Birds: Adding Beauty to our lives.
We have always been attracted to birds and love to watch them in nature as they appear so carefree, gracefully moving in the sky, displaying their variety of colors and sizes. Their natural beauty amazes us at their creation.
However, the vast variety of birds species kept in captivity creates problems as care varies between species. Often they received inadequate care in captivity as caretakers know little about their natural environments. Many caretakers still put seed and water out for nutrition and buy them toys for their amusement thinking they have provided completely for their care. As caretakers, we spend hundreds of dollars on cages, food, toys, and a wide variety of care products without ever fully determining their physical requirements and creating avian enriched environments.
The Results:
In the last thirty years, the advances in avian care and medicine haves dramatically increased and improved. Despite these advances, the potentially long lives of birds are often greatly shortened. Poor nutrition, unintentional neglect, inadequate environments and unrecognized illness result in the premature death of these magnificent creatures while others survive in a poor state of health, their owners often totally unaware of the problem until it is too late.
How do we change this?
Currently a large percentage of birds only visit to the veterinarian is as they are dying often after weeks to months of suffering that has not been recognized. As caretakers we need to learn about the natural environment and behavior of the species we are maintaining. Routine veterinary care at least yearly identifying disease and medical problems is a must. If a bird changes its behavior or acts differently in any way, consider your bird ill until proven otherwise. Do not watch it for a few days for the bird will then be a few days more sick or nearer death.