This fun, informative, and practical book will help you select, train, and nurture your Cockatoo. In full-color throughout, chapters include Choosing, Bringing Home, Understanding Your Companion, Nurturing, Training, and Health Care. Co-author Laurie Baker, a companion bird breeder and behaviorist, is a life member of the American Federation of Aviculture and owner of the Feathered Follies Bird Shop in California. Co-author Stuart Borden, a writer with a Master of Fine Arts degree from San Diego State University, acquired his first cockatoo at Feathered Follies. Together, they spare no punches about the hard work and diligence required in keeping these magnificent species.

ISBN: 9780910335089
Pages: 124 pp.
Published: 2008
Illustrations: Color photos and diagrams

Covers all aspects of pet bird ownership, including selection, nutrition, behavior, home physicals, emergency medical care, preventative medicine, and much more. Presented in seventeen chapters, this book provides guidance on getting started, achieving optimum health, and understanding what your bird needs from you for a happy, healthy life. Includes an index of health and illness signs, general index, bibliography of additional resources, and superb photos and illustrations to support the detailed text. You will consider this book to be the most essential reference in your avian library, a constant source of reliable advice, assistance, and assurance for your bird's well-being.

ISBN: 1895270251
Pages: 441 pp.
Published: 2003
Illustrations: Color and black/white photos and other illustrations
Binding: Hardcover
Size: 6" x 9

A parrot breeder with twenty years of experience has created this must-have book for anyone who shares their life or wants to share their life with a Caique. Chapters include Identification and Characteristics, Places to Purchase, Coming Home, Feeding, Housing, Toys, Behavior and Training, Health Care, and a chapter dedicated to the Joys of Owning a Caique.

ISBN: 9780910335058
Pages: 58 pp.
Published: 2007
Illustrations: Color photos
Binding: Paperback
Size: 6" x 9"

A professional in animal behavior has created an easy-to-read step-by-step guide that uses positive reinforcement for teaching your parrot acceptable behavior. This book will help you deal with screaming, biting, feather-picking, bonding, and other difficult parrot behaviors. Chapters include Preparing the Companion Parrot Owner, Screaming, Biting, Bonding to One Person, Cage Bound Bird, and Feather Picking.

Training is a form of teaching. The companion parrot learns when the trainer positively reinforces (or rewards) each small step the subject takes towards the desired behavior. Using the principles described in training, it becomes easy to teach birds what is the desired response. The beauty of training using positive reinforcement is that it works! In this book the author prepares the trainer in the first chapter. She then describes some typical problem behavior scenarios experienced by companion parrot owners. She then provides an explanation as to why the behavior may be occurring and offers a step-by-step explanation of how to address the problem behavior using training techniques based on positive reinforcement.

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional in the field of animal behavior since 1990. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology she began her career teaching birds to present natural behaviors in zoos. In her fourteen years of working for various zoos, companies, and as an independent consultant, Barbara has been involved in the production of over fifteen different free flight bird presentations. Currently the President Elect of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators she is now a private animal training consultant working with zoological parks, nature centers, and the companion parrot community. Barbara hopes everyone can experience that truly rewarding relationship that can happen when animals are trained using positive reinforcement.

ISBN: 1895270278
Pages: 80 pp.
Published: 2004
Illustrations: Black/white photos
Binding: Paperback
Size: 6" x 9"

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By Sally Blanchard