Popular Pet Bird and Parrot Species

If you are thinking about getting a new pet bird at home for the first time, it may pay off to do a little research before you buy a bird. The reason is that different species have different personalities and maintenance requirements – some birds are just harder to keep than others. So you don’t want to get stuck with an powerful large noisy bird who may live up to 60 years during your first attempt!
So we have done some of the hard work for you and short-listed some of the most common breeds people generally get.



Parakeets / Budgies
- Cheap and easy-to-find
- Friendly and affectionate, like to interact with human
- Small in size,  and easy to maintain (even in apartments)
- Comes in a range of beautiful colours
- Very intelligent for the size, can talk over a hundred words if taught well

Love bird
- Cheap and easy-to-find
- Small in size,  and fairly quiet breed (great for small homes or apartments)
- Not particularly affectionate to human,  good for those who don’t always have time to interact with the bird
- Best to be kept in pairs (or more)
- Sweet voice and ability to make lots of sounds

Eclectus Parrots
- More expensive (from several hundred dollars)
- Generally for experienced owners
- Very striking medium/large size parrots
- Relatively quiet but good talker
- If trained from young age, they are good with kids despite large size

Macaws
- More expensive (from several hundred dollars)
- Generally for experienced owners
- Can live up to 60 years (so think carefully because you get one)
- Large size parrots, you would need a large cage and they need to let out from the cage regularly
- Impressive size and colour
- Very intelligent and will seek attention
- Can be loud and become grumpy with age, hard-core chewer
- Generally not suitable for children

The Marching Eagle: Africa’s Secretary Bird

On the open lands of sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s only terrestrial bird of prey, the long-legged secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius), stalks across the ground, sometimes walking as many as 20 miles in a single day in search of quarry. And when it finally happens upon a soon-to-be meal, we find that the civilized nature implied by the secretary bird’s name is far from a true reflection of its actual behavior. Indeed, when it encounters prey, it stomps, kicks, and crushes the victim into submission and then swallows it whole.
The secretary bird, which looks a little like a cross between a chicken and a crane in shape, is thought to have been named for the raised crest of black feathers on its head, which give it an appearance reminiscent of the way secretaries once carried their quill pens behind their ears. The species’ Latin genus name, Sagittarius, means “archer,” which may refer to the arrow-like feathers in the bird’s crest. But while the secretary bird cuts a distinct, and notably unusual, profile among birds of prey, its common name might not actually have any relation to its appearance. Rather, it may be derived from its behavior. In Arabic, saqr-et-tair, which sounds like the French secrétaire (or secretary), means “hunter-bird,” and this derivation may have led to the common name, secretary bird.
Secretary birds inhabit grasslands, savannas, open clearings in forests, and semi-desert areas from Senegal in western sub-Saharan Africa to Ethiopia and Somalia in the east. They are also found as far south as the Cape Peninsula in South Africa and sometimes wander onto farms or into other areas inhabited by humans, where they stalk and kill small domestic animals such as chickens. More often, however, secretary birds eat insects and small mammals, and when the opportunity arises, they may consume hares, amphibians, snakes, crabs, and even other birds or their eggs.
Although secretary birds are nonmigratory, environmental conditions such as rain and fire influence their nomadic movements. For example, during a wildfire, the birds will linger near the fire’s edge, capturing small animals as they flee from the heat. The typical hunting strategy they employ, however, entails flushing prey out of hiding by stamping on small mounds of vegetation. The bird then uses its bill and feet to strike or stun the prey unconscious so that it can then swallow the victim all at once.
Secretary birds are relatively widespread across sub-Saharan Africa, and those that occur within protected areas are safe from threats such as habitat loss. In some places, the species has benefited from the clearing of land for agriculture. Hence, the “marching eagle,” this terrestrial bird of prey, likely will continue to tread across Africa’s open plains for decades to come.

Digiscoping warblers and other small birds

As a birder, I think you're right on the mark by considering lighter weight digiscoping equipment versus conventional D/SLR and big lens gear. Of course there are pros and cons to each, but I'll save that for a future post and address your question regarding difficulty with small birds.

They are very tough, aren't they? Perhaps the greatest challenge digiscoping small birds is acquiring and following them via the LCD viewfinder on the digital camera. A strategy I like to employ to overcome this is to repeatedly use the same location; one with good lighting, open perches and visual markers - a veritable studio in the field.

You might be surprised to learn how many birds in my digiscoping gallery were photographed on or near the very same branch! It will work further to your advantage if an area you've selected draws in the migrants - habitat that naturally encourages birds to visit. As a birder, you may already have in mind particular areas you know birds frequent during migration.

Once I've setup my digiscoping gear, I'll focus on a particular branch and practice moving the scope around to nearby open sticks and twigs - establishing a sense of how much relative movement needs to be made to each one. While doing so, I'll take note of the various color tones of different branches or if there are any distinguishing visual markers like a particular leaf, branch fungus, etc.

I'll patiently monitor birds as they move in and out of the area until one gets close to one of my visual markers. The practice drill of memorizing relative positions of markers and gauging how much the scope needs to be moved to each - guiding you to the bird - will help you capture more hits in the field. The more often you visit the same areas, the better you'll get. By having several such areas unique in habitat and visiting them at different times during spring/fall migration, you will collect a larger species library of images.

Mixed Bag

Spent Saturday at my local Cannock Chase with Ken and it as great to see some birds coming to feed again.  During the 4 hours we got to see and photograph Nuthatch, Siskin, Redpoll, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Willow tit, Bullfinch and lots of the regulars like robins, blue tits, great tits etc.  

Below are a few of my favs. 

Small Birds at Cannock Chase

I have to say I am very happy that the small birds are showing again at Cannock Chase.  There seems a assive influx of fieldfare at the momemt and with it being clear and decided to grab myself a few shots.  Sunday was spent with Ken and we spent a few hours again shooting the mixed bag which was present.

The Aplomado Falcon

This Falcon is a beautiful smallish member of the Falcon Bird Family . It comes from the Americas and enjoys a reasonably large range although it is not a common bird in the wild. Its name (femoralis) is derived from the Spanish meaning which means lead. Although this is a predominantly red falcon, this refers to the colour of the back of the falcon.

The belly is a striking deep Orange and the crop area is usually white. They have the characteristic falcon “tears” which is also blue grey and is thought to stop sunlight reflecting into the eyes when flying falcons are hunting.
Although the aplomado falcon is not a very small bird, the build of this falcon bird species is quite different to some of the other large falcons. Many people have mistaken the aplomado for a bat falcon as their ranges sometimes overlap.
It is true that the two have similar colouration however the build of the two are very different. This is also apparent when comparing the Aplomado Falcon to the Peregrine Falcon , the peregrine is much heavier built with a much wider chest.
The Aplomado Falcon by contrast is a very slender and delicate falcon which has made people think that they are related to our European Hobby which is also of light build and hunts in much the same way.
This small build also means that the Falco Femoralis as a flying falcon is very different in flight style to the other large falcons. They do not have the flat out speed of the peregrine or the Gyr, however they are blessed with a longer tale (which is beautiful and intricate in marking)
...and they are very agile and quick on the wing which makes them perfectly built for pursuit hunting their prey. When they fly they look more like a small accipiter than a falcon. The swooping and speedy style of flight likens these falcons to a Sparrow Hawk and they also have the killer instinct to match

Aplomado Falcon – Diet

Because the Aplomado is such a specialised flying falcon, much of the prey it catches are birds. In fact about 90 percent are small birds. This species is incredibly intelligent and like the Harris' Hawk , they have managed to use intelligence to overcome many of life’s obstacles. A good example of this is that Aplomado Falcons regualarly have been recorded following other larger predators and waiting for them to flush the smaller birds and then a pair of Aplomado Falcons will sometimes cooperate in order to up their chances of catching the prey.
Aplomados also eat a lot of large invertebrates. This red falcon will eat flying insects like dragonflies and butterflies which make up a sizeable portion of the diet of these charming little raptors.
Because of their astounding agility, they can cruise around the skies effortlessly snatching insects from the air and eating them on the wing. These falcons don’t often eat mammalian prey and because of their tiny weight and not particularly dominating size I don’t blame them. However occasionally small rodents are caught.
Having said this, females are quite capable of taking birds many times their weight and cattle Egrets are a favourite but don’t succumb without a struggle.

Robin bird – birds agile and like to sing

Robin Bird is a species of small birds and has a beautiful fur color. Robin including birds agile and like to sing. Unfortunately, birds from China is starting rarely encountered. The color of his fur is very interesting, that is green and gray, with a little red on the wings and red beak.
In its original habitat, robins live in colonies, as well as looking for food.Robin maintain relatively very easy. Its main food is insects,worms, and fruit. Because the body length is only about 7 cm, is not required to maintain a large cage robin.

european-robin

american-robin

robin bird

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