{"id":9944,"date":"2018-09-05T16:50:51","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T21:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/windycityparrot.com\/blog\/?p=9944"},"modified":"2018-09-05T16:50:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T21:50:51","slug":"what-should-one-consider-before-getting-a-pet-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/?p=9944","title":{"rendered":"What Should You Consider Before Getting a Pet Bird?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Children are loud, messy, and time-consuming,\u00a0 but every family has 2.6 of them (Pew Research).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I probably spend less time cleaning up after my eight birds in three birdcages than most moms cleaning up after 2 six-year-olds\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">or a single toddler<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">To say that all birds are time-consuming is an unsupported blanket statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We have a Senegal parrot and an African ringneck.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Neither is very noisy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\"><!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We also have six budgies which are probably the noisiest of the bunch but I call them my singing flowers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I prefer to listen to our budgies than most media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Most people get it backwards when they suggest to find a vet after you get the bird.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">First of all geography may preclude you from having easy access to an avian vet.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Let&#8217;s face it, the small percentage of pet birds that see veterinarians on a regular basis usually cycle out around six months to a year for visits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Today you can always videoconference with an avian vet but have a relationship with a local veterinarian who may be into horses and cattle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">If the avian vet is familiar with chickens he or she is familiar with birds as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/315fea83-03a7-438b-9612-d243a871758f.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"315fea83-03a7-438b-9612-d243a871758f\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9948\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/315fea83-03a7-438b-9612-d243a871758f.jpg?resize=600%2C319&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\" Catherine, MitchR. and Peaches\" width=\"600\" height=\"319\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Catherine, MitchR., and Peaches<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would advocate that you start your inquiries about helping a bird find you.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Editor&#8217;s note: all our birds are rescues and all found us we did not track them down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We let people (in ur avian circle) we were seeking specific species and because of the network that we maintain the task was not difficult.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Your vet may know who wants to relinquish birds, who are hoarding birds, and may have a relationship with a bird rescuer two.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Bird rescues and bird fairs are all great sources for anything avian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Stainless steel bird cages are overrated and overpriced (says the guy who sells bird cages for a living)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Unless they are going to be out-of-doors or sanitation is an issue wrought iron or wire powder coated cages are just fine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Unless the birdcage is surgical grade 304 stainless steel it will rust in the same timeline as a good powder coated cage<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Our Senegal parrot and African ringneck both reside in cages that can be purchased retail for under $250.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Buying the largest cage you can afford or a cage that is double the wingspan of the bird really are not informative ways to judge the size of the new birdcage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Birdcages are more a matter of lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Don&#8217;t assume your bird will only have one cage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Peaches our Senegal has her <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">home cage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">travel cage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Birdie Boutique cage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">travel trailer cage (permanently parked).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Keto our rescued African ringneck ended up with a cage we thought would be for our six budgies but once we built it was too small.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">It happened to be sitting in our living room when we rescued Keto and we made it his cage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">A bird that is out of the cage all day and only sleeps and it needs a far smaller cage than a bird whose confined 10 to 12 hours a day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Yes, some bird toys can be expensive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We offer one line of bird toys that is literally as large as small children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">On the flip side, we make lots of videos and offer suggestions on our website for free and do-it-yourself bird toys.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">You can easily make bird toys for any size bird using common household products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Two wooden stirring spoons for a dollar at the dollar store hung with a quick link in the predrilled holes in can be great foraging toys for a Rose-breasted cockatoo.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We introduce new toys into our three birdcages, we are in the business &#8211; that&#8217;s a slam dunk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I also have forging boxes set up in front of my computer and on tables throughout our living area so that Peach who is fully flighted has something to do when she gets to \u201callowed\u201d hang-out areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Harry&#8217;s razor boxes have cute little pullout drawers that I fill with high-value treats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Many small electronics boxes are suitable to place business cards, playing cards or product tags.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I stand the cards vertically and sprinkle some sunflower seeds in between them which keeps Peaches occupied for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We are food agnostic with our birds, serving them whatever we receive in broken boxes, tubs and bags.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">They do not have a base diet of pellets but we do include pellets and all eight birds&#8217; diets, blending them in ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The two bigger birds might get five or six brands and a single dish not knowing it but they are happy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/551676c7-0132-4359-8c78-2e6df94bfb3b.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"551676c7-0132-4359-8c78-2e6df94bfb3b\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9949\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/551676c7-0132-4359-8c78-2e6df94bfb3b.jpg?resize=600%2C336&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bacon, Eggs, Toast Jam, Biscuit and Gravy budgies in a bird cage\" width=\"600\" height=\"336\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Bacon, Eggs, Toast, Jam, Biscuit, and Gravy<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">All the birds get fresh food and water in the morning and in the evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">15 to 20 minutes a.m. and 5 to 10 minutes p.m. &#8211; not a lot of time and that&#8217;s for eight birds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The budgies love cucumber slices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The Senegal likes \u201cwarm\u201d veggies, almonds, walnuts, and nutriberries (we crush nutriberries for the budgies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Through forensic Facebooking, we have deduced he\u2019s at least 17, a male (male ringnecks have the ring, females have none) and we\u2019re at least his third home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We\u2019re still figuring out what Keto\u2019s into.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">He talks and chatters in that typical ringneck voice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Catherine is a 20 veteran of ringnecks and wanted one when our Sennie decided I was the only human (or bird) worth acknowledging.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Keto was rescued and in my car 12 hours after we learned of his owner&#8217;s passing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Editor\u2019s note: do you have a will for your birds or any pets for that matter?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">People say you have to constantly interact with these birds otherwise they will begin to exhibit negative behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Who on God&#8217;s green earth interacts with the child 6 &#8211; 8 hours a day (besides teachers).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I&#8217;ve had children &#8211; that is not possible and when it happens I ended up taking ibuprofen (think family vacation)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">A flighted bird is a happier healthy bird but you must be prepared for this and so must your home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Birds don&#8217;t need help learning to fly, they need to be taught where and how to land.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Birds that fly for the first time may panic fly which can result in injury.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The rooms your bird are in must be birdproof much like childproofing an area except birds are three-dimensional animals so Windows are a major factor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We have a large living room\/dining room area with 9-1\/2 foot ceilings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The top window sashes are covered with shades or wooden shutters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Lower window sashes have lots of stained-glass and or large plants in front of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We fill in the remaining open clear areas by hanging small stained-glass pieces on suction cups.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Nutrition is the most important part of a bird&#8217;s life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Editor\u2019s note: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The major cause of pet bird death is malnutrition<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The second most important part of a captive bird\u2019s environment is lighting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Many, many negative behavioral issues can be avoided by simply placing a full-spectrum light no higher than 6 inches above the cage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The light should be on a timer providing 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">The bird should be in the cage when the light comes on and when the light goes out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">This signals to birds the beginning and end of the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Proper light cycles help keep birds\u2019 circadian rhythms synchronized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Circadian rhythms control humans by making us feel sad in the winter because of insufficient daylight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Light is the single most important data flow a bird can get.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Light signals to birds when to breed, when to molt, and for many species when to migrate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Clicker training should be implemented with any bird creating rewards for a positive behavior state of mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Clicker training dramatically reduces negative behavior like biting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">There are ways to silence birds temporarily with things like redirection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Larger parrots like umbrella cockatoos and green wing macaws are going to want to vocalize and must be allowed to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Yelling at a bird to shut up only makes the bird want to squawk more because it&#8217;s thinking &#8220;oh boy somebody&#8217;s finally talking to me&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">In conclusion when you say a &#8220;pet bird&#8221; you have opened the discussion which of 600 or so species of parrots and parakeets <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Knowing specifically which species you should bring into your home is your first step<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Conures and macaws indigenous to South America are loud birds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Umbrella cockatoos and Moluccan cockatoos are loud birds from Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Major Mitchell cockatoos and bare-eyed cockatoos are not all that loud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Senegal parrots (poicephalus) in general (Meyers and red belly parrots as an example) aren&#8217;t so loud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">We live in an apartment building in Chicago on the first floor, our landlord&#8217;s daughter lives directly above us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Her music is louder than our birds &#8211; we get along, famously.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/fe0724f6-0bb8-4a71-b5f2-0d7a4b9c7727.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"fe0724f6-0bb8-4a71-b5f2-0d7a4b9c7727\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9950\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/fe0724f6-0bb8-4a71-b5f2-0d7a4b9c7727.jpg?resize=600%2C232&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"african ringneck hanging from bell bird toy\" width=\"600\" height=\"232\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Visit a rescue or a zoo that has birds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">People will tell you that you should volunteer in a rescue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">I&#8217;ve never heard that you should volunteer in an orphanage to learn about raising children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/What-should-one-consider-before-getting-a-pet-bird\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">See the original Quora question here with other answers<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Written by Mitch Rezman<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 18pt\">Approved by Catherine Tobsing<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Children are loud, messy, and time-consuming,\u00a0 but every family has 2.6 of them (Pew Research). I probably spend less time cleaning up after my eight birds in three birdcages than most moms cleaning up after 2 six-year-olds\u00a0 or a single toddler To say that all birds are time-consuming is an unsupported blanket statement. We have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","_thinkrank_schema_form_data":"","_thinkrank_selected_schema_type":"","_thinkrank_additional_schemas":"","_thinkrank_canonical_url":"","_thinkrank_og_title":"","_thinkrank_og_description":"","_thinkrank_og_image":"","_thinkrank_twitter_title":"","_thinkrank_twitter_description":"","_thinkrank_twitter_image":"","_thinkrank_imported_from":"","_thinkrank_focus_keywords":[],"_thinkrank_focus_keyword":"","_thinkrank_robots_meta_enabled":0,"_thinkrank_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_advanced_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_exclude_from_search":0,"_thinkrank_exclude_from_archives":0,"_thinkrank_primary_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"page_builder":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[195,196,188,220,201,208,217,228,189,209],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-parrot-care","category-bird-behavior","category-bird-cage-info","category-exercising-birds","category-feeding-pet-birds","category-foraging-and-enrichment","category-habitats-for-caged-birds","category-parakeets","category-peaches-the-senegal-parrot","category-training-birds"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":{"landsacpe":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sff-chld-hi-chair-spagetti-messy-lovebird-600-2-7.jpg?resize=600%2C445&ssl=1",600,445,true],"list":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sff-chld-hi-chair-spagetti-messy-lovebird-600-2-7.jpg?resize=463%2C348&ssl=1",463,348,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sff-chld-hi-chair-spagetti-messy-lovebird-600-2-7.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sff-chld-hi-chair-spagetti-messy-lovebird-600-2-7.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,false]},"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phcfkq-2Ao","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sff-chld-hi-chair-spagetti-messy-lovebird-600-2-7.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.windycityparrot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}