About this publication

Free Range Parrots is dedicated to providing quality information to bird keepers, backed by scientific research as much as possible.

There is no shortage of bird advice out there, but it’s often anecdotal and written by pet owners or pet food manufacturers rather than researchers, biologists, or trusted avian experts. Rarely is evidence given to support claims you might run across. As the saying goes, repeating the same things doesn’t make them true.

The “free range” part of “free range parrots” refers to a different, often contrary, approach to bird care. Consideration is given to how a species lives in the wild and how we can learn from that. Bird owners are often overprotective, insulating their birds from any risks, which are often exaggerated. This site advocates a realistic evaluation of risk but also weighs the rewards of having a bird that is free to live a more engaged, fulfilling, and enriched life.

There are other sites out there that advocate more “natural” approaches to bird diets, health, and general care, but you’ll never see any scientific evidence being referenced. This is a shame, because some of the claims of these sites are actually true. Here, you’ll find natural bird care based on science.

What you’ll read here is often counter to conventional wisdom. There are a lot of long-held and repeated beliefs out there that simply have no evidence to back them up. If you don’t like your opinions being challenged, you’ll be very annoyed by this site. 🙂

As the creator, I’ve been a bird owner since 1981, including several years as a bird breeder and, most recently, bird rescue and parrot research.

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