects of it that merit comment.Yes, keeping parrots in captivity is a challenge and many owners fall short in providing stimulating environments, foods, activity, etc. for their birds. On the other hand huge progress in education of psittacine owners has been accomplished in the last 10 years or so and many keepers ARE using imagination and foresight in providing for their pets.
But, it is kind of a glass-half -mpty/half-full discussion since there were so many hundreds of thousands of parrots going into homes the past 20 plus years that it is only logical that many hundreds are going to end up neglected or less than adequately cared for.
In that, parrots are much like dogs and cats and fish and horses and other captive animals living their lives "by human leave." Many are ill treated. Your feeling that meeting needs of these animals is easier is a bit rosy colored. Dogs are abandoned and kept inside or penned or tied up without room to run; cats are let out to fight or fed overly rich foods, or allowed to produce unwanted kittens by the half dozen by some owners; horses overworked or under tended orsimply turned out on lean pastures and expected to stay healthy during poor grass growth; shucks, people even keep bee hives without any consideration to giving the bees water to drink....
Anyway, I disagree that most owners do not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots. I find most bird people, even the well meaning ones, tend to spend thousands of dollars a year on themselves, but neglect to get a new cage or an extra special expensive food diet for their bird.
In addition my parrots always get time out in the back yard even for short stretches in winter.....those former wing trimmed ones were placed in trees to climb and chew or hung in carry cages while I was out supervising; the flighted ones were trained to stay put with me watching over them nearby. Harnesses, screen gazebos--all sorts of ways can get parrots outside.
As to your basic question: I think it as a wonderful idea and should someone in an agreeable setting choose to do the day care thing, it would certainly be financially viable. After all, people pay significant daily sums to have their pets boarded at vets, bird stores or other facilities. The same protocols for health checks and safe intermixing of only healthy birds would apply in your case, with the added benefit of having outdoor air and sunlight conditions lessening the chances of many microbes being as highly contagious.
So, I concur, it is a good idea, and one which has infinite possibilities for some enterprising parrot lover. Unfortunately, you will have to move it forward; I have neither enterprising time nor enough parrots in need in my neighborhood to get such a project off the ground....
With aloha, EB
filed under: Ethics and Welfare
Dear EB,
I have a common Indian parrot and unfotunately the seller has clipped it's wings. I want to know as to how long it will take for its wings to regrow ie the centre wing span. Daily i take it out of the cage to give it flying lessons but am not sure when it would be able to fly. Presently it flies about 8 to 10 yds only.
Regards
Ranjan Bakshi
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Ranjan, Normally an Indian parakeet will moult out its primary wing feathers once a year--if it is in good health. That means the promptness of your parrot growing in new feathers depends upon when they were trimmed by the previous owners. Look for the new flight primaries to begin erupting shortly after you see old large feathers being dropped by the bird. When the new feathers are growing, the shafts will be full of blood, so be careful your parrot does not crash land too hard when it is exercising in its short flights.filed under: Parrot Care
Hi EB, A while ago, you asked if my Hawkheaded parrot is OK sharing the indoor sunroom with our 6 other companion parrots. In this room we have 3 amazons, a galah, a vos eclectus, and our Alexandrine, Hedda Pearl, who has survived many strokes but shows the signs of her illness. She is otherwise abled.
Hawkeye is pretty good about being out in the room with everyone else out, too, but that situation can change in a flash, so she's only out when I'm home and attentive. EB, of all people, you know how wonderfully tuned-in these birds are, so please let me know how you'd handle. I'd love it if
Hawkeye could be out 24/7 in this specially-designed-for-them room, but if, say, a hawk flies overhead or there is another disturbance, Hawkeye takes off and generally, she flies to Hedda's cage. There Hedda quakes because she's seen/heard the scary thing, too, then she flaps in the non-rhythmic way of a stroke survivor, and Hawkeye flares.
When I get there -- because I am being attentive -- they both settle down; how quickly depends on whether or not the situation escalates.
So, can you hear and envision the bird room? The Amazons are all yelling their war cries, Hawkeye's war bonnet is fully flared, Hedda is going crooked, Nikki and Cella are trying to stay out of the way. Hawkeye will always come to me, of course, so that's good. But still, when it happens,
I'm always glad I'm close by.
So, it's a situation I invite only with supervision. Hawkeye is strong, Hedda is brave; accidents can be avoided, yes?
In your experience, any techniques to keep Hawkheads steady in a flock?
Thanks,
Phoebe
Hawkeye is pretty good about being out in the room with everyone else out, too, but that situation can change in a flash, so she's only out when I'm home and attentive. EB, of all people, you know how wonderfully tuned-in these birds are, so please let me know how you'd handle. I'd love it if
Hawkeye could be out 24/7 in this specially-designed-for-them room, but if, say, a hawk flies overhead or there is another disturbance, Hawkeye takes off and generally, she flies to Hedda's cage. There Hedda quakes because she's seen/heard the scary thing, too, then she flaps in the non-rhythmic way of a stroke survivor, and Hawkeye flares.
When I get there -- because I am being attentive -- they both settle down; how quickly depends on whether or not the situation escalates.
So, can you hear and envision the bird room? The Amazons are all yelling their war cries, Hawkeye's war bonnet is fully flared, Hedda is going crooked, Nikki and Cella are trying to stay out of the way. Hawkeye will always come to me, of course, so that's good. But still, when it happens,
I'm always glad I'm close by.
So, it's a situation I invite only with supervision. Hawkeye is strong, Hedda is brave; accidents can be avoided, yes?
In your experience, any techniques to keep Hawkheads steady in a flock?
Thanks,
Phoebe
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Hi Phoebe, Answering flock behavioral questions is, as always from afar, a bit touchy. It sounds like you have a somewhat stable situation with the seven birds in your bird room; and given the supervision they all get, it is working adequately.More to the point, how would I set parameters to provide the hawk-head with unlimited time out of it's cage? Frankly, I see no way....
If my years with hawk-headed parrots taught me one thing, it was that these birds are extremely unpredictable. You have the good fortune to be keeping a single female instead of a male, which alleviates some of the aggression, but, basically once a hawk-head of either gender becomes mature, he or she becomes the most dominant psittacine in any room full of similar sized birds. Our former pets and breeders (we no longer keep hawk-headed parrots) were high strung and unsettling to our other parrots. They would attack and bite on slight provocation any intruder they perceived as a threat or rival--dogs, cats, humans included. A case in point was our male hand-fed, Chen, who would take a nut from April's hand, then a minute later, attack her hair and viciously bite the back of her neck if she was not wary.
Add to this the fact that you have an unwell parrot in the room with Hawkeye and it becomes doubly dangerous. Certain aggressive hookbills are agitated and prone to attack birds that are behaving erratically as stroke victims, begging hens of parakeet species, wet birds after a bath, etc.
I would surmise that Hawkeye grew up as a baby handfed with some of the birds in the birdroom already in your home, and that helps the environment by eliminating the "new intruder" concept, but nevertheless, I would hardly risk it to leave Hawkeye out unsupervised---to my way of thinking, it is a bit like keeping a pet chihuahua who has always been "good around the birds."
Besides, hawk-heads are most predictable around other hawk-heads and the way that they have been observed in the wilds suggests they are not at all the social type of pet most parrot lovers envision when they see the helpless little fledgling at the pet store. Hawkeye might be happiest getting "away" from the bird room for out-of-cage stimulation in an outdoor flight or garden greenhouse--that also might give the other six parrots a break too, as living with a hawkhead a few feet away can truly up the tension level in any mixed flock.
Good luck and keep up the great work
:)EB
filed under: Parrot Care
Hello. I'm asking this question for my friend who has a Timneh and a cockatiel. She has to live with her 84 yr old mother whom is recovering from a fall. Right now she has the birds in the guest room, but wants to put them in the living room so they can be where the action is in the household. However, there's a gas fireplace in the living room. (The living room, dining, and kitchen all share the same open space.) The fireplace is vented to the outside and there's a working carbon monoxide alarm near it. Do you think it would be safe for the health of the birds?
Thank you, Cindi
Thank you, Cindi
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Cindi, It appears that your friend has installed safety precautions and that the fireplace is bird safe. But there are other considerations about putting parrots "where the action is" as you state it....Will they be able to sleep comfortably and in quiet once the sun goes down and their natural day is ended, or will they be kept up by noise and humans and television, etc.?
A vented fireplace is usually free of toxic fumes, but that does not mean the air in the living room is always perfect for small psittacine lungs. Fires burn oxygen and unless there is a fresh air window open and proper ventilation, carbon dioxide can rise indoors in the winter. While humans would perhaps not notice such stale air, over several months it could be more troublesome for birds.
It might be a good idea to keep the parrots' sleeping and feeding cages in the guest room, but to provide play stands and areas in the living room where they can frequent and visit and interact with their humans. This also has the advantage of changing the monotony of always keeping the birds in the same cage spaces, expanding their lifestyle if you will.
As an aside, another need for our pet birds in the winter is to have at least two hour three hours of direct sunlight each week. This means sun through a screen but not a window glass since that blocks some of the beneficial rays. Sunny afternoons can be used in small carry cages where parrot are given some shade with a towel or such on their cage while being able to move out into direct sun for health reasons. By and large, the brighter the room, the better for the birds in the winter as long as it does not overheat or make them feel unprotected.
Good luck,
EB
filed under: Health and Nutrition
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