Dear Parrots magazine,
Change of scenery
I was recently given an Orange-winged Amazon after its owner was taken into a care home and could no longer look after it. It came with quite a large cage and we were quite excited to have a parrot. But it never seemed to be happy and after some time there was no improvement.
We were puzzled and thought could it be the change and loss of his owner, or a change in environment. After a while, and with lots of good weather around, a parrot owner we knew suggested to buy him an outside flight to give him some fresh air and change of scenery. To start with, he was wary, but after a few days, he really bucked up.
It seemed that having more space and being outside, seemed to make him a lot more happy and when bringing him back inside, his character improved and has stayed the same. It is so important that we understand what our birds really need and we have learned such a lot.
Pauline Eccles, by email