Yikes….we don’t!

While the internet provides easy access to companion bird care topics for the avian community quite easily, nothing replaces a “hands-on” workshop for new or vested avian caretakers alike – especially with live birds.

As a longstanding custom to share knowledge gained through years of raising parrots as companions at the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute, a few HARI Team members spent the day with fellow parrot enthusiast from the Parrot Place Network, veterinarian technicians as well as few pet owners in a 1 Day Seminar in Grand Rapids, Michigan this past September.

Many of the attendees raise parrots for the pet bird trade, so many of the topics included parrot nutrition and health assessment with focus on HARI’s own Early Parrot Education program. While some of the attendees might have anticipated a lot of HARI product info, the main event actually centered on having live birds to demonstrate the valuable lessons. Attendees brought birds of various life stages – from a fledgling to an older Green wing macaw that had recently been adopted by one of the attendees. We shared how to evaluate a bird for signs of good health as well as malnutrition, safe towel restraint, and strategies to manage undesirable aggressive behavior due to hormones in adult birds.

But, most importantly, since Parrot Place Affiliates, much like many pet bird retailers, obtain some baby parrots from breeders, we discussed how to evaluate a fledgling upon receiving.

Registration for this seminar included catered lunch, various Tropican products, including the new Alternative Tropican plus a selection of HARI Rustic Treasures. With a captive audience of avian enthusiasts and as the United States avian community was in the throes of multiple hurricanes (Harvey, Irma & Marie) that had affected much of the avian community in Texas, Florida, and respective states , we also donated some of the surplus HARI products as a much needed fundraiser for American Federation of Aviculture Disaster Relief.