by Nora Caterino

Created on: October 08, 2009

A bored parrot is an unhappy parrot and behavioral problems such as feather plucking can result. You have to be away from your parrot some period of time each day and your bird needs to be entertained while you are gone.

A great way to entertain your parrot while you are away is to purchase a CD with the sounds of birds talking. This will help you parrot learn how to talk easily. Set your CD player for repeat play if you will be gone only a short time. If you are going to be gone a long time, set a specific number of replays so your bird won't become bored with the sounds of other birds. If your CD player doesn't have this feature, then let the CD play only once if you will be gone all day.

Providing interesting, interactive toys are key to entertaining the parrot when it is inside its cage. It needs toys to chew and destroy. Larger birds need puzzle toys to really put their brains to work. Toys with treats hidden inside are great for parrot because they are entertain while figuring out how to get to the treat.

If you have an answering machine which allows the caller's message to be heard while the caller is speaking, call your parrot a few times during the day. It will be thrilled to hear your voice and look forward to your phone calls.

You can leave music softly playing while you are away during the day. Most parrots love music. They usually prefer soft rock, classical, blues, or other genres of melodic tunes. However, some parrots just love hip hop. Your parrot will let you know what it enjoys because it will listen intently. If it hates the music you are playing, it will likely scream at you to let you know it finds the sounds unpleasant.

You can leave the television on at low volume if you like. Many of the larger parrots actually watch television, especially cartoons and animal shows.

Do not provide a mirror for your parrot to keep it entertain. The bird is likely to bond with the "birdie in the mirror" and begin to exhibit breeding behavior. It can even become so bonded to its reflection, believing it is another parrot, that it will lose interest in you.

Never leave your parrot without clean food and water. Fresh vegetables and fruits provide entertainment as well as nutrition in addition to the bird's regular diet of seed mix or pellets.

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