Bird Wing |

I have two parakeets, and as a bird owner I feel it is important to know if your bird is not feeling well. Birds can’t tell us in obvious ways that they feel bad… or can they? Yes they do speak to us about how they are feeling, but we just have to know what to look for. Unfortunately  some bird owners don’t socialize much with their birds, and because of that, they may miss the signs that their bird or birds are sick. If your bird is feeling under the weather, it can be quite serious. It could appear to the untrained eye to be fine and then the same day you could find it dead on the floor of its cage. It is so important to spend time with your bird. Let it feel comfortable with you, so you can pick it up and examine it from time to time. Look at its cere (pronounced seer) it is the area at the top of the beak that I would refer to as the nose. The cere can become red, swollen and have a drainage coming from it, which is an obvious sign your bird is very ill.We, who are bird owners, need to know what their droppings should look like. What are healthy droppings? Bird droppings are normally a combination of white, black and dark green because their waste products are fecal material, white waste material and urine. If you notice red or rusty colors in the droppings, this could be blood. Your bird could be having internal bleeding. If you notice lots of droppings in your bird’s cage, this is a good sign, because a healthy bird has more droppings than a sick bird; therefore, if you notice very few droppings in your bird’s cage your bird is probably sick.Pay attention to your bird’s appetite. If you should notice your bird no longer taking an interest in its food or water, this is a sure sign that your bird is not feeling well. A healthy bird will talk or tweet. My birds love to talk to each other all the time. They just jabber all the time. If they were to be suddenly quiet, I would know that something is definitely up with them.