Healthy Habits We Can Learn From Our Birds
Looking for some healthy habits to try in the year ahead? Good news! Chances are you have your very own health coach living with you right now — look no further than your feathered friend!
Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Prepping For A Film Crew Visit
Inviting a film crew into a research lab devoted to the study of cognitive behavior in parrots involves not only prepping the lab, but the parrots and the filmmakers. Dr. Irene Pepperberg shares her account of having a film crew join her in the lab.
Darwin’s Finches Continue To Evolve
Darwin’s Finches of the Galapagos Islands are giving scientists the unique and amazing chance to watch evolution in progress, all in a single lifetime!
How Dr. Pepperberg Chooses What Topics To Study
The inspirations for topics of Dr. Pepperberg’s African grey studies come from many different sources, and all add up to fascinating information being revealed.
Meet Hawaii’s Crow
Conservationists are working hard to save Hawaii’s endangered crow, the Alala, which disappeared from the wild years ago. Captive breeding offers hope that one day Alalas will fly free again, and a major step to that happened recently.
Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Parrots’ Cognitive Abilities Put To The Liquid Test
After a certain age, children are able to understand conservation of amounts. Can birds also understand that a change in shape might not change the amount?
Hummingbirds Inspire
Learn how an assistant researcher became a hummingbird whisperer. She shares her tips to keep hummingbirds healthy and happy.
Dr. Pepperberg Dishes: Will Parrots Work For Food?
Studies point to an interesting fact: Working for food rewards parrots with more than just food to eat. Find out what this means.
Newsworthy Bird Stories
Do a Google news search with the key words “parrot” or “bird.” You might be treated to some fascinating and downright entertaining bird stories — perfect topics to read aloud to your pet bird!
San Francisco Bird Hotel Caters To Feathered Clientele
It’s no surprise that dogs and cats have fancy spas and boarding facilities to cater to their every need, but birds? The San Francisco Bird Hotel offers just that — a spa and resort built just for the birds. See how this hotel for the birds came to be and how it caters to its feathered clientele.
Lafeber Helps Birds Displaced By Recent Hurricanes
The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey still affects many Texans, including some pet bird owners. Read a first-hand account of flooding in a Houston home, and how Lafeber Company and a circle of donors are helping by sending bird food.
Reap The Benefits Of Joining A Bird Club
Joining a bird club makes you part of a community that shares info about bird care, bird health, bird behavior, and more!
Back-To-School Shopping For Your Pet Bird
End of summer means school is back in session; a time when stores are full of school essentials. See how some basic school supplies can help up your game when it comes to caring for your pet bird.
Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: African Grey Athena’s Antics
Our youngest bird, Athena, can present some interesting challenges to our research. We sometimes joke that she doesn’t have an “off switch.”
Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Catering To Parrots’ Tastes
Dr. Pepperberg reveals some unconventional, and unsung, activities needed to get data from the African grey parrots in her lab.
Audubon Celebrates Birds
Winners of the eighth annual Audubon Photography Awards are here! Check out snuggly penguins, a crashing owl, and many more incredible photos of birds!
Four Things You Should Never Do In Front Of Your Pet Bird
Four things you should never do in front of your bird (and one thing you should do!) to promote the health and happiness of your feathered pal.
Guinness World Record For Aviary With Most Bird Species
The Shuka Vana Bird Home in India earned a Guinness World Record as the one aviary in the world with the most bird species at a single location.
Why Parrots Are So Smart
In recent decades, studies are revealing how birds’ brains work. Learn how their brains are similar and different from mammal brains, and how different bird types have different brains.
Bird Art On The Auction Block
If you’re an art-loving bird enthusiast, an auction house is one avenue for scoring an endearing work of bird art. Parrot-inspired sculptures range from inexpensive to extravagant.
Pepperberg’s Parrots Surprise With Word Choices
The talkative African grey parrots Dr. Pepperberg works with in her research lab communicate in English, and sometimes they surprise lab staff. See why!
Fictitious Birds Should Eat Healthy Too
The Minecraft video game had a parrot problem — the parrot characters were fed chocolate chip cookies! See which movie parrots were also fed no-no foods.
Bird Mural Depicts Avian History
Be amazed by the huge bird mural at Cornell University. It depicts birds across the world in their true sizes, and a website lets you interact with it.
The Desert Cardinal: Beauty In The Desert
Do male and female Desert Cardinals differ in looks? Learn this and other fun facts about this lesser-known, southern counterpart to the Northern Cardinal.
Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Parrot Picture Day
Dr. Pepperberg gives a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of getting parrots to pose during photo shoots, where props and distractions abound.
Birds That Deceive To Get Ahead
The first day of April is notable mostly because that is the day of the year where pranks and deception rule the day. With that theme in mind, there are plenty of instances in nature where animals have evolved to be deceptive as a survival tactic. Here’s a look at bird species that use trickery to get ahead.
Genetic Engineering: New Hope For Rare Species?
Discover how emerging biological and preservation technologies currently being developed might be a way of saving endangered species.
Birds For St. Patrick’s Day
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on March 17 each year, here’s a look at one popular bird in Ireland – the Northern lapwing ‑ as well as some parrots whose plumage will make us all green with envy.
How Dr. Pepperberg Taught Parrots To Use Speech Appropriately
Early on in her behavioral research with Alex the African grey, Dr. Irene Pepperberg began incorporating what she refers to as the model/rival (M/R) system to teach a parrot how to speak and how to use speech appropriately, which also allows the bird to verbally communicate requests.
More Birds With Dr. Seuss-Like Looks
For the most part, Dr. Seuss’s birds look familiar, but their feathers and shapes are best described as otherworldly. We’ve previously shared some real-life birds that look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book, here are some more fantastical Dr. Seuss-like birds to check out.
Parrots Find Creative Ways To Delay Bedtime
With cognitive abilities matching that of a 5-6 year old, African grey parrots can likewise come up with some creative distractions to delay bedtime. This month, Dr. Pepperberg gives us a look back at the bedtime antics of Alex the African grey, as well as how current greys Griffin and Athena attempt to throw a wrench in attempts at a good night routine.
Hatching Success For Orange-Bellied Parrots
With its wild population numbers critically low, the orange-bellied parrot, one of Australia’s rarest birds, stands on the brink of extinction. Fortunately, the Healsville Sanctuary, which spans over 74 acres of native Australian landscape, had one of its most successful breeding seasons. See what the sanctuary is doing to save this little parrot.
Parrots Can Play Mind Games
Research with parrots leads to some unexpected results. Some pleasant, like learning words that weren’t trained, and some unpleasant, like acting out.
“The Macaw Project” Documentary Takes Flight
Crowdfunding on the internet made The Macaw Project documentary possible. Watch it to find out the dangers faced by macaws in the wild.
Physics Of Bird Flight Inspire Scientists
Scientists created a special flight test for a trained Pacific parrotlet, and they learned surprising things about how birds fly.
Parrot Conservation Surprise Challenge: Bees
When Dr. Caroline Efstathion learned that a major problem for parrots in South America and Africa is Africanized honey bees taking over their nesting cavities, she seized the opportunity to combine her passion for parrots and knowledge of entomology to help find a solution.
The Night Parrot: Nocturnal Rarity
Recently, a few people with a passion for finding the rare Night Parrot of Australia have documented proof of its existence, ending rumors of its extinction.
Feather Duster Budgies
The Feather Duster Budgie is a mutation that might make you doubt a bird is inside all the curly, overgrown feathers.
Flight & Exercises To Keep Your Bird Moving
To truly be healthy and fit, our birds need regular exercise in addition to a wholesome and balanced diet. Of course, for birds, flying is the optimal form of exercise. But is free flight a safe option for every companion bird? Are there alternatives?
Free Flight: Lessons From ExoticsCon
One trending topic among avian veterinarians is the correlation between flight and bird health. Specifically, having a companion bird fly can help maintain cardiac, vascular, muscular, and mental health.
Vampire Finches And Ghost Birds
October is the spooky time of the year, so it is befitting to learn about two peculiar topics related to the world of birds: vampire finches and ghost birds. Yes, there is a finch that drinks blood, but humans need not run. And what is a ghost bird … curious?
Dr. Pepperberg Dishes On Parrots & Preening
Parrots often solicit humans by putting their heads down and rubbing against their humans’ fingers; some will even learn to request “Tickle,” “Scritch,” or “Scratch.” Despite being subjects of scientific study, the birds in my lab are no exception, and they have influenced their trainers’ behavior in some striking ways.
Presley The Spix’s Macaw Legacy
Revisit the remarkable story of Presley, the rare Spix’s macaw found living as a pet parrot in Colorado and then repatriated to Brazil to help save his species from the brink of extinction. Presley passed away in 2014 but scientists hope to use new technology to keep his legacy alive.
Bird Vets Flock To Portland For ExoticsCon 2016
Exotic medicine was in the spotlight recently when the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) met in Portland for ExoticsCon 2016. One trend seen among avian veterinarians is an increase in pet birds presenting with metabolic bone disease, one form of which includes osteoporosis.
The World’s Oldest Cockatoo Passes Away: Celebrating Cookie
The Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo – and countless fans near and far ‑ are mourning the loss the zoo’s most beloved and well-known resident, Cookie, the 83-year-old Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, who passed away on August 27, 2016. Cookie was certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest living parrot and was the zoo’s last original member when it first opened in 1934.
New Pepperberg Parrot Research: Recognizing 2D Objects
Dr. Irene Pepperberg, who famously worked with Alex the African grey parrot on documenting parrot intelligence, recently released new research focused on results of her work with African grey parrot Griffin.
Finches Talk To Their Eggs And Other Fascinating Bird News
Check out these intriguing bird-centric stories, which range from parrots playing video games to zebra finches telling their eggs when to hatch to how the males of a bird species called the southern pied babble favor their own biological male chicks over their “stepchicks.”
Beyond The Olympics: Birding In Brazil
Brazil boasts over 1,825 species with others being discovered or named continually. Brazil is considered one of the planet’s richest centers of biodiversity and represents 60% of the species found on the South American continent! As you root for our young athletes at the Olympics, you can think about — and maybe participate in — Brazil’s vast ecotourism to help parrots continue to live in its wilds.
From Pub To Parrot Aviary And Zoo
Andy Cowell and his wife found a way to help more homeless animals than ever before by taking over a closed down, historic pub to make it a zoo and aviary.
Wild Spix Macaw Sighting
One of the rarest and most endangered parrots, the Spix macaw, was recently spotted in in its native Brazil. With a population estimated to be less than 100, all of which are in captivity, this exciting discovery of a Spix in the wild gives hope to the Spix’s survival.
A Safe And Sane Fourth Of July For Your Bird
If your bird startles at the sound of a slammed door, car alarm or other loud, unexpected noise, the Fourth of July might not be the easiest holiday for your feathered friend to handle. Here are some preemptive steps to take to help your bird remain stress-free around Independence Day.
Pet Parrots And Ground Foraging
Parrots in the wild spend good part of the day on foot looking for items to munch. And so it stands to reason that the parrots in our homes might also enjoy walking on their own two feet to see what they can find. Here are some tips for creating a bottom play and foraging area for your pet bird.
Rosemary Low Teaches Us Parrot Enrichment
Get to know Rosemary Low, British aviculturist, ornithologist and conservationist. Plus, learn her tips for presenting fresh food and foraging to parrots.
3D Technology Offers New Lease On Life
Not too long ago, a bird with a broken-off beak or a tortoise with a destroyed shell would have a poor prognosis. Fortunately, advances in science and technology are giving us creative options for helping sick and injured animals.
Parrots As Service Animals
Parrots offer support to owners with special emotional needs, so could parrots someday be recognized as service animals?
Bird Conservation Yesterday And Today
It is time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty, which essentially put bird conservation in motion in the United States and changed how we treat our native birds.
U.K. Boy Raises Money For Parrots
An 11-year-old boy in England gets help from his caique to deal with his autism, and he found a unique way to help both needy parrots and cancer patients.
Lost Conure Lands On TV Reporter
Lola the sun conure flew off, making her owner frantic to find her. A happy reunion followed after Lola mistook a TV reporter for her owner and got on TV.
Rockstar Cockatoo
It’s not everyday that a parrot’s Instagram account garners 14,000 fans in just a month’s time. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Iggy Pop, frontman for the influential proto-punk band The Stooges, recently created an Instagram account for his Moluccan Cockatoo, Biggy Pop, who has taken over social media as only a cockatoo can do.
Transform Your Bird’s Cage From Drab To Fab
Dog and cat owners have to deal with shed fur. For pet-bird owners, it’s the challenge of cage fallout — namely food, toys and shed feathers.
