This is not my main blog. It can be found here.


psit·ta·cine

noun /ˈsitəˌsīn/ 
psittacines, plural

1. A bird of the parrot family

 
I'm a completely bird obsessed freak, and I'm proud to admit it. This blog is aimed at sharing the knowledge that I've accumulated over my time of owning companion parrots, learning from others and sharing their experiences. I also like to post pictures of birds, especially rare species and mutations, or just ones that catch my interest.

I hope anyone who owns any number of birds or just takes an interest in them is able to learn something from here. If you have any questions or anything you want to add, feel free to ask or submit, I love to help by sharing my information and spreading others' too.

(via ooblamonster)

I’m sorry I lied guys.

I know I said I’d update this blog more and I’ve failed miserably at keeping that promise. I’ll try harder to keep it running from now, but it’s been a bit difficult with school and everything else.

Keep an eye out though, I’m running a charity event soon so I’ll need your help to spread the word and perhaps chip in.

Thanks for sticking around everyone!

felicefawn:

Coloring embryos by injecting dye into eggs before they hatch has been practiced for a number of years. It is done to identify the young of certain hatches or groups. And it makes it easier to observe movements of wild birds (especially water fowl) after they leave the nests.

The process of coloring chicks by injecting dye into the eggs also provides an opportunity to study early feather growth. Juvenile plumage will replace the colored down in about two weeks. As this happens, the dyed background amid new growing feathers provides a constantly changing pattern.

While it is possible to inject eggs from about the 10th to 19th days of incubation, the period from the 11th to 14th days appears to be ideal. Only one treatment is necessary if the injection is done at this time. When injections are made after the 14th day the color usually remains localized because the embryo occupies most of the egg; so it may be necessary to inject the egg in more than one place.

Harmless vegetable dyes, such as food coloring dyes sold in grocery stores, work very satisfactorily.

This does not harm the chicks in any way, and eventually as they mature their adult feathers push through and they develop normally with their standard coloured feathers.

The problem isn’t the dying of the chicks, it’s when this strategy is used to market the chicks to people who have no idea of the work and the complexities of caring for animals, who often eventually mistreat, improperly care for or abandon them after they lose this initial colour. I’ve heard numerous stories of these marketing targets being children. Look at the notes of this post and it’s mostly “Aw they’re so cute”. It’s this response that the breeders prey off.

(via felicefawn-deactivated20111209)

(via parrotparty)

(Source: aneagerbeaver)

how do you take care of so many?

It’s not so hard. As a family of five we’re able to rotate the feeding and cleaning duties and it works out quite nicely. You have to have a real passion and love for your birds though, I don’t think we would manage otherwise.