Because of the recent occurrence of some tragic accidents involving parrots, I thought it would be an opportune time to write an article on the importance of safety precautions.

Some of our regular customers may have heard me say, 'Birds in captivity have an incredible ability to find any means available to harm or even kill themselves'. This statement may seem like an exaggeration, unfortunately in my experience it has been proven true far too many times. I would like to cite two recent examples, which were the motivation for the writing of this article:

I was recently speaking with one of the local avian veterinarians about the products that we recommend when, because of my past experience and interest in avian medicine, I asked him about a recent case of intestinal blockage I had heard he had seen. His client owned a Blue & Gold Macaw that had gained some notoriety by being used in several commercials and also some movie productions. This bird was allowed free access to an entire room in his owner's home; his cage door was never locked. For a number of years the bird lived in this room freely roaming around on the furniture, floor, etc. His owner probably thought that this was the best way of giving the bird more freedom. He also probably thought that because the bird had not had any serious problems for years it never would. The doctor was presented with this bird because it had suddenly lost its appetite. Upon examining the bird the doctor proceeded to do x-rays - the birds digestive tract was filled with what was later discovered to be part of the couch that the bird had enjoyed sitting on. Outside of their natural tendency to chew, it is impossible to say why the bird suddenly decided after years to sample the couch. Unfortunately, even though it survived the many hours of surgery necessary to remove the blockage, the bird later died. Incidents like this, which disprove the theory that because a bird doesn't do something for an extended period of time it never will, happen all the time.

I was working at the store late one evening when I received a call from one of our customers who had only a few weeks before taken home a baby African Grey Parrot. In the background I could hear someone crying. The customer told me that the baby was dead - he was calling because his wife (the bird was primarily hers) was too grief stricken to talk to me. He then told me what had happened to cause this terrible accident. The bird had just been fed it's formula and was waiting on the counter, while under the visual supervision of her husband who was sitting close by, for his owner to clean up the hand feeding syringe. They were unsure what exactly happened next but as near as I can piece it together the bird must have slipped and slid off the edge of the counter. As it fell it grabbed at the cord of a toaster oven, which had been placed a safe distance from the feeding area, and pulled it over the edge on top of itself as it fell.

These two incidents illustrate different aspects of the safety concerns inherent in the keeping of pet birds in our homes. The first, involving the macaw, I would categorize as negligence - before owning a macaw this person should have read parrot publications or spoken with enough experienced parrot owners to have realized that to leave any parrot completely unsupervised in any normal room of your house was to invite severe injury or death. This is a basic fact that any knowledgeable source of information would have listed. The second incident, involving the baby African Grey, I consider an accident. It could have been avoided, but I think it is virtually impossible to create an absolutely accident free environment for our birds - or for children for that matter. This does not mean that we should not try our best to avoid giving the birds undue opportunity to find ways to get into trouble. The person who lost the African Grey is one of the many customers we have that we consider a friend. Many of you know how careful we are about choosing homes for our birds - especially the few larger parrots we sell. This person was someone that I had the utmost confidence in to give the bird a good home - and yet this terrible accident occurred.

Please contact us in regards to any questions about how to make your bird's home as safe a place as possible. We have handouts on this subject as well as many suggestions. .