The name for the disease Psittacosis comes from the Greek word psittakos, meaning parrot. Psittacosis, a disease caused by the bacteria Chlamydophila psittaci,is not limited to only parrots. This disease also affects many other types of birds, such as pigeons, ravens, and turkeys. This disease is zoonotic, meaning it can be passed to other creatures […]

This disease was first discovered in macaws in 1978. It was originally named macaw wasting syndrome because of the high number of macaws that large number of macaws that had it. Today is it also known as psittacine wasting syndrome as it can occur in any parrot, though it is most common in macaws conures […]

Polyoma is a virus that is very contagious and very dangerous among young birds. It is also certainly dangerous among adults and should not be ignored; however, it is much more likely to kill baby birds than it is to kill adults. Adults actually may be able to develop immunity to it. The virus is […]

The bird’s digestive system is different than many other animals. They have organs not seen in most other animals because they are specifically designed for certain tasks that only the bird carries out. Organs you may never heard of that are part of the bird’s digestive system are the crop, the proventriculus, and the gizzard. […]

Birds have ways of communicating. They tweet or chirp or squawk to communicate with other birds or to communicate with other animals. Some birds have the capability to mimic other birds or other animals. The mockingbird is a good example of this. Mockingbirds mimic the song of other birds as well as sounds from other […]

Aspergillosis is caused by the fungus aspergillus. It can effect other species, not just birds. We are all exposed to aspergillus regularly. We come in contact with it often and most of us do not develop a disease from exposure. Healthy birds, as well as healthy people, fight off the spores of this fungus easily. […]