Sharing Thanksgiving Dinner with your Feathered Family

How safe is it to share your Thanksgiving feast with your bird?

Pumpkin is a great food for birds.  Nutritional and yummy, but best served to your bird before it goes into that pumpkin pie with all the added sugar.

Sweet potatoes are an awesome food to share with your bird.  Some birds like raw slices or small chunks of sweet potato and some prefer slightly cooked and softer.   Although white potatoes should not be fed raw, you can feed sweet potatoes raw if your bird likes them that way.  Again, give them to your bird before adding the extra sugar of most sweet potato casseroles.

Green beans are fun and good eating for your bird and are loaded with Vitamin A.  Most of us use frozen green beans these days and that is just fine for your bird.  Can beans, not so much, as they will need to be rinsed well and they usually spoil quickly so if that's all you have, make sure you remove them from your bird's menu within about an hour of feeding.

Cranberries are another great food to share with your bird, but not the canned cranberry jelled dish.

How about some pecans too?  Pecans are full of nutrition but higher in calories than some other nuts, so feed sparingly, and before they go into the pecan pies.

Speaking of Nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and so on, are usually available this time of year and
are entertaining, nutritious, and fun to play with if you are a bird, so bring on the nuts.

I know some are wondering "What about some Turkey?"  Well, your bird may like a very small taste, but it's not necessary and should only be given within safe time limits for all cooked meats.  And no, your bird is not a cannibal.  If you are a human and you like hamburgers, well what's the difference?

IMPORTANT REMINDER!

Teflon ( PTFE poisoning/toxicosis) kills birds silently and quickly.  Do not use cookware that contains this non-stick coating, and remember if you need to clean your self-cleaning oven (almost all self-cleaning ovens contain PTFE) after the holiday, remove your bird from the home for about 24 hours. 

Parrots Helping Veterans and Vice Versa

There are many troubled parrots in rescue centers in need of loving homes.  They desperately need people who have patience and love to share as they begin to learn to trust and enjoy life.  Sometimes, in the same way, there are people who need love and a purpose of giving in life.  It can be an important step for birds and veterans as these men and women become a guiding light in a parrot's hope for a better future.


Not everyone is aware that just like dogs and a few other animals, parrots can also be registered as emotional support animals.  As therapy pets, parrots can provide a loving companion for many years for a veteran in need.

The group Parrots for Patriots is helping parrots and veterans at the same time.  You can click on the link in this paragraph to visit their website and see how they are helping both parrots and veterans, as well as learn how you can also help.  From Budgies to Macaws, parrots are finding love and giving it in return.

We hope this wonderful program continues to help veterans and birds in providing hope, love, and emotional support for both.

Here are a couple more links to read more about these programs.


Parrots as Therapy Pets for Veterans


How orphaned parrots help Veterans

Does a Time Change Affect your Bird?

Daylight Savings Time, how does it affect your parrot?

You are either on it or off of it, unless you are lucky enough to live somewhere that does not change the hours of the day depending on the time of year.

I freely admit I am not a fan of time change.

Not only does it make me grumpy for the first week of change, it often makes a few of the flock rather grumpy too.  Just because the clock says they have an hour left of playtime, does not mean they want an extra hour of play time.  Most of mine will start letting me know in louder and louder voices that it's past their bedtime when the clock falls back.  Especially the cockatoos.


Don't even mention the fact that breakfast and dinner may fall an hour later.  According to my birds, meal time is non-negotiable.

It usually takes at least a week if not two, for most of my birds to settle into the new timetable.  However, I do have a few (cockatoos in particular again) who refuse to change their time no matter what the humans do.  They are on nature's time all the time. I have learned to live with it.

Instead of changing their timetable for a whole hour, sometimes making 10 minute daily changes over a course of a week or two, can make it a little easier for your bird to adjust.

Of course, you may be lucky and your bird goes with the flow and isn't bothered at all.