Birds For Dummies. Gina Spadafori

most of all, they have a good sense of humor. If that description fits you, you’ll be rewarded by sharing your life with a marvelous feathered friend. We want you to be among the successful bird owners, and every line in this book is part of our heartfelt effort to help you be exactly that.

      This book is a reference, which means you don’t have to read it from beginning to end. Instead, you can dip into the book to find the information you need, whenever you need it. Also, you don’t have to remember what you’re reading — there isn’t a test at the end.

If you’re short on time, you can skip anything marked with the Technical Stuff icon, as well as text in gray boxes (called sidebars). This information is interesting, but it’s not essential to your understanding of the subject at hand.

      Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and you want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

      Finally, a word on gender: We use male and female pronouns to refer to pets. Although many bird owners don’t even know the gender of their birds (see Chapter 3 for more on that subject), we think using the word it for any living being sets up an association that’s just not right. Animals aren’t things like a piece of furniture or this book. They’re living, thinking, loving beings — hes and shes. We alternate the use of the male and female pronouns throughout the book, but in any given reference, you can rest assured that the information applies to both genders, unless specifically noted otherwise.

Foolish Assumptions

      As we wrote this book, we made some assumptions about you, the reader:

       You already own a bird or you’re considering adding one to your home.

       You may have no experience with birds, or you may have lived with them for years. Either way, you’re sure to find valuable information to make life with your avian companion even better!

       You’re interested in being the best bird owner you can possibly be.

Icons Used in This Book

      Every For Dummies book has little pictures in the margins called icons that help you navigate through the book. Here’s a rundown of what each icon means.

      

The Tip icon flags especially useful clues to make life with your bird easier or help your pet be happier and healthier. It highlights time-savers and money-savers, too!

If we think something is so important that it deserves restating or remembering, we flag it with the Remember icon to make sure you don’t jump over that vital information.

      

The Warning icon denotes some common mistakes bird owners make, along with advice for avoiding them. Pay heed! Some of these errors can be deadly to your pet.

      

We’re bird experts, and sometimes we like to get a little technical. When we do, we use the Technical Stuff icon. You can safely skip anything marked with this icon without missing the point of the subject at hand.

Beyond the Book

      In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some free access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for information on what to buy for your new bird, signs of a healthy pet bird, and a schedule of routine care. To access the Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Birds For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

      If you’ve never had a bird in your life and you’re just starting to entertain the idea of adding one, you may want to start at the beginning of this book. If you already have a bird, you can skip around, checking out the chapters that address your needs at the moment. Either way, let the Table of Contents and Index be your guides.

Part 1

      Getting Started with Birds

IN THIS PART …

      Discover the history of birds and humans.

      Choose the right bird for you.

      Plan your bird-buying strategy.

Chapter 1

      Birds and Humans: It’s Only Natural!

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Appreciating the history of the human–bird relationship

      

Considering whether owning a bird is right for you

      Who among us hasn’t looked up with awe and even envy at the sight of a soaring hawk or the V formation of migratory waterfowl? Who hasn’t smiled at the clever capering of chickadees or the luminescent colors of a hovering hummingbird? And what about the sweet song of the canary or the clever mimicry of the parrot? For as long as our collective consciousness can remember, we’ve shared our environment with birds, creatures of myth and magic, soaring spirits who remind us of a dimension beyond our own. Look up, they remind us, and in so doing we gain both perspective and inspiration.

      Perhaps humans have always wondered what it would be like to bring birds closer to us, out of the heavens and into our lives. And in response to the immense and primeval appeal of these flighted creatures, we’ve done exactly that, enjoying their song and their beauty in our homes. Ancient civilizations in China, Egypt, and Rome, among others, found pleasure in bird keeping, a joy that follows us to modern times as more people than ever discover the benefits of sharing their lives with avian companions. According to the latest statistics from the American Pet Products Association, approximately 5.7 million U.S. households live with a pet bird.

But have we done birds any favors by taking them under our wings? Clipped and caged, often admired more for their ornamental presence than for their companion qualities, these marvelous creatures are too often sold short. When we treat them with less respect than they deserve, we can make our birds miserable and sick, and we deny ourselves the full pleasure of their company. Even worse, through greed and ignorance, we decimate their numbers in the wild, driving some incredible species to extinction in our quest for their uniqueness and their habitat.

      Fortunately, knowledge of how to properly care for pet birds — physically and emotionally — has grown in the last several decades, thanks to pioneering avian veterinarians, researchers, breeders, and bird lovers themselves who are no longer satisfied to allow birds to be second-class compared to pet dogs or cats. We’re part of an evolving society that increasingly appreciates the creatures with which we share our world.

      The changing times are exciting, and by buying this book you’re claiming your interest in becoming part of the new and improved perspective