Quality of life assessments can improve not only the life of your parrot but your own peace of mind.

With a number of concerned people advocating for euthanasia, a quality of life assessment made it clear that Sugar was doing better than anyone believed.

Learning to do these assessments can help both your bird and you. They often give peace of mind where anxiety once roamed. Seeing the whole picture isn't something I did naturally; it is something I had to learn.

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Join with us to help to educate and inform the public about these amazing animals.

Home exams for your parrot or cockatoo are an important preventative measure. They are quick and easy to do once you get a little practice. Early detection of disease is often the key to a happy result. Exams can save lives.

This episode stars: Cecil (the Elvis of the bird world), Sugar, Coz and Simone. We had onlookers, too: Salamander, Peaches, and Coco.

Through exams at the sanctuary here we have: 

Found impacted and infected follicles

Found blood feathers

Found a growth on a foot 

Discovered clogged nares

Found hidden wounds

Discovered spinal issues

and much more...

They don't take long and if you follow the list in The Shelter Manual you will head off many problems at the pass!

Every once in a while someone looses their mind. Don chose to bring 10 birds into the "studio" and record Cockatude while talking about training. With three cameras going and a studio microphone set up like cell towers, it was an unusual session. Surprisingly, even with birds flying around the room like helicopters that lost their rear props, he does manange to pass on some helpful tips. 

Maybe just showing that it is possible to be in a room filled with cockatoos and still talk almost coherently for the better part of an hour is a lesson in itself. It was for him! There is a section in which he trains Roman to shake his finger on the cue "shake." Let us know what you think of his choice to "raise the bar" and fill the room with birds!

Parrot bodies that can last for over 80 years. 

A collection of little-known interesting facts about our feathered companions, both interesting and important.

What is one of the secrets of the parrot's loud voice?

What is the beak?

Why feather dust?

What makes it so holding a bird firmly might suffocate it?

All this and much more in this episode. And, a cast of cockatoos interjecting their opinions! Peaches, Sal, Cozzi, Simone, Babalu, Sugar and Cecil hang out with me for the entire shoot.

Want to learn one or two ways to make $30.00 toys for 65 cents? Want to watch one human deal with a room full of cockatoos? It's like watching an air traffic controller pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time 10 flights are converging!

Learn how we turned a $300 a month bill for toys into a $20 bill. Watch the madness too!

In this episode of Cockatude the studio is filled with 11 of our 12 birds. Lauralei refused to come in; it's her choice after all.

A viewer asked if our birds were so calm because they were medicated. Actually, if you pick the time when they normally rest during the day, that helps, the other side of it is good video editing. I generally edit out most of the vocalizations of the birds.

What are the "smoke and mirrors." They are the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which I communicate my wishes to the birds. In most cases it is more of a negotiation between us. I talk about the various issues as they arise and pass away with every one of the birds. They are not statues they are constantly changing their behavior and the biggest "trick" is knowing how to adapt to that. Each bird has it's own body language that cues me to their current interests and needs. You will also see how some of the birds use my attention on the camera to sneak off and do something they must know I prefer they don't do. Cecil sneaks over to the window, to the lamp, to a female. Simone sneaks down to Cecil who is sitting at my side. It was amusing when I was editing to see just how they avoided my attention.

With Coco in the room I had to do over 300 sound edits reducing the sound by as much as 70 dB on each. Does Tripods turn her into an opera star.

As I talk about the nuances of dealing with each cockatoo in a social environment they are quite active and involved. I chose to record this video when they are most active during the day. I made no other changes.

A five minute video "Bab's Story" is included in the episode. Debbie Mayfield, the president of our board of directors stars as "the parent" in this video short. It is both a reenactment of one of his relinquishment's – he had eight – and the narrative of his life. I wanted to tell the story while he's still with us because I believe it's better to connect with the ones we love while they're still with us.

This episode attempts to show my insights into "aggressive" behavior, showing it as territoriality and protection of "property." Recognizing territorial and possessive behavior before it gets out of hand and dealing with it when it arises makes living with parrots and cockatoos a happier experience. 

I realized that words would not suffice to make my observations clear so I spent a great deal of time adding comments and arrows to show situations and solutions. The arrows point to: birds about to act with territoriality or possessiveness, methods used to intervene, and other “not-so-obvious” sight clues.

I hope that you find it insightful!

Our patron, Jodi, had a wonderful idea for an episode. Cockatude 23 follows the birds at the sanctuary through an average day of their life. After reflection, I realized why I had never thought of something like this. It is basically making a one hour documentary in a week and a half.

I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into episode 23 of Cockatude, "A day in the life." I hope you all find it entertaining. Total time was close to 60 hours in production. Forgive me for any glitches in the video, please!

I did a couple of unusual things 1) In the intro there is a time lapse scene of the sunrise. This was actually taken out of the main bird room one morning while I was cooking breakfast. 2) I embedded that time lapse video in an Apple Motion (TM) title clip that I designed. 3) due to copyright issues I created the background music for our music time during the party scene.

I must be a glutton for punishment.

Thank you Patrons!

What would it mean to awaken your inner parrot? Parrots don't miss much. They are great at seeing things in context. Given the opportunity they are excellent negotiators and prefer peaceful solutions. An empowered parrot will nearly always choose an action that is kind and social.

Carl Sagan, who was an amazing communicator and astrophysicist, left behind some important clues; we will talk about these gems of insight, too! I highly recommend his book, "A Demon Haunted World."

Come with me on this journey where open eyes and ears can lead you to a richer experience with your feathered companions. Start to think "outside the nest box."