While cats and dogs remain the most popular of pets there are also many other animal that are also kept for companionships. These include birds, a variety of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

BIRDS

Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot

Birds have been growing in popularity and the pet bird population in the United States exceeds 12 million. Poultry have been kept to supply eggs and meat for many centuries but keeping birds a pets or as hunters dates back more than 2000 years. The exotic parrots of the Americas were first introduced to Europe by Columbus and popularity has increased ever since. The growing numbers of people living in apartments or condominiums may account for the increased popularity of birds as pets in the last few years. However, while birds may be a convenient alternative to a cat or a dog in some living arrangements they are by no means low maintenance and can require substantial husbandry and daily attention.

                                                   Bird Species

Budgerigars

The most popular pet bird in America, representing almost 45% of all birds purchased. Hardy and inexpensive they require little space and maintain a relatively low noise level. Can live for 15- 20 years although they usually do not do so in domestic settings.

Cockatiels

Also very popular and relatively easy to maintain making them a good candidates for the inexperienced owner. Long lived, affectionate and curious.

Parrots

The larger parrots come from both Africa and America and are long lived, some surviving up to 90 years although 50-60 years is more common. The African Gray Parrot is one of the most popular of larger parrots. Good talking ability and affectionate. 

African Gray Parrot

The amazonian parrots are popular but can be very expensive. There have been significant problems with illegally imported or smuggled amazonian and other parrots and these birds should only be obtained from reputable sources. Species commonly kept include Yellow-Headed Amazons, and Blue-Fronted Amazons.

Macaws

Large and beautiful, expensive, require lots of space and have high maintenance and can cause lot of damage to homes and owners through their powerful bills.

Purchasing a bird

Thought needs to be given to the experience of the owner, the time available for looking after the bird , the space available and the budget of the purchaser. Special cheap deals for expensive species need to be treated with great suspicion as they may be illegal imports, a diseased bird, or an old bird. As for other pets, younger birds are more desirable than older birds as they are more easily tamed and trained. Experts can estimate the age of some species by their eye color which changes as they age.

For some species there can be differences in temperament between males and females with females generally being more laid back but male birds better talkers.

                                                      Avian Nutrition

A misconception of pet bird nutrition is that a seed only diet is adequate. Seed only diets will be high in fat and carbohydrate, low in some minerals, such as calcium, and in vitamins, such as A and D. Commercial diets are obtainable for a particular species and these are carefully formulated to meet all the birds needs. However, owners may formulate diets. Typically such a diet contains around 60% seeds, the remainder consisting of protein sources such as eggs, cheese or dog food, green vegetables and fruit. A vitamin and mineral supplement should also be fed. For seed-eating birds grit is also an important component of the diet. Grit is important in the action of the gizzard helping it grind up food.

                                        Avian Husbandry

Careful handling and restraint techniques are important for the owner to learn for both their and the birds safety. Grasping too tightly can prevent the bird breathing and lead to suffocation. Over excitement can lead to cardiac failure, particularly in budgerigars. Removing perches and other items in the cage and darkening the room will aid in capture. If birds are well socialized and trained capturing and restraining them is usually straightforward.

Overgrowth of nails will occur in cage birds and consequently they should be trimmed. Care is needed to trim above the vein so that pain and bleeding do not occur. If birds are provided with wood, toys and cuttlefish in the cage  they will keep their beaks in good shape. If this does not happened periodic trims may be needed to get the beak back in to shape.

Flying can be limited by wing clipping. In this procedure some of the primary feathers are clipped with a pair of scissors. This helps prevent escape and damage to the bird from flying in the house.
 

                                Anatomy and Physiology

Birds have some anatomical and physiological adaptations that distinguish them from the more familiar domestic mammals.

The digestive system of birds is short and efficient to facilitate flying. Food is ingested and moves into the crop which is a temporary storage organ. From the crop the food moves into the true stomach, or proventriculus. Food then passes into the gizzard where it is ground up by muscular contractions, aided by grit taken in by the bird and stored in the gizzard

The avian respiratory system does not include a diaphragm, separating abdomen and chest. Consequently expansion of the lungs requires active movement of the rib cage. This is why holding a bird too tightly can lead to suffocation.

The urinary system differs from mammals in that there is no bladder for urine storage as this would be a disadvantage for flight. Urine is excreted directly through the cloaca as it is formed. Identifying the sex of birds can be difficult as there are external genital differences. In some species different coloring of male and female facilitate sexing birds. Sex determination where such cues are not available relies either on measurement of hormones in the feces and urine or conducting a endoscopic examination of the internal organs. Although female birds have two ovaries normally only one, the left, is active. The egg (yolk) is released into the oviduct and the albumin is added and the eggs then moves to the uterus where the shell is added.

Muscles and skeletal systems are adapted for flight. The skeleton is light weight and the bones are often hollow. The flight muscles are the largest and strongest muscles and make up the breast of the bird.

Most other organ systems (circulatory, nervous and endocrine) are rather similar to mammals. Heart rates in birds are high. Rates around 200 beats per minute are typical for larger parrots and small birds may have heart rates of 1000 beats per minute.
 
 
                            Avian diseases and disorders

Respiratory Diseases

These form the major disease problem for domestic birds and can have varying etiologies. Symptoms are similar irrespective of the cause and include increased breathing rate, abnormal breathing sounds , nasal or eye discharges and tail bobbing. Treatment  requires diagnosis to determine if the cause is fungal, bacterial or viral. A common cause is Aspergillus, a fungus inhabiting the birds environment. A parasite called the gape worm can als cause a problem in canaries, inhabiting the trachea  and constricting air flow. This causes the bird to gape open-mouthed to increase air flow. This can be treated with parasiticides such as ivermectin. Psittacosis may be seen as a discharge from eyes and nose and is caused by infection with an organism called  Chlamydia psittaci. It is highly infectious and can also be transmitted to humans and cause a severe, even fatal, flu-like illness.  A characteristic sign of the disease in psittacine birds is lime green diarrhea. For more information on psittacosis click here.

Digestive Diseases

Signs usually involve diarrhea, vomiting  or regurgitation, and weight loss. Causes might be pararsites such as roundworms  or threadworms. This can be diagnosed by fecal examination  and treated with wormers.  Inflammation of the crop will usually lead to the bird regurgitating foul-smelling food and and is often associated with  infection by bacteria or fungi. This can be a sequel to damage caused by careless use of a feeding tube. Poisoning is also not unusual in birds that have freedom of the house and ingest lead paint, household cleaners etc.

Feather Picking

Feather picking by the bird is  a sign of some underlying problem. These may be hormonal (e.g.low thyroid activity), infectious (psittacosis, pox virus), inadequate nutrition or food allergy. Internal parasites such as Giardia have also been implicated. Treatment has to depend upon diagnosis of the cause. In addition it can be a stereotypic behavior induced by anxiety, boredom, lack of attention

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