Birds are truly wonderful little creatures, with feathers ranging from soft light yellows to striking blues and greens, instantly lifting one’s mood. However, before you decide to keep a bird, it’s essential to do your homework. The following key points about choosing a bird, care, health, feeding, and cleaning will help you avoid many pitfalls.
Provide Adequate Living Space
The size of the cage needed varies greatly among different birds. Some birds only need a small cage for climbing around, while others require large cages to properly stretch their wings. Simply put, choose the cage size based on the bird’s size. For example, macaws can grow up to several dozen centimeters long and thus need significantly more space than a few-centimeter-long finch.
A Lifelong Commitment Spanning Decades
Many people overlook this: parrots like the Amazon can easily live for 70 years or more, outliving many humans. Are you really prepared to commit to keeping it for its entire life?
Most parrots bond very closely with their owners and find it extremely difficult to adjust to new ones. Being given away or abandoned often leads to severe depression in birds, which may result in illness, self-harm, and sometimes lifelong psychological damage. If you’re unsure about maintaining such a long-term commitment, consider choosing a species with a shorter lifespan.
Clean Freaks Beware: Birds Can Be Messy
The good news is that birds generally won’t make as much of a mess as dogs. The bad news is that no bird is completely mess-free. No matter how diligent you are, there will always be some feathers, food scraps, and droppings around the cage, and some birds might even scatter dirt outside the cage. If you have serious cleanliness OCD, you’ll probably find it hard to accept keeping a bird.
Noise Issues: Apartment Dwellers Beware
Bird calls vary greatly: some are gentle and melodious, almost like singing; others can scream all day, producing sharp, piercing noises. In an apartment setting, not only will you find it unbearable, but neighbors are also likely to complain, leading to potential eviction notices.
Many birds end up in animal shelters due to excessive noise. Even if your rental agreement allows pets, it usually stipulates that they cannot disturb others. When conflicts escalate, it’s often the birds that get sent away or abandoned.Keeping birds isn’t just about “looking pretty”; every aspect—space, time, patience, noise, cleanliness—needs careful consideration beforehand.