Birds make great pets and owning a bird can be a seriously rewarding experience. They are sociable, intelligent, and with the right socialization, can form wonderful bonds with their families. They even do well in homes with children, and are relatively easy (and inexpensive) to care for and train!

Feeding:

Give your bird varied types of food on a daily basis. As a rule of thumb, a healthy diet for most bird breeds consists of 75% pellets and 25% human table foods. Since precise dietary requirements are dependent on the species, talk with an avian veterinarian to see what type of food your breed of bird needs. Over time, you’ll begin to see patterns emerging in the types of food that your bird prefers.

• Ensure that you have correct feed for the species of bird. You must find the correct food for your bird, as some birds are picky, while others have very strict dietary requirements. Usually the bag/can of food will have a label telling you which breed of bird it is for. If you don’t know what the best food choices are, ask the breeder, the retailer or leave a question on a specialized forum of people who care for this species of bird.
• Bird pellets, crumbles, or nuggets can be a good way of ensuring adequate nutrition for your bird. These tend to combine healthy seeds, vegetables, fruits, and grains, so the bird can eat a nutritionally balanced diet. These are preferable to a seed mix, which allows birds to pick out tasty seeds and leave the healthy ones behind.
• Feed new seed daily; always empty out the eaten shells the same day too, as this keeps the seed fresh and clean.

Hydration:

Provide constant fresh water. There should be a water dish provided; fill this daily with average temperature water. Give your bird water in a large, shallow dish, since birds can struggle to drink out of deep dishes. Change water daily to ensure that it is always fresh.

• Place the water dish at the opposite end of the bird’s cage from the food dish. This will force them to move around and be active to eat and drink.
• Dehydration can occur very quickly in birds, within 1 to 2 days without access to water.

Housing:

Purchase a large cage for housing the bird. Birds thrive in large cages, so opt for the largest cage that your housing space can accommodate. A general rule of thumb is that the width of the cage should be at least twice the wingspan of your bird. For some birds, being able to fly short distances within the cage may be an important part of ensuring it has a healthy living space. Some other fairly standard requirements include:

• The cage bars should not be too small; the bird’s talons might get caught on or in them if the bar wires or lengths are too small. Equally, the bars should not be so large that the head of the bird could get trapped or the bird could squeeze through and escape.
• The bigger the space in the cage, the better. Although bird cages that are bigger tend to be harder to clean and are more expensive, if you are not in the house often or don’t have time to take the bird out for exercise, space in their cage is critical. Small cages can lead to behavior problems.

Enrichment:

Start off with at least 4 toys that are varied and interesting. Make sure they are bird-safe and that toes or beaks cannot get caught in any parts of the toys. Bells make great bird toys. Be sure that the bell does not have small gaps in it though, as this can become caught up in the bird’s feet. Make sure to have no mirrors as it can cause problems along the way. 

• Items that are not safe on toys used for birds include: frayed ropes (could entangle bird feet and beaks); wire (might impale the bird); “jingle-bell” type bells (the bird’s feet might get stuck in the small cracks).