People-PARROT RELATIONSHIPS

People-PARROT RELATIONSHIPS
BIRDS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN ...
MAKE SURE YOUR PARROT COMPANIONS ARE NOT TOY-DEPRIVED
By John Geary

The next time you go a pet store to purchase some food for your avian companion, be sure to pick up some toys, as well.

From tiny canaries to large macaws, birds need toys to live happy, healthy lives. Large birds in particular are incredibly intelligent creatures, and without toys to stimulate them, they may develop physical or behavioural problems.

While it is important to spend time playing with your parrot, it is also important that your companion has something to do when you are not around. Learning to entertain himself is an important part of every parrot's development.

Michelle Biedrava, a trustee with the Canadian World Parrot Trust and member of the Alberta Parrot Association, says all pet birds need toys to replace the activities in which they engage in the wild.

“No matter

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how much time someone plays with their bird, the bird still needs lots of toys,” she says. “That doesn’t mean buying 10 toys, putting them in the cage and leaving them for two years. You have to rotate them, sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, depending on your bird.”

Don’t be disappointed if the toys don’t last long. Birds, particularly hookbills like parrots, exercise their beak muscles by chewing, and that means the toys will be destroyed, sometimes rather quickly, so you’ll need to replace them frequently.

Different types of birds require different types of toys. The book Parrot Toys and Play Areas by Carol S. D’Arezzo and Lauren Shannon-Nunn identifies 11 different toy categories, including noisemakers, destructibles, food finders and foot toys. Every bird does not require every kind of toy. Even within the same species, different birds play with different toys. As a responsible caretaker for your bird, you need to spend time determining what your bird likes and what it does not like.

Sharon McMeekin has coordinated the Calgary Parrot Club’s toy-making committee for several years. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring your bird’s toys are appropriate for the species and size of bird.

“The materials have to be the right size, the right texture, the right colour,” she says. “Experiment to see what your bird likes and what it can actually use. If the leather or wood is too hard, your bird won’t play with it.”

Responsible bird caretakers need to determine their birds’ likes and dislikes.

“A canary won’t be interested in a big, plastic toy, but might be incredibly interested in a pine cone with yucca in it,” says Vicki Ballard, owner of Vancouver’s West Coast Tropical Bird Studio.

Ballard says a bird’s degree of acceptance often depends on whether or not it was introduced to a variety of colours and textures while young.

“By introducing a bird to variety early on, you often have a bird not frightened of toys,” she says.

Whenever you select a toy for your bird, be aware that your companion may be afraid of the new object. If you have an older bird who may not have experienced toys at a younger age, you can still develop its interest in toys, but it will require patience. With a bit of patience and love on your part, your bird will probably accept most toys.

“Introduce the toy gradually – don’t just stick it in the cage and leave,” says Biedrava. “Be ready to show the bird how it is used.”

Introduce the new toy with a sense of silliness. Something a bird may initially fear can quickly become into a favorite toy if you use it in a playful interaction with your feathered friend.

Make sure you inspect toys frequently, too. Trim any frayed pieces that could trap your bird’s foot, causing it to panic and injure itself. Purchase toys that use cotton or sisal, not nylon or other synthetic fibres. That way, if your bird does happen to get tangled up it can sometimes chew its way out of a natural fibre, something much more difficult for it to do if the material is nylon.