A Bird for You: Caring for Your Bird

by Susan Blackaby, Charlene Delage (Illustrator)

Discusses how to care for a pet bird, including what to feed it, choosing a type of bird, and the best way to set up a cage.

24 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Bird for You presents youngsters with some basic facts about keeping birds, but it's not without a few concerns.

First off, when the author discusses where to find a pet bird, the only illustration depicted is a room full of caged birds along with a sign that says "Pet Shop."

It should be noted that a wide variety of birds are increasingly common residents of shelters and rescue groups. Further, like pet store puppies, many exotic birds sold in pet shops come from inhumane breeding facilities--"bird mills," if you will.

"There are all kinds of tame birds that make good pets," the text reads, but the illustration shows a scarlet macaw. While macaws can be tamed, they aren't really domesticated animals, and their behavior remains closer to the jungle than some owners would prefer. Macaws are large, highly intelligent, very long-lived, and destructive--and no wise bird aficionado would recommend them as a first-time pet--especially not for a young child. Unfortunately, this book said little about the challenges of parrot keeping.

[Cws]

J636.7Bla

[Michelle Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introduction to owning a pet bird. Lots of things to keep in mind when purchasing the cage, what kind of bird to get, and how often to clean the cage.