The Parrots And Talking Birds Manual: Pet Owner's Guide To Keeping, Feeding, Care And Training (Pet Birds) Paperback – September 7, 2014

A fine collection of some of the best information on parrots and other talking birds I've yet seen. And, there is no skirting around, we get right to training the bird to speak in the first chapter! There are a wide-array of different birds that fit into this subject category, and the author devotes a number of chapters to each of them: African greys, various Panama parrots, Toucans, Macaws-- the list goes on. And, one of the key and most vital elements to keeping birds like this is provided more or less early on (due to import), and that is various illnesses or diseases the birds may come down with. Symptoms and how to deal with it. Great & handy owner's manual.

Copyright: 2014Pages: 64Pictures: 14 b/w (majority out of alignment)I cannot stress enough that I do not recommend this booklet to anyone for any reason. The author has cobbled together minimal information on a wide range of parrots in a mere 45 pages of text. Much of that information is inaccurate. Some of it is downright dangerous to parrots. For example, on page 19, for the “disease” of indigestion, the author suggests an odd diet and then: “A teaspoonful of light Bordeaux wine may be poured down the parrot’s throat.” Alcohol plays quite the role in the author’s care of parrots. He also runs the gamut from castor oil to brandy-soaked crackers to laudanum as remedies for various problems, although he differs on delivery. For the “disease” of constipation he suggests: “Use warm castor-oil and olive-oil in equal parts as an injection, using a small syringe for the purpose. Give a dose of ten drops of castor-oil with half a teaspoonful of honey once or twice a day…” (for the new-to-parrots: castor oil, alcohol and honey are not good for parrots to ingest)The author’s bizarre suggestions to give clear black coffee to African grey parrots (and he misspells the name every time he types it) instead of water because water gives that species diarrhea and to put a spoonful of borax in a pint of any parrot’s bath water speak to an odd husbandry that I can’t imagine belongs to anyone who has actually kept parrots—alive. Even the “chapters” meant to describe different species are worthless. They are vague, simplified physical descriptions of the birds, with bits of behavior thrown in for a few of the species. For example, the dwarf parrots get this extra paragraph: “It is not destructive like the large parrots, and if allowed perfect freedom in a room will not get into any mischief. When kept in pairs and taught to speak the birds will often carry on a conversation in a most entertaining manner.”I’m not sure if this book was self-published for the purpose of bringing harm to pet birds the way hackers bring harm to computer systems, or if the author truly is as clueless as this compendium of false information makes him out to be. There is a disclaimer on the title page—the buyer beware sort of statement that anyone using information from this book can’t hold the author responsible for the death of his or her bird. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it. One of the "Parrots for Dummies" books would be better than this for a new parrot owner.

Very good book. Very pleased

I wish I could make this zero stars! This is an outdated, wrong-headed waste of time. The "book" has no real positive value to new or prospective bird owners and, more importantly, it contains downright dangerous recommendations! Saying one type of parrot is prone to diarrhea from drinking water and should therefore be provided coffee to drink is only one of the incredibly inane and irresponsible tidbits of advice the author provides. I was really floored when I read the "fact" that most exotic birds come into the U.S. by way of Boston via steamship or sailing vessels. Immediately I thought that this was simply a very old book that is still in print (for no good reason), but when I checked the ISBN number I found that is was published 07/09/2014!! There is no excuse for this misinformation to be published as a viable guide to parrot ownership. There is also no excuse for it to be sold on Amazon. Finally, there is no acceptable excuse for the author, who is quoted to have owned and lived with birds for at least 20 years, to have even submitted this sputum to a publisher.

The content is sparse and odd at times, offering little to no help for me in preparing for our newest addition. It appears the author has significant distain for macaws - whether intended or not.The real clincher in my decision to never go by this author's advice was the point at which it was suggested that the training process would go faster for you by withholding food until the bird is very hungry then only offering it as reward while trying to get it to repeat what you want, when you want. Hunger-starving your pet to advance your entertainment while teaching them that they may go periods without food as well as training them to beg for sustenance rather than being rewarded for positive behavior is cruel to them and detrimental to the relationship between human and bird...as it would be for any animal. Who would do that to their child...never mind just to get them to perform???

a very vague Book ! Information is way out of date . Not a god buy at any price ! Doesn't give adequate information for any level of parrot owner !