9532 West Cielo Grande Peoria AZ 85383~623.533.2348~Email

Found or Lost A Bird Please Call 623-533-2348

1. 1. Parrots As Pets

   Parrots make wonderful companions! They are intelligent, active, and social animals. They love and need to be part of the family. Parrots are full of personality and will amaze you on a daily basis, but there is a life-long responsibility that goes along with owning one of these beautiful birds.

   
   Birds live a long time. Large birds such as macaws and cockatoos can live to be 100 years old. Even a smaller bird like a cockatiel can live to be over 20 if properly cared for. Will you be able to provide a loving, stable home for such a highly intelligent animal for the next several decades.
   Parrots can be very sensitive to change. A stressed parrot may pull its feathers out, become aggressive, or develop an excessive screaming problem. Owning a parrot is like having a 2-year-old child for the rest of your life. They will destroy your furniture, scream, fling food all over your house, poop everywhere, and even the nicest parrots can have their bad days and bite. These are all natural behaviors that you cannot train a parrot out of.  Even a captive bred bird is still a wild animal at heart.

   
   

   Parrots can also be very expensive to maintain. They require large cages, lots of new toys to keep them mentally stimulated, fresh food, different perches, and veterinary care. You will need a qualified avian vet, for quality pet care. Avian medicine is more challenging, you can expect a doctor's exam to be 2 - 3 times what you would pay for the exam of a dog or cat. Birds do not generally show physical signs of illness; it would also be wise to run annual blood work, fecal exams, and cultures.

   
   Please do as much research as possible on the particular species you plan to bring home.  Talk to rescues, bird clubs, go to your local library, and ask people experienced with parrots because they are not trying to sell you a bird. Consider volunteering with us to get some first hand experience with many different types of parrots.

   
   

   Fallen Feathers strongly encourage you to adopt instead of buying from a breeder or pet store. There are so many wonderful birds that need loving homes in rescues across the country. There are many benefits to adopting an older bird as well. Older birds are what you see. Just as with people, the sweet hand-fed babies grow up to be moody teenagers who might decide they're not so fond of you after all. For more information, please contact us.




2. When to see the veterinarian

   
   Owning a pet bird is much different than owning a dog or a cat when it comes to veterinary care. People generally assume that since birds do not get yearly vaccines like dogs and cats do they don’t need to see a vet regularly. This is an incorrect assumption. Birds generally hide illness until they are very sick. It is generally recommended that pet birds have full exams every 6 to 12 months. It is important at this time to do routine blood work to check and make sure that your bird is healthy. The best way to check for disease is with blood work. Annual choanal cultures will detect bacterial overgrowth. Besides obvious emergencies, it is very important to take your bird to a vet if you notice any of the following changes or situations:
   Appetite:
   When birds develop sickness, they become nervous, defensive, and fearful. In turn, their appetite and attitude towards food is affected. Understanding this, bird owners can detect important early signs that something is wrong by paying close attention to their birds at meal times.
   Droppings:
   Change in the character of droppings or a decrease in the number or volume.
   Activity:
   Change in activity: the bird becomes less active, talks less, sings less, and neglects beak and nail care.
   Mood:
   Change in attitude, decrease in friendliness, increased “grouchiness”.
   General Appearance:
   

   Change in the bird’s general appearance or posture. Seriously ill birds will ruffle their feathers up, begin closing their eyes in a sleepy fashion, and will sit low on the perch.
   Breathing:
   Any noticeable breathing while resting or heavy breathing after exertion, a change in character of the voice, or any unusual respiratory sounds such as a sneeze, wheeze, or click.
   Lumps:
   Any enlargement, even fat, is abnormal in birds.
   Lesions:
   Unusual crustiness, discoloration, or inflammation of the face, beak, feet, or legs.
   Remember every new bird needs a complete physical!



3. How You Can Help Wild Birds
   Do not use birdbaths! The stagnant water in birdbaths is a breeding ground for many diseases. Instead, offer a constantly flowing water supply. This can be done easily by placing a large shallow pan under a drip system nozzle or garden hose.  A birdbath can be used if the water is replaced daily and
   well cleaned.
   Recycle, reduce, and reuse! Help protect the environment.
   Avoid using chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides.
   Keep pets indoors! Cats and dogs are one of the biggest threats to wild birds. Keeping your cats indoors not only keeps the birds safe, it protects them from cars, diseases like FELV, FIV, FIP, other cats and dogs, or being hit by a car. Always spay and neuter!
   Use caution when trimming trees. Check for nests before you start. The best time is October through January when birds are not nesting.
   Supervise children with pellet/BB guns. All to often we find birds injured this way. 
   Plant native bushes and trees! Native plants provide food for our native species. For more information about native plants to use, contact your local nursery.

4. Humming Birds of Arizona Fun Facts

   Hummingbirds are found in tropical climates. There are 328 species in the world, most of which are found in South America, but there are no hummingbirds in Europe. There are 24 species in North America and 18 species in Arizona:

   Black Chinned	Lucifer
   Beryline	Broad-Tailed
   Blue-Throated	Broad-Billed
   Violet-Crowned	White-Eared
   Plain-Capped Starthroat	Ruby Throated
   Calliope	Magnificent
   Cinnamon	Allen's
   Bumblebee	Anna's

   
   Great Locations to See Hummingbirds in Arizona:

   Hummingbird Aviary Sonora Desert Museum
   

   Ramsey Canyon Preserve                       

   Fun Facts:

   Smallest ~ Bee Hummingbird from Cuba, this bird is 2 ¼ inches long and weighs only 2 grams. 

                         

   Largest ~ Patagonia Giga from South America in the Andes Mountains, This bird is 8 ½ inches ling and weighs 30 grams.

   Longest Migration ~ Rufous, this bird travels 3,000 miles between Alaska and Mexico twice a year.

   Longest Flight ~ Ruby-Throated Humming bird travels 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico without stopping.

   Lifespan ~ Up to 12 years, with the average being 3 – 5 years.

   Speed ~ Hummingbirds can fly as fast as 45 miles per hour. They normally flap their wings 78 times per second. This allows them to fly forward, backward, upside down (briefly by doing a summersault), and hover. Males will flap their wings up to 200 times per second during mating season to attract the females.

   Heart Rate ~ Hummingbird's heart is 2.4% of the birds body weight and beats 1,260 times per minute.




Humming Birds General Information

Hummingbird feeders come in many shapes and sizes. Brightly colored and red feeders work best for attracting hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are very competitive and territorial, put up enough feeders to accommodate your hummingbird population and cut down competition.
Arizona is lucky to have hummingbirds all year-round, so keep the feeders up even in summer.
Discourage other birds from using your hummingbird feeders by removing nearby perches, as hummingbirds do not need to perch while feeding.
Plant vegetation that attracts hummingbirds - red tubular flowers is a favorite. These plants also provide insects and other nutrients that hummingbirds need. Contact your local gardener, library or information booklets available from Arizona Game & Fish for more ideas.
Homemade hummingbird mix is less expensive than store brands and does not contain red dye. Red is a good color only if it occurs naturally (like on a flower). The red dye in commercially available hummingbird food has not yet been tested for safety and has no nutritional value for hummingbirds. Use only pure beet or cane sugar for hummingbird food. Honey can produce a fungus that affects the birds' tongues and artificial sweeteners have no nutritional value.
Clean feeders thoroughly each time you change the feeding solution. The best way is to use hot water and a brush that reaches into the container. When using soap be sure to rinse the container thoroughly and get all the soap out.
Hummingbirds cannot survive long without heat and frequent feedings (every 10 minutes). They need immediate care. If you find and orphaned, injured or displaced hummingbird contact us.
Summer Time Feeder Care:
Feeders should be cleaned and filled with fresh solution DAILY. The Arizona sun and heat cause molds and fuzz to develop very quickly and can be deadly to hummingbirds.

Winter Time Feeder Care:
Feeders should be checked daily, and cleaned and filled at least every 3 to 5 days. Any sign of color change in the solution requires immediate cleaning and fresh solution.
OUTDOOR HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER RECIPE
1	CUP	Pure beet or cane sugar
4	CUPS	Water
1. Boil mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved
2. Allow mixture to cool
3. Fill feeders
* Extra mixture can be stored in the refrigerator (discard any mixture that shows signs of discoloration) DO NOT use HONEY or ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
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