Ask Bird Bloggers

They can get loud.

They aren’t necessarily the type to be loud all of the time, but when they are they are. They also have this really shrill sound that is like metal cutting across metal that is very unnerving.Of course, it depends also on the individual bird, I would say if volume is a problem an IRN may not be the best choice. They aren’t a very snuggly sort of bird, but they do demand attention with their voices so they can be hard to live with at times. Jacie (words on birds)

You have to pay attention to what is going on when your tiel screams. Is there activity in the house? Are people moving around? Is something going on that while quiet and non-threatening to humans could be distressing your ‘tiel (like folding laundry as an example)?Though birds will just scream sometimes because that is what they do. Sometimes it’s contact calling for the rest of the flock, sometimes it’s screaming at bad weather, sometimes it’s calling out when the sun is setting, sometimes it’s because their voice sounds neat to them right now.There is a lot of reasons for birds to do what we think of as screaming. Sometimes especially with parrots their normal vocalizations is considered screaming to us even if it’s not necessarily screaming to them.But watch closely what is going on. Find a pattern and try to eliminate the problems. Though it won’t stop all the sounds of screams, just the preventable ones. Jacie (words on birds)

People can love their birds and still not necessarily do what is best for them. If your mom isn’t taking your advice and has excuses each time... well... I’m not sure if anything we say is really going to help you there.

If your mom keeps non-stick cookware and uses it, for example, that could be causing the sudden death. It could be a similar environmental thing like if she or someone else in her household smokes. Especially since the new budgie seemed to pass away so quickly I am worried it is something like that more than anything that could have done it. However, budgies are also fragile animals and quite overbred so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it were something genetic either.

As for making the bird stay in its cage all the time, that’s not something we should be trying to teach birds. They are really intelligent animals, yes even budgies, and they are not well suited to stay in a cage for their whole lives. If your mom is keeping the birds in their cages for most or all of the day, then there is a good reason they don’t like being in there.

As comfortable, as large and as toy filled and stimulated as we can make a cage for a bird, it won’t replace direct interaction and socialization and the novelties of being out. So I can’t really recommend that course of action in the first place.

I think you need to sit your mom down and have a real heart to heart with her about these animals. About the care, attention and stimulation they really require to thrive and about setting realistic and doable goals for improving their care. But the main problem is getting her to be receptive to you, and unfortunately that’s not something we can help with really.I wish you the best of luck in all of this.Jacie (words on birds)

Taking away the millet would be fine to be honest, even if she plays with it. You could always put in a spent millet sprig that’s just the stick if she wants to play around with it, without giving her a full thing of millet. Though, if she doesn’t have the treat to play with, and you hide a little bit of millet in and on the toys you give her, it should attract her to the toys more than giving her a favourite thing in with the new things.

It’s usually recommended you change about 10% of their food at a time, depending on the bird this process could take days... or weeks, sometimes it can be months. It can be slow and frustrating, but stay determined and keep offering your budgie fresh foods, a good pellet and all that other good stuff. You just have to keep offering it and checking the bowl to see that they’ve eaten it, how much, what was taken, etc.

It can take time for them to adjust and get settled to a new diet and with new things, but as long as you keep offering they usually will at least check the thing out and usually after its not new and scary they will end up liking things.Jacie (words on birds)

It’s a little hard to say. Since he is singing along with the music and seeming content then it may not be anything to worry about, especially if this is how he’s always been.

Some linnies are less prone to playing than others, so it isn’t to say that he should be playing. It depends though, how active is he when there are people around? How long does he spend alone in the cage?

Sometimes birds will be less active in their cages because they spend a lot more energy when they are out of the cage. So if he’s very active whenever you’re around, then it may not be as much of a problem as you think.

Pay close attention to the toys, see if there are any small bite marks, check where the poop is dropping in the cage and try to see if he’s always ignoring the toys, if he’s ignoring all of them, or if it’s just an occasional thing or him having a type preference that’s not being fulfilled.

Foraging toys and such can help encourage your bird to check out what’s around him and adding treats to other toys can help entice him in to playing with them, then he figures out on his own how to have fun with them.Good luck with your Linnie!Jacie (words on birds)

I’m not against clipping for various reasons and it is in the end a serious choice you have to make. However I wouldn’t clip any bird just for convenience sake.

A clipped bird can get in to just as much trouble getting places they don’t belong, chewing on things they shouldn’t and otherwise making a mess and annoying visitors.

There really isn’t a convenient way to keep a bird.

However, there are ways to train birds and their behaviour. 

Target training can be invaluable if you want to teach your bird there is an okay and a not okay place to be. Flock-talk has a wonderful part of their page dedicated to the basics of training, where to start and how to prepare that I think you’ll find useful.Jacie (words on birds)

You haven’t failed, there is always time to change things around and have a more amicable relationship. It may take a long time but with patience you can work towards a better relationship.For your target sticks, do you allow him to get used to the object first? Sometimes it can be the sudden intrusion into their cage with an unfamiliar object that sets them off. if you use something your bird is more comfortable with, or if you acclimatize him to the target beforehand it can help ease in to things.Sometimes it is a matter of moving too quickly or them being startled by the target stick when you first use it. Moving slowly can help quite a bit, especially if you have familiarized your bird with the object already so they know it’s nothing that will hurt them.Dominance isn’t really a thing to worry about with birds. It shouldn’t be the goal to be the dominant one so that he’ll respect you. You want to be your bird’s friend, their partner, their flockmate! They need to understand you respect their boundaries and won’t hurt them and you need to establish some reasonable boundaries and communicate them gently. Your bird will not always give you the benefit of being gentle, but it is important to stay calm and not escalate any energy or aggression.It can be difficult to train and tame a bird who has not been their whole lives, but it is possible to at least improve upon the relationship.Jacie (words on birds)

What are they doing that make your sun aggressive is the question. Do they ignore his body language? Is it only when you are around that he attacks? Is he okay with taking food from them but not being held?

The screaming alone could be excitement and your bird may be over stimulated by it and turn that to aggression, but generally they need to understand that other people aren’t going to do things to him that he doesn’t like. If they don’t respect his boundaries he will not like them very much and want to defend himself.Having your sun spend time with your folks and other people will help quite a bit. Even if they don’t have hands on interaction with him, just being around people and learning to trust that they are not a threat can go a long way.

However birds can be particular about who they become affectionate with and some birds will not really care for others much at all. Sometimes it is a personality thing, but often with enough time you can get birds to at least tolerate the presence of someone they dislike.Good luck and if you need anymore help or have more specifics we’d love to help when our inbox is back open!Jacie (words on birds)

Anyone have canaries that can help shed light on this behaviour?

It sounds like just an odd quirky play behaviour that they picked up to me but I am honestly not sure.Jacie (words on birds)

I typically use Sunblaster bulbs or Zoo Med Avian Sun bulbs. Whether or not you can use them in a fixture depends entirely on the wattage of the individual bulb and what your fixture can handle. They don’t necessarily need a heavy light fixture like heating lamps but they do need to be positioned so that your bird will get the most light out of it and not too far away from them. I really like the long fixtures from Sunblaster because you can attach them to the ceiling above the bird cage and not have to worry about it so much.Jacie (words on birds)

I have never seen or used this kind of thing but generally I find it harder to clean and I don’t like the cage lining to look like pellets because then Dax may be prone to try to eat them.Also unless you are dumping the entire thing on a daily basis there isn’t really a guarantee that you can spot all of the poop and while a day or two probably isn’t a big deal you don’t want that to fester in their cages.I know some folks get along really well with craft paper and parchment paper that they can cut to the size of their cage and layer it so you’re not shoving in ill-fitting newspaper every day. Typically you can put a weeks worth of paper down and just remove the top layer each day.I find that method to be easier than laying out newspaper all the time, and I generally don’t like granulated and pelletted litter options for cage lining because of the potential health risks.Jacie (words on birds)

This will mainly take time and persistence on your part. A lot of birds will get weird about new things in their cage so slow introduction can help. Sometimes when slow introduction doesn’t work, tying something familiar on to the new object can help.

For example you mentioned your budgie likes millet (what bird doesn’t really, lol?), so you could put part of the millet sprig on the toy when you put it in her cage. She may avoid it at first, but will likely investigate sooner or later.

If she isn’t comfortable with people interacting with her inside of her cage (in her territory, inher nest essentially), then interact with her outside the cage. You can play mimic games through the bars, talk to them softly, show them your hands slowly and put them down again showing her you mean no harm.Let the bird get used to your presence as someone who isn’t always going to push passed boundaries.Building trust and friendship takes time. You can do it though Jacie (words on birds)

Sorry this has come so late. We’ve all been busy this summer.I don’t really have resources to this end but basically your vet should physically examine the bird. Feeling the bird, listening to their heartbeat and breathing (breathing is checked on several parts of their body since the respiratory system is complex), checking the condition of the feathers over their body, checking under the wings and trying to see some of the skin on the sparse-feather areas to make sure that looks right. Looking into the birds throat, earholes and eyes is fairly standard as well. Some vets will take blood samples at regular check ups and some will only take blood samples if there is something otherwise presenting in the bird. It’s actually all fairly standard when it comes to routine check ups.Jacie (words on birds)

Reactions like that can be caused by a lot of things and not necessarily by the animal who caused it.

Could be some dirt or other substance getting in the wound and causing a small infection, it could have been something that was on the claw that punctured you (small amount of poop for example) and your body is just getting rid of that....But really you’ll have to see an allergist to help sort out if it is an allergic reaction and how severe it may be/become. My partner has allergic reactions to bird dander, but we still keep a parrot in the home because he manages the symptoms with medicine and remedies. However I know someone else who has a family member that can’t even be around someone who has been around birds recently without a thorough decontamination shower and change of clothes.

So allergies to birds present in different ways and sometimes can be managed but other times cannot be. You’ll have to seek further advice from a medical professional.Jacie (words on birds)