All of our birds are domestically bred and hand-raised.
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| 2012 Spring Babies |
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| Clancy - Hyacinth Macaw | Clancy |
| Native to Brazil, these gentle giants can live up to 100 years. They are the largest parrot in the world. They live on a high fat diet made up of macadamia nuts, brazil nuts and exotic fruit. They are very friendly and energetic. |
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| Baby Blue & Gold Macaw | Beamer - Eclectus Parrot |
| Probably the most common and popular of the macaws. Is one of the friendliest and is known to talk. | These are the only visually dimophic parrot. Males are green and females are red. They are very friendly, playful, talkative and have a great attitiude. |
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| Fuego - Milligold Macaw | Blue-Fronted Amazon Parrot |
| These macaws are a hybrid of Millitary and Blue and Gold Macaws. | There are several varieties of Amazon parrots. They can be great talkers, extremely playful and intelligent birds. As they get older though, they can sometimes bond to only one person. |
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| Baby Sun Conure's | Baby Congo African Grey Parrots |
| Considered one of the most beautiful of the conures, but also one of the loudest. Can be playful and sweet. | Known as the most intelligent and best talker of parrots. Research has proven that their behavior is much more then just mimicking. Their intelligence level has been put in the same category as Dolphins and Chimpanzees. |
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| Pippen - Timneh African Grey Parrot | Stormy - Congo African Grey Parrot |
| One of our favorite small parrot’s. These lovely birds are highly intelligent with an incredible vocabulary. They tend to be very social and interactive if socialized properly. They can live up to 45-55 years. |
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| Rose Breasted Cockatoo (Galah) | Green-winged Macaw |
| This bird is known as the quiet cockatoo. Is beautiful, energetic and not as co-dependant as it's larger cousins. | Has a reputation for having a good disposition. Is quite beautiful and has good talking ability. |
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| Pineapple Conure | Cockatiel |
| These fun little gems of a conure are extremely playful and sweet. | One of our very best selling birds. They can be extremely friendly, playful and talkative. A great bird choice for the first time bird buyer or experienced bird owner. |
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| White-bellied Caique | Baby Jardine Parrots |
Playful, comical birds who prefer to be an only pet. |
These birds are very friendly and playful, great family pet. Adults have bright orange lores and shoulders. |
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| Mustache Parakeet | Mustache Parakeet |
Small, playful, sweet bird with a pleasant disposition. |
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| Lutino Ringnecked Parakeet | Indian Ringneck Parakeet |
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| Amboina King Parrot | Great Billed Parrot |
| Beautiful bird who needs plenty of flight space. |
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| Pacific Parrotlet. | Finches |
| Small bird with large attitude. Sweet, beautiful and playful. | We offer a large variety of exotic finches. Our selection changes frequently. Please call or come in to check on availability. |
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| Red Factor Canary | Canary |
| We have been breeding canaries for many years. We offer a large variety of beautiful singing birds. Truly one of the most popular of all the song birds. Diverse in color and plumage, these small birds will make their presence known with their song. |
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| Gold Manetel Rosella | Blue-headed Pionas Parrot |
| Beautiful, but tend to be an aviary type bird. | Very sweet birds with a great deportment, a good family pet. |
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| Parakeets | Lovebirds |
Parakeets, or budgerigars as they are commonly called, have become one of the most popular pet birds. They are great for the first time bird owner. |
Small with great color variations. They do not have to live in pairs. |
Birdkeeping Naturally
EB Cravens
August ‘12
“Are You a Real Parrot Person?:
Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Acquire That Bird”
If there are numerous words that should never describe the acquisition of a new psittacine pet, they surely must include spontaneous, emotional, impulsive, hasty, and unplanned.
There are many sacrifices that birdkeepers must be prepared to make when maintaining such a pet or breeder bird. Here are a few of my favorite “can you?” questions to ask oneself before buying or adopting—especially if the human is a first-time owner:
1) Are you willing to go the extra mile to feed your bird?
Competent, health-bestowing psittacine feeding is simply not a dry-diet-daily event. The happiest and healthiest parrots are those that receive cooked and soaked and sprouted and green foods every day, especially if you keep fresh food, rainforest species such as eclectus, pionus, amazons and the like. Health food store nourishment for every hookbill from lories to macaws is a near requirement should the keeper wish to optimize his bird’s well being. Food ruts are to be avoided as captive birdkeeping has not yet perfected a duplicate of wild parrot diversified diets—so the longer you feed the same old stuff over the years, the more likely it is to cause a nutritional backlash to your bird’s physical condition. It takes hard work, imagination, wild-crafted and garden gathering, and awareness of species specific needs. These beings are not dogs or cats.
2) Do you cherish your family vacations? Perhaps more than any other animal-keeping group, bird owners—certainly those with several parrots or breeding cages—are hindered when it comes to leaving home for extended periods. Good bird sitters are often hard to find; while boarding facilities can be either expensive or a worrisome hazard concerning close multi-bird contact. April and I routinely go on holiday as singles—leaving one spouse home to watch over the beloved flock. This is something that is rarely mentioned in a pet shoppe when customers ask about necessary avian maintenance! If you want to own sensitive species such as African greys, then it is best to resign yourself to staying home more often than you have in the past.
3) Can you cope with large veterinary bill? I am surely not stating that every pet parrot will get sick. But if and when an accident or unwellness occurs, avian vet services can be quite pricey. Laboratory testing or annual blood panels alone may run hundreds of dollars, yet they can still be inconclusive. Surgery is both risky and expensive. Certified avian veterinarians sometimes are hours away by automobile. One of the most irresponsible ways owners may care for their parrots is by always trying to “home remedy” a pet or breeder bird that is feeling under the weather.
4) What are your true feelings about experiencing a bird bite? Of course, not every psittacine is a biter; some in fact are too easy going and compliant to ever nip their humans. But after more than 30 years of birdkeeping, I would have to say that an exceedingly high percentage of parrot owners receive a substantial pinch or two in their pet keeping lifetimes. Coping with mature, sexual, and strong willed psittacines is at the least, advanced animal husbandry. Jealousies, fright, hunger, anger, even unintentional reasoning may all prompt a parrot to use its beak as a defensive (or offensive!) utensil. In addition there are sharp claws that can prick arms and necks to bleeding. It is essential that bird owners not cultivate resentment, depression, or the like when dealing with what is a very very natural behavior in a flying, beaked, being.
5) Do you like to read, study, research and learn? New knowledge of captive aviculture is constantly appearing. Species behaviors, evolution in training methods, even diet research for psittacines are all ‘hot topics’ when it comes to birdkeeping wisdom. It is necessary for novice owner to subscribe to journals, go on the internet, read regularly from parrot publications, land develop and interest in any types of birds they are willing to feed and house. Only then can one be sure of providing the most up-to-date care for one’s avian charges. This will, of course, require both time and sincere effort. ‘Tis not just happenstance that psittacines are termed ‘exotics’ in the pet realm.
6) And finally, will you commit to caring for a parrot or parrots decades into the future? Even smaller hookbills like cockatiels can live into their thirties, while large psittacines routinely make it to forty or more when cared for properly. Is this an obligation you can accept for the duration? And are you willing to undertake the project of arranging for your birds lives after you pass away? These animals are not dogs or cats. They are long-term household companions of high intelligence and specific needs. It behooves the prospective keeper to weigh his or her life situation, age, family, income, etc. well before deciding to acquire a parrot.
That’s pretty good for a start, I deem. I would expect a huge number of “yes, yes, yes’s” coming from the peanut gallery about now. Me too! Oopsl, it’s time to go feed the babies...
With aloha, EB
Feathered Friends of Santa Fe is a member of American Federation of Aviculture (AFA).
We at Feathered Friends of Santa Fe strongly support Pet Adoption and recommend the Macaw and Cockatoo Rescue of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M.
Contact Anna Sloan at 505-994-0505
www.abqparrots.org