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Birds are very good at hiding any signs of illness, in order to survive in the wild. Therefore if a bird appears ill, it is usually very late for treatment.

Signs of illness include, but are not limited to

• Weight loss

• Unusual swellings, especially around the eyes

• Irregular discolouration of the feathers

• Feathers are "fluffed up"

• Random or generalized loss of feathers

• Scaling or crusting of the skin

• Increased temperature of feet or beak

• lethargy

• sleeping more than usual

• inability to perch

With any of these signs, a veterinary visit is recommended, as death may be imminent.

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yes they do

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you can tell because it will start limping.

Sometimes a broken leg will have an abnormal 'lump' where the bone is sticking out, and sometimes the birds leg will bleed if it has been injured and the skin has pierced.

Seek an avian vet if you feel as if your bird is majorly injured. Sometimes a vet can splint it and with a few weeks the birds leg will go back to normal almost.

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Poison is poison!

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I can't tell if this is a dumb question or if you worded it wrong. Anyway, generally they need 12 hours of sleep a day. Some of this they do during the day (like when no one is home) and at night. Make sure you parakeet is getting enough sleep at night.

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The most common pet bird with the shortest lifespan is the finch and canary.

Finches and canaries live on average for three to six years. There have been rare cases of them living up to 10 years with amazing (expensive) care.

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no stupid quesion

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There is an excellent site for advice on caring for baby birds and injured birds. See Sources and Related Links further down this page.

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I dont know but is there just one or does it live in a pair ?

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The following information was found on ZebraFinch.info. It helped me with my pair of little Zebra Finches.

1. You will first need a couple of finches old enough to breed - that's after 3 months old, but you must wait until they are nine months old first.

2. They can't breed if you don't give them greens. They will eat chickweed and dandelion leaves.

3. They will also need a nesting site and nesting material to build the nest with. Pick a suitable nest box and purchase it from the internet or a pet store. The nesting sites come in all shapes and sizes. There's the Swallow nest (called that because swallows make nests looking like this) which is like a bowl, and a Nest Box, which is often placed in gardens for wild birds. They provide warmth and shelter to the eggs, but the finches need to squeeze through to get inside the box. These are actually more often used for budgies. Then you have a Wicker Nest, a nest made from hay-like materials that has a roof crafted over the top. If you want you can replace a dirty Wicker Nest as long as there is no eggs in it so you can remove any droppings from it. They provide shelter and warmth and well as comfort and easy access, but they can get dirty and don't give much room for chicks, but most clutches should never have too many birds so that they won't fit it the Wicker Nest. Once you have a nesting site for use you need material so the male of the pair can craft a nest. Give him wool and material sold for this purpose in pet stores. Also give him the softer pieces of material you can buy from pet shops that will keep the birds inside the nesting site, including mother, chicks and eggs, nice and warm - wool you use for wild birds is good for this. Let him use whatever he thinks is best from the variety you offer, often he will use alot of everything. Give rolled or cut up newspaper, clean hay (must be CLEAN), and the odd few handfulls of wool. Then stuff them in something the birds can pull the material out of and watch them begin.

4. Now, the eggs arrive. When the nest is done, the birds are in good condition and the greens are not rare in your bird's diet, the female will enter the nest. She will lay eggs in the nest. Then watch your birds keep the eggs warm by sitting on them. They will hatch if they are kept warm.

5. The next event in the timeline is that the eggs begin to crack open and from within them you will hear "Chireep! Churreep! Fweecheep, meecheep, eep, cheepeep..." and notice the baby finches.

6. The little finches will soon grow their feathers. Their first feathers will not tell you their gender as it takes time for them to get their markings, as the males and females feather patterns and markings are different. When they hatch they are creamy white-ish with a little black mark underneath each eye - unless they have the mutation Pure White from a parent. This is a cute and normal happening in finch breeding and so are other mutations, but this one will overrun all other mutations. To see mutations and what they look like see the Finch Design page on Zebrafinch.info that allows you to click on a mutation and the finches on the left will change to suit the appearance you have clicked.

7. Eventually the young finches will leave their nest. They can now explore around their home and get to know the other finches in their environment.

8. Eventually the little finches will also begin feeding themselves and other finches. They can now drink their water and eat anything nutritious for them as they become older and explore the area and investigate other finches. They are now young zebra finches just beneath adult age capible of getting what they need on their own and interacting with the other finches in the manor they do.

9. Take the nest away now unless you want another clutch of little finches. Don't breed the same pair more than 2-3 times a year, as it is bad for their health to breed to much. I'd wait until next year before breeding them again. If you really want more finches, try a different pair. Remove the breeding stuff until the next time your finches will breed.

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30 grams is an excellent weight for an American parakeet. English Budgies are a larger bird and will weigh more.

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No. They don't. Their liquid and solid wastes are mixed together. That's why their waste is so runny.

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you can but they may fight and seriously injure each other or one may be picked on by the other some more serious results of bullying are broken jaws and the bullied finch may pluck its feathers out ect. i would advise housing two females instead although they may not look as good they will get along better than two malezs

I have two male zebra finches that have been together for a long time and they are best friends. They occasionally fight, but they make up quickly and they have neever hurt each other.

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* A toaster oven will work, too. Make sure to keep the temperature around the egg at 99.5, turn the egg four times a day - moms do it every couple of hours. Keep a damp sponge near the egg. Eggs need humidity. PLEASE KNOW IF U HATCH THE DUCKLING HE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE IN WATER. HE WILL DROWN! Another view: * Animals are extremely incredible and a chicken may sit on the egg and hatch it. Some dogs will mother kittens (even let them feed) and vice-versa. Dogs have been known to raise all types of baby animals. Another view: * Yes keep it warm under a lamp but do not put direct heat on the egg, and rotate the egg a quarter turn every four hours. Another view: * Also make sure to spritz the egg with water at least once or twice during the day. The moisture is needed, even crucial. Successfully, you can't - pretty much agreed (Lonchura) If hatching any egg was as simple as some suggestions here, no-one would build incubators. Most of the comments are nonsense. Not one person has mentioned the fact that control of incubation RH is as important, possibly more important, than temperature control. As pretty much all bird eggs require the same incubation conditions, so long as the bird will accept the egg(s), (they aren't too big, small or oddly coloured), any bird can hatch the egg of any another. Temperature required - 37.5C, RH around 50%.

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my family and i have 14 finchs, about 4 of them have baldness, one is almost totally bald. none have died or shown illment. You need to look at why the finches maybe losing their feathers. Explanations include pulling them out to make nests or due to a form of mineral defecincy, that one is pulling the others out to display dominance, or that they are suffering from a mite infestation. Catch one and have the vet take a look at it to rule out that last possibility. If the cause is parasites the vet may prescribe a cause of treatment; as a preventative measure completely gut the finches enclosure and scrub and disinfect everything.

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Jeffrey Carr
North Windham Veterinary Clinic
Route 115
Windham, ME
(207) 829-8553

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Depends on what type of pigeon you are referring to (there are many different species of pigeons in the world). If they have a nest, the female will incubate the eggs during the night and the male will incubate the eggs during the day. If you see youngsters around, it's the male that's teaching them the ways of the world, while the female is tending to a new clutch of eggs. In general, males tend to be a bit bigger than females. Males will chase after their females with their tail feathers fanned and dragging their fanned tail feathers on the ground. Females behave similarly, however, they don't drag their tail feathers on the ground.

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Sugar water for hummingbirds feeders is made by dissolving white granulated sugar in tap, well or bottled water. Powdered sugar, honey, "raw" or brown sugar, and low-calorie sweeteners may harm the birds should not be used. Bottled or filtered water can be used in places where the tap water has a high iron content or contains potentially dangerous pollutants such as arsenic, nitrates, trihalomethanes or coliform bacteria.

The recommended recipe calls for 3 to 5 parts water to 1 part sugar. A part can be anything from a tablespoon to a gallon, depending on how much solution you need to make. Stronger solutions (3:1) will be visited less often and defended more vigorously; weaker solutions will be visited more often, especially in hot, dry weather when the water is almost as important to the birds as the sugar.

Boiling is not necessary but helps to dissolve the sugar and may slow spoilage of the solution. Sugar water in feeders should be discarded and replaced every 2 to 5 days, more often in warm, windy, or rainy weather. Extra sugar water can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or more but should be discarded if it begins to turn cloudy or mold begins to grow inside the container.

There is no need to add food coloring to sugar water, and it may be dangerous to the birds' health. Bright color on the outside of the feeder is enough to attract hummingbirds.

If the sugar water in a feeder ferments, is diluted by rain, or gets contaminated by ants or bees, the birds may stop visiting for a while. They will return once the feeder is clean and full of fresh sugar water. To keep the solution fresh longer, hang the feeder where it will not be exposed to too much sun, rain, or wind and clean it thoroughly at least once a week. If your feeder is not easily cleaned with hot water and a sponge or bottle brush, invest in a better-designed feeder. Neglected feeders can be cleaned by soaking in a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach in 10 parts water or in a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and hot water.

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up to 15 years

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They may be kept in cages, but some people prefer too leave them loose if they will not fly away. The purpose is to give them freedom.

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Who says birds don't poop in water! Seagulls do! I know ... got sprayed by one last summer. Yuk! Birds as a whole can and do poop in water if they happen to need to go when they are near water. But, pet parrots (whether near your pool or not)a parrot will tend to avoid pooping where they sleep and where they eat if they are provided with sufficient space to be able to easily avoid having to do so.

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SOME breeds are cold hardy, and will not need as much heat as other breeds. For this, you should research about the breeds you have.

You will always be able to tell if your birds are too hot or too cold - if they are too hot, they will get as far away from each other as possible and pant. If they are too cold, they will be huddling up together. Frostbite on the combs/wattles is also a sign that your birds are too cold. You need to watch and make sure that your birds are warm enough.

When temperatures drop at night or in the winter a 150 watt red bulb will provide heat and reduce the effects of lighting strain.The birds need dark or semi dark to roost properly and the red light provides this. You should also ALWAYS provide scratch or corn for them before they roost if it is very cold. The scratch/corn will help them make body heat during the night hours.

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1) Flies at unbelievable altitudes (higher than 30,000 feet)

2) Has been known to fly in unusual patterns based on its mood

3) Carries large rocks in its beak and talons and uses them to knock out or kill prey

4) Its feathers usually come in the colors neon green and purple.

5) Males have a distinctive call, "Yura ful! Yura ful!", hence the name Yura Bird...