3 Great Birds For Kids

Since children are often fascinated by birds, which makes them want to own one as a pet. Of course, as parents, it can be hard to determine which bird species are the best pets for your child, especially if it is a first pet. So, to help you out a bit, here are the top three birds that make exceppent pets for children:

1. Budgies/Parakeets: There is a reason that these are the most popular pet bird species out there. Not only are they extremely colorful and fun, but they can also tolerate being handled very well. They are also very easy to care for and they can even learn to talk. Since they do have very gentle personalities, they do bond very strongly with their owners, which makes them excellent pets for kids.

2. Cockatiels: This is the largest bird on this list and do very will with older children that will devote a lot of time interacting with them. Since Cockatiels can easily learn to talk, whistle, and do tons of other tricks, it makes them a delightful pet for children to have. They do require time out of their cages and they do require a bit more care than budgies or our next bird on the list. So, you want to make sure that you learn a lot about them before buying one for your child.

3. Finches & Canaries: These are by far the easiest to care for as they don't require a lot of interaction by you or your child. They are very pretty birds, which make them great for young children, and they sing a lot, which gives your child some wonderful "music" to listen to. Finches don't care too much for interaction with humans, so if you decide to get one, make sure that you get at least a pair so they won't get lonely. Now, you cannot take them out of their cage and handle them, as they can easily get hurt, so these are not the right pet for your child if they want a bird that they can interact with.

Overall, any of these three species make excellent pets for beginners or children. Just make sure that you do read up on the care, diet, and overall health concerns for each one before you head out to the pet store to get a new friend.

How To Choose The Right Avian Vet

When it comes to your feathered friend, getting sick is just part of life. But what do you do when they get sick? How do you find the right vet that knows what they are doing and how to care for your bird? Since a bird's anatomy is very different than a normal cat or dog, you have to find a vet that can provide the specialized care that a bird needs. For new bird owners, you probably have a ton of questions about how to choose the right avian vet. So, here are some things that you can do find the right one for you:

1. Location: A lot of times, the hardest part about finding the right vet for your bird is locating one. Since the Internet is a major part of our lives today, it's much easier to find a vet that is close to you. One of the best places to start is to look at the yellow pages online for veterinarians that specalize in avian or even exotic medicine. Normally these vets will advertise that they do these types of animals so people can find them easier and they will also advertise their qualifications as well. You can also look at the Association of Avian Veterinarians' web site to find a vet near you that takes care of birds as well. They always maintain a list of vets that are qualified to care for companion birds and also have a great vet locator that will help you find one close by.

2. Preliminary Appointment: When you do find a vet close to you, don't just go in and let them work on your bird without finding out what you want to know - and don't wait until your bird is sick. Instead, schedule an appointment with the vet and take your bird with you to just talk to them and introduce yourself and your bird. This will also help your bird feel at easy and help them to know the vet before they are sick and might be a bit cranky towards new people.

3. Questions: Of course, there are some questions that you should ask the vet. Some of these questions include things like:

A. How long have you been treating birds? Keep in mind that experience is the best teacher and you want to find a vet that has a solid background in avian medicine so that you will know your bird is in the best possible hands.

B. How familiar they are with your species of bird? Make sure that you find out how much experience they have in dealing with your specific type of bird. Different birds are all treated and react differently to different medical procedures, so you want to know that the vet you have chosen is familiar with your species of bird, such as what treatment work and what don't.

C. Are they a member of the AAV? It doesn't hurt to ask this, and you want to make sure that the vet you choose is a member of the AAV so that they are held to a higher standard of care.

D. Do they have birds at home? While this might seem like a personal question, don't hesitate to ask it. Those that have birds of any type at home are more likely to know a bird's body language and how to look for signs of them being sick better than those that don't keep birds at their home.

E. Do they have emergency or after-hours care? Most vets offer this today, and you want to make sure that they one you choose for your bird does as well. After all, accidents can happen at any time - day or night.

F. How much do their services cost for birds? Since vet visits can be costly, you want to know in advance how much an emergency visit might cost and have that money set back just in case.

G. Do they recommend normal check ups? Many avian vets will recommend that birds have a well check at least once per year, so that they can help you keep your bird in shape and healthy.

A good vet will answer all of your questions and address concerns without hesitation and you want to make sure that you watch the way that they handle and relate to your bird during your first visit. You want them to be comfortable with your bird and make sure that their staff makes an effort to make things less stressful for your bird. If you or your bird isn't comfortable with them, they might not be the right vet for you.

Breeding Cockatiels In Your Cages for Coins

In Birdland, the name of the game is earning coins to buy bigger and better things and birds. To do this, you can work forever buying and selling Budgies, or you can find a better way. One of the easiest ways to build up a massive coin bank is by buying, breeding, and selling Cockatiels.

To start out, you will want to buy at least two Cockatiels, preferrably one white and one gray - but it doesn't matter which color you prefer. The gray ones will cost you 15,000 coins (yes sounds like a lot but the turnover is great) and the white ones will cost you 15 feathers. Just make sure that you have a male and a female so that you can breed them. Take care of them until they are grown.

When you start breeding, you want to make sure that you have plenty of room in your cage and breed them as often as you possibly can. Now, the good thing is that even though the white Cockatiels only sell for 6000 coins, when you breed them with the gray ones, they are now worth 13,000+ and when you breed the gray ones together, they are now worth 18,000+.

You will get all sorts of different color variations when you breed the white and gray together. Some of these include solid yellow, a mix of gray, white, and yellow, as well as some with turquoise spots on their faces. If you are breeding two gray ones together, you will always bank a profit of 3000+ coins. If you are breeding a white and a gray together, you can bank anywhere from a 2000 to an 8000+ profit, depending on the color variation. Plus, once you get to the point where you're breeding and selling the ones that you've already bred from (and didn't pay for), you will start making a 12,000-18,000+ profit per bird.

So, if you don't have Cockatiels in one of your cages that you're breeding and selling, make sure that you start doing so. By breeding and selling them, you'll find that your coins will quickly go up by leaps and bounds.

Want to know more about Cockatiels in general? Check out these great posts here on our Birdland blog:

Birds of Birdland: The Cockatiel

Teaching Your Bird the "Step-Up" Command

Top 5 Popular Bird Species

Fun New Farm Items In Birdland

For those that haven't checked into Birdland lately, there are some sweet new decorations that you will want to check out. Here are some of the latest and greatest that you have to see:

Farm Well: Own a chicken farm? Looking for something else to dress it up? The Farm Well will help you provide a wonderful way for your chickens to feel at home on the farm. It will cost you 5 feathers, and sells for 7000 coins, buying one will gain you 7 experience points.

Hay Bale: What respectable farm would be complete without some hay bales lying around? If you are finding that your farm is missing some much needed decoration, then these are exactly what you need. You can buy them for 7000 coins and sell them for 1000 coins, and they'll gain you 6 experience points each.

Trough With Water: Along the same farm themed decorations line, there are some new accessories that you can use for your chicken farms. One of these is the new trough with water that you can use to give your chickens water when they need it. Of course, it's large enough that you can use it in any cage and provide more water for your birds than just the small water feeders. This will cost you 28,000 coins and sells for 6000 coins, it gains you 7 experience points.

Board With Hay: Want more farm themed accessories for your farm? The board with hay will give your chickens a wonderful place to roost when they need it. This board can go anywhere in your cage, and you can use it for both big and small chickens. This new accessory will cost you 29,000 coins and sells for 6500 coins, giving you 8 experience points.

Now, you want to make sure that you've got the chicken farm theme so that everything will look just right for your chickens in Birdland. Breeding your chickens together will also bring you some extremely interesting colors and combinations, so don't forget to breed them as often as you can!

Birds of Birdland: The Cockatiel

Known as the Cockatiel, the Quarrion, and the Weiro, this species of Cockatoo is native to Australia. They are a wonderful pet, and excellent parrot companion that is sought throughout the world as they are very easy to breed. In fact, as far as caged pet birds go, the Cockatiel is second only to the Parakete or Budgerigar.

The color of a Cockatiel will vary greatly in shade due to the melanin that provides the gray color in their feathers, eyes, beaks, and feet as well as the lipochromes that provide their yellow color throughout their faces, tails, and their orange cheek patches. Since the gray color will override the yellow and orange mostly, they are mainly grey with slight patches of color spread throughout their bodies. As males get older, the gray will diminish from their faces and they will start to show more yellow and orange.

The Cockatiel lives between 15-20 years, which makes it a wonderful companion for anyone, and there are reports of them living up to 30 years. With the proper diet and exercise, they cna easily live a very full and fun filled life with their owners.

Since they are regarded so highly as good pet birds to own, millions of people throughout the world hold them dear to their hearts. Every Cockatiel has a very different and unique personality, which also makes them an excellent pet. Sometimes these unique traits of different birds will also have an effect on how long they live and how well they get along with other birds. Some of them are extremely sociable, while others are shy and will head to the back of the cage when a stranger appears. But, if they are handled often by their owners, have owners who are patient with them and loving and caring, it is extremely easy to have them become quite tame faster than some of the other parrot species.

If you are considering getting a Cockatiel, make sure that you learn about the bird first. You'll want to make sure that you know what they like to eat, what is safe for them to play with, the best ways to handle them, and so on so that you don't accidentally hurt your new friend or make them sick.

Newest Birdland Bird: The Indian Pitta

The newest bird to grace our Birdland cages is the Indian Pitta, which is a medium-sized bird. In the wild, they are found mainly in Sub-Himalayan areas and they winter in southern India as well as Sri Lanka. They absolutely love thick undergrowth, which helps them to disguize themselves and their families. Their brilliant colors can make them a very beautiful and fun bird to watch and they are often covered in newspaper stories all around the areas that they live in.

So what is it that makes these birds so different? Well, they have a small, stubby tail and very long, strong legs. The Indian Pitta also has a beautiful buff colored crown and stripe with black coronal stripes, this black eye stripes, as well as white throats and necks. Their upper areas of their bodies are green with a blue tail, buff colored under areas, and bright red on the lower belly and vent. They usually hop along the ground through the brush to forage and they have even been known to get caught in small aminal traps.

Normally, they are heard more than they are seen and they have a very distinct whistle that is made up of two main notes, sometimes with a triple note thrown in. They normally will call once or twice, usually with other neighbor birds joining in with them, especially at dusk or dawn. For this reason, they are called the "Six-O-Clock" bird in Tamil.

While they will mainly breed in the Himalayan foothills from nothern Pakistan up to the west to at least Napal and sometimes up into the Sikkim in the east. They also have been known to breed in the central hills of India as well as Wester Ghats to the south toward Belgaum and Goa. They are so common throughout the whole area that they have been known to even show up inside some people's homes when they are exhausted from moving all around, breeding, and migrating.

Since they are a species of bird that makes seasonal movements that go along with the rains, their breeding season is suring the south-west Monsoon from June to August and normally peaks in June in central India and in July in northern India. They build small globular structures with one small, round opening on one side that is built low to the ground or on lower branches. Normally, the Indian Pitta lays four to five eggs which are glossy white and sperical with some spots and specks of deep maroon or purple.

The Indian Pitta loves to feed on small insects and other smaller invertebrates that are picked up off the ground or leaves that are littered all over the ground. Of course, they have also been noted to take food scraps from humans that have been left on the ground.

They are a very beautiful and unique bird to watch and enjoy, and if you haven't gotten yours in Birdland yet - make sure that you get a pair to breed and see what kind of unique color combinations you too can come up with. They will cost you coins, not feathers, and you have to be level 45 to buy them.

Birds of Birdland: The Starling

The Starling is a medium to small sized bird that are found in the wild in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and across the tropical Pacific. Several of these species have been introduced into the wild in North America, Hawaii, and New Zealand where they have thrived and compete with the other birds in that area for the natural habitats that they need. It is due to this that they are considered to be an invasive species, but that doesn't take away from how pretty they are and how fun they can be to watch.

Starlings are a very social bird and therefore like to live in larger, social families. Most of them will stay with flocks that vary in size throughout the year and these flocks can even include species from other families in the. It is this sociality that is fun to watch when they interact with other bird species as well as when they are roosting.

They love to eat fruits, nectar, and insects and many Starlings are key to helping disperse seeds throughout Asia and Africa, especially when it comes to tree seeds as well as parasites. Some scientists have studied the Starling eating fermenting, over-ripened fruit, which has led them to believe that they actually might become intoxicated by the alcohol in the fruit. This prompted to study how Starlings might break down the alcohol in their systems, and they found that they have disposal enzymes that helps them to break down the alcohol extremely quickly.

Although there are many types of Starlings today, there is one that is now extinct, called the Mascarene starlings. Only one of their species is known from specimens that were taken while the bird was still in existance, others are known from remains of subfossil bones and one very early traveler's description.

For those that love to bird watch at home or while on hikes or out in nature anywhere, Starlings can be an extremely fun bird to watch. Since they are so closely related to Myna birds and they are very intelligent, they can be very inquisitive and love to explore things. Building a Starling house in your back yard can also help to attract them so that you can watch them socialize, breed, and raise their young right at your side.