Pet birds are beautiful, intelligent, and social creatures, and welcoming one of these treasures to your home is an exciting privilege.
However, the things that make birds charming pets, such as intelligence and sociability, also result in psychological and behavioral issues if your feathery friend is not well stimulated.
A bored bird has a higher risk of developing behavioral problems such as feather picking: Rick Axelson, DVM.
Stimualtion means keeping your birdie busy, entertained, and happy.
So, to answer your question, yes, birds, more so parrots, do get bored in cages, especially when they don’t have toys or sufficient space to engage in birdly things.
To keep them less bored, you will need to offer them new things to discover and ways to play every once in a while.
In this post, you’ll find a few suggestions to help you get started on a long, healthy relationship with your bird. You learn how to entertain and keep him less bored.
Please read on.
How Do You Entertain A Caged Bird
The best way to keep your birds entertained is by creating a spacious and engaging environment around them. You need to make sure your parrot has something to do at all times without feeling restricted.
How you do this is entirely up to you, considering people have different daily schedules and living dynamics.
Even so, toys, quality time (interaction), curated exercise, visual and audio entertainment are failproof hacks every birdie owner should consider.
Fun and Enriching Toys for Your Birds
Most birds in the wild forage for food, and when they are not resting, they are playing. At home, your birds should be able to do all of these things as well.
However, food is plenty at home since you provide for your birds, so the only way to keep them busy is ample playtime with toys.
Fun and interactive toys will improve the mental health and physical agility of your birds, plus encourage exercise and provide good wear for your birdie’s beak and nails.
Now, in terms of type, your birdies will require holding, hanging, exploring, chewing, and shredding toys, albeit smaller birds may not need as many options.
Plus, parrots are a lot more demanding than, say, sparrows, finches, and pigeons.
Birds need an ever changing variety of interesting, motivating and destructible toys.
Another thing to note is variety is king.
A room full of toys is good, but just enough diverse toys are best. You only need to rotate them in and out of the cage every couple of days to keep your bird interested.
Hanging toys and perches help your bird both have fun and exercise. They use their claws to grasp, climb and perch on items the same way they do in the wild, which consumes a lot of energy and time.
Bird shredding toys may be a little confusing to comprehend, more so if you have not seen the joy and concentration parrots have while they tear a piece of cloth to pieces.
Well, let’s just say, however bizarre that is, it is a crucial part of your bird’s go-to activity and will keep him from getting bored.
Chewing toys also seem pointless but necessary.
You especially want to get your birdie shredding and chewing toys if he airs on the side of destruction or spends a substantial number of hours in his cage alone.
They is a relationship between boredom and destructive behavior, which can’t be ignored.
Other toys to consider and are bound to keep your bird (parrot) busy and less bored are sound toys like bells, swing toys like hammocks, and puzzle toys for them to explore.
You only need to make sure they are safe for your birdie. They should be non-toxic, non-ingestable, and the kind that cannot trap, chock, strangle, de-claw, or de-beak your gorgeous feathery pal.
Quality Time and Interaction
Toys are ideal and will keep your birdie pretty occupied, but they are best when you are not around. When you have time to spare, such as when you come from work, it helps to play, train, cuddle and all-around spend quality time with your birdie.
See, birds in the wild flock together.
They find safety and companionship in numbers, but when kept as pets in a home, they do not enjoy the packs of being in a group.
For that reason, your birdies will need you to be there for him. Sometimes almost as much as their flock mates would in the wild.
Otherwise, he’ll remain lonely and bored out of his mind.
Curate a training, playtime, and hangout schedule around the time you are sure to be home and gradually work towards your birdie trusting and endearing you.
This way, you will get the most from the time you spend with your birdie, however short or long the period is.
Proper, Appropriate Housing
A decently-sized caged is sufficient for your birdie, but if you want him to enjoy it more, get one that is bigger than the recommended size.
Ideally, you want a cage that will fit as many toys as your parrot enjoys, peaches, and feeding spots, and still leave him enough space to try and chase after toys.
Birds, more so parrots, also love shredding and hanging toys and tend to leave a lot of debris behind. A big cage will accommodate all trashed items until you clean up once you get home.
A massive cage will also let you vary the landscape for your bird to explore and keep themselves entertained. A couple of puzzle toys hidden in the scenery and resting perches goes kicks out boredom like clockwork, especially for owners with busy schedules.
Companions
Companions are not always necessary when keeping birds, more so parrot, but you may want to get one if you only have a few hours to spend with your birdie in a day.
On most occasions, the two (or whichever number of birds) will form a bond the same way they do in the wild and learn to depend on each other for entertainment and even grooming (preening).
However, you’ll need to be careful when introducing them, particularly if you share a bond with the older member. You do not want the first bird to see the new one as a threat.
You also want to ensure both birdies have separate cages and toys to avoid conflict and allow each bird to be himself because, like humans, each bird has a unique personality.
Music, TVs, and Stereo
You may not know this but birds enjoy music and watching TV. My GCC Pickles can watch and dance for hours on end, especially when I’m away or busy doing other things around the house.
Start by watching TV, listening to the radio, or playing an instrument around your bird to evaluate what he likes (or not so much).
Once you figure these out, let him enjoy his favorite kind of entertainment while at home, the start leaving the TV or stereo on while away.
The music or show on TV will keep him entertained for hours on end and keep him picking up destructive behavior even if you step out of the house once in a while.
Having said that, please note that pet birds like parrots require a lot of attention from you, so if you have a busy schedule, I suggest you get a more independent pet like a dog or cat.
Thats all for this post.
Happy birding🦜🐦.
