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Summer Corn

Corn is a popular, versatile, summer crop that is great, inexpensive enrichment for all types of birds. It is a grain high in carbohydrates, and offers moderate protein and fiber. Corn is also a source of trace vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc.

Corn can be offered on the cob, in mixes, fresh or dried kernels, and even offered as a toy, and more!

It is simple to prepare in the oven: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the entire ear of corn- husk and all, onto a cooking sheet and into the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Carefully remove the tray of corn. Once cool, the husks and silks peel off with minimal mess. If your corn is raw but already cleaned of husk and silk, you can boil it submerged in water for about 10 minutes. Remove, then let cool.

Large and small birds alike can enjoy the corn right off the cob. Many play with the cob once the kernels have all been picked clean.

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Double Yellow-headed Amazons

Double Yellow Heads, also known as Yellow-headed amazons, are one of the most popular amazons in aviculture. They are known for their brilliant yellow head feathers, vivid green body, and red and yellow shoulder patches. These parrots are indigenous to Mexico and Northern Central America, and are currently classified as endangered due to their illegal capture and habitat loss.

Much of their popularity is due to their talented vocal abilities. Not only are they very raucous talkers, but many can be taught to sing quite well- particularly opera-like melodies. It is common for them to obtain a large vocabulary as these amazons can live upwards of 40 years. This is a conservative number, and can be greater with proper nutrition and exercise. These large, stocky amazons can be prone to being overweight, so be sure to save those peanuts for a special treat! Like most parrots, fresh vegetables and pellets are recommend as part of a varied diet.

Like other species of amazons, Double Yellow Heads may prefer just one or two people. Socialization is very important to help prevent aggressive tendencies towards strangers or other members of the household. This primarily occurs seasonally during breeding months when there’s an increase of hormones.

Double Yellow Heads can liven up any room with their color and boisterous personalities. Just like people, they have a wide range of individual traits and quirks: some that love their head scratched, others that enjoy frequent bathing, and some that are independent and spend all day climbing and swinging from toys. A generous sized cage is important to allow them room for these activities and exercise to help them stay in shape.

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Potty Training

It seems that bird owners, and non-bird owners alike are aware of how often birds poop. These frequent “bathroom breaks” are necessary to keep themselves light in order to take flight at a moments notice. With their intelligence, it is not surprising that many bird owners have trained their parrots to eliminate on command! With time and patience, you can try training your bird too.

1. Be aware of how frequently your bird goes potty while out of its cage. Try observing cues such as fidgeting, squatting, or nipping that might be your birds way of telling you he needs to go! Sometimes in unfamiliar spaces, a bird will be more wary of its surroundings and need to go more frequently, or forget its training.

2. Choose a key phrase, and be consistent! Multiple family members should use the same signal and / or key phrase. Popular ones include: “Go potty”, “Bombs away”, and “Go poop”, and are sometimes accompanied by a slight up and down shake of the hand.

3. Because parrots are visual, sometimes they will recognize their stand, a trash can, or a napkin as an appropriate target if they are trained consistently with one of these items.

4. If you observe your bird naturally going potty about every 15 minutes, have your bird step-up a few minutes prior to the 15 minute mark, and hold him over a trash can, newspaper, or place him on a small training stand. The trick is to be patient, and be repetitive! Repeat your key phrase every few seconds. When your bird goes potty, make it special for your bird by offering praise in the form of a scratch/pet, treat, or by just plain being excited. If your bird does not go within a minute or two, take a break, but try again after another minute.

Repeat this process of potty break trial and error, and hopefully you will be rewarded by having your bird eliminate on command. Some parrots are naturally very tidy and may only potty while in their cages or on their stands. Other birds may learn to hold it until an appropriate time. It is good practice to frequently allow your bird the opportunity to use the bathroom while out with you. Also, never punish your bird for pooping on you or your furniture- accidents will happen.

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Cockatiel Colorations

Cockatiels are one of the top rated birds kept as pets due to their reasonable temperaments, whistling ability, and small size. Because of their popularity, breeders have produced different color and pattern varieties from the standard grey. Recognizing these different mutation combinations can be confusing, so here is a simple guide to start out with:

GREY: The dark grey is the natural, standard cockatiel coloration. The body and tail feathers are all grey with white bars on their wings. Males have the notable bright yellow heads and orange cheek circles. The colors of the female are muted, and they retain horizontal stripes on the underside of their tail feathers.

CINNAMON: The cinnamon coloration is like that of the normal grey, but lighter in color and can contain a light brown tint.

PEARL: This “polka dot” pattern is usually very symmetrical and pronounced in female cockatiels. Young male pearl cockatiels tend to lose much of the spotted pattern as they molt and more pigmented grey feathers grow in.

PIED: Many animals can be “pied”, which is defined as having patches of 2 or more colors. Cockatiels with this color pattern will have random areas of yellow on their body and sometimes yellow wing and tail feathers mixed with the grey.

LUTINO: Lutino cockatiels are all yellow with orange cheek patches. Their color can range from strong yellow to almost white. Lutinos may also be patterned pearl or pied, but it is more difficult to notice because it appears as yellow-on-yellow.

ALBINO: These cockatiels are all white with pink eyes, and are actually a combination of white-face and lutino! White-faced mutations have white coloration where any yellow would normally be, and no orange cheeks.

Sometimes a cockatiel with a pattern like pearl or pied will have light grey instead of dark grey, resulting in a cinnamon pearl or cinnamon pied. White-faced cockatiels can also be pearl, pied, and/or cinnamon, leading to white and grey birds with no cheek patches! Genetics can be very complicated, and there are many other combinations and mutations, like pastel and olive, but they are less commonly seen.