Are you familiar with foraging? Foraging is what birds do naturally in their native environments daily in order to feed themselves.
Food, in the wild is not neatly placed in stainless bowls and made readily available to them. They have to seek out an existence to survive.

Not until recently has the avian community begun to realize the importance of foraging techniques for our own captive birds.
Through studies and research it is found that when given the opportunity to search for their daily meals, many rudimentary behavioral needs can be met and feather plucking/mutilating disorders might possibly be prevented. The mental health of the bird is greatly improved.

I recently purchased the DVD by Dr. Scott Echols on Captive Foraging. He has been working on it for several years to develop ways to make foraging techniques available to our caged birds. The video is excellent and touches upon several key elements...

* Understand the natural foraging instinct of all animals
* Prevent unwanted behaviors, such as feather destruction and repetitive functionless activity
* Build a foraging tree for captive birds
* Create foraging toys — from basic to advanced — to keep birds occupied and happy

It's a very informative and educational video and gives many good ideas and I especially liked the ability to make much of them on my own.

I can honestly say It's definitely worth looking into, especially if you have a companion bird that suffers from boredom and plucking issues.

Michael

PS Does anyone already employ foraging techniques with your birds? If so, would you mind sharing? Thanks!


http://www.flyingsouth.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=705