Brian L. Speer - Birds For Dummies

Birds For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020949856

ISBN 978-1-119-64322-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-64315-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-64325-8 (ebk)

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 6
6. Chapter 7
7. Chapter 8
8. Chapter 9
9. Chapter 11
10. Chapter 12
11. Chapter 14
12. Chapter 15
13. Chapter 16
14. Chapter 17
15. Chapter 18
16. Chapter 19

Welcome to Birds For Dummies, the only book you need to turn your admiration and appreciation of birds into a lasting, loving relationship with an avian companion!

Many people purchase birds for their status, for their beauty, for their song, or even for how well they match the furniture! But no one wins when someone picks a pet for the wrong reasons or has odd ideas about what it takes to properly care for a new family member.

This book has everything you need in order not to end up in that group of uneducated bird owners. Whether you already have a bird or youre thinking about getting one, this book is your guide to caring for your bird for years to come!

Birds are not simple creatures. They have needs and desires (some people call them demands!), and many are highly affectionate and social. Some birds can test your tolerance when it comes to noise and mess. You need to know all this going in, along with which bird to buy, where to buy one, and how to deal with the inevitable behavior problems that challenge nearly every bird owner from time to time.

Successful bird lovers are knowledgeable, realistic, and flexible, and most of all, they have a good sense of humor. If that description fits you, youll be rewarded by sharing your life with a marvelous feathered friend. We want you to be among the successful bird owners, and every line in this book is part of our heartfelt effort to help you be exactly that.

This book is a reference, which means you dont have to read it from beginning to end. Instead, you can dip into the book to find the information you need, whenever you need it. Also, you dont have to remember what youre reading there isnt a test at the end.

If youre short on time, you can skip anything marked with the Technical Stuff icon, as well as text in gray boxes (called sidebars). This information is interesting, but its not essential to your understanding of the subject at hand.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and you want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Finally, a word on gender: We use male and female pronouns to refer to pets. Although many bird owners dont even know the gender of their birds (see for more on that subject), we think using the word it for any living being sets up an association thats just not right. Animals arent things like a piece of furniture or this book. Theyre living, thinking, loving beings hes and shes. We alternate the use of the male and female pronouns throughout the book, but in any given reference, you can rest assured that the information applies to both genders, unless specifically noted otherwise.

As we wrote this book, we made some assumptions about you, the reader:

• You already own a bird or youre considering adding one to your home.
• You may have no experience with birds, or you may have lived with them for years. Either way, youre sure to find valuable information to make life with your avian companion even better!
• Youre interested in being the best bird owner you can possibly be.

Every For Dummies book has little pictures in the margins called icons that help you navigate through the book. Heres a rundown of what each icon means.

The Tip icon flags especially useful clues to make life with your bird easier or help your pet be happier and healthier. It highlights time-savers and money-savers, too!

If we think something is so important that it deserves restating or remembering, we flag it with the Remember icon to make sure you dont jump over that vital information.