Parrots make a wonderful alternative to the traditional pet. They’re as loving, intelligent, companionable, and entertaining as a cat or a dog but they surpass them by far in many other ways. They don’t require walks around the block, they’re perfect for apartment living, most have long life spans, and they’re full of personality. Besides, when was the last time you saw a vibrant blue cat or had a conversation with a talking dog?
Whether you are just thinking about buying a parrot or you’ve had parrots for years, Parrots for Dummies is full of helpful information about how to be the best parrot guardian you can be. Parrots for Dummies is packed full of useful tips, hints, reminders, and warnings about everything related to parrots and their care, including:
Picking a parrot
Bringing a new parrot home
Parrot behavior made simple
Taming and training your bird
Travel tips
Author Nikki Moustaki, avian care and behavior consultant and author of Parakeets for Dummies, gives you all of her experienced advice about owning, caring for, and loving parrots. She draws on her professional knowledge as well as her personal familiarity with the bird to show you how to make the most of your parrot-guardian relationship. She includes information on:
Purchasing and adopting a parrot
Proper housing and food
Parrot illnesses and diseases
Correcting behavioral problems
Living in a multiple parrot household
Breeding and showing parrots
In addition to all the help and guidance, Parrots for Dummies comes with a full-color insert with pictures of over 25 different kinds of parrots to help you choose a new pet that catches your eye or find your existing pet’s nearest relation. So whether you’re buying your first parrot or looking for some advice about an old friend, Parrots for Dummies has something for you.
All the guidance you need to choose and raise your parrot
Thinking about getting a parrot? This friendly guide offers expert advice on everything from taming and training to nutrition, health care, and parrot safety. You'll see how to keep your feathered friend comfortable and entertained — and you'll better understand the hows and whys of your parrot's instincts and behavior.
Discover how to
Select a healthy parrot
Choose proper housing
Teach your parrot to talk
Correct behavior problems
Keep multiple parrots
About the Author
Nikki Moustaki is the author of many books on parrots and avian behavior. She writes regularly for Bird Talk Magazine and Pet Product News.
With more than a half a million pet books in print and hundreds of articles on pets and their care and training to her credit, Nikki Moustaki is considered one of the country's leading pet experts. She also is an award winning freelance writer, animal trainer, and pet industry expert, and her tireless work feeding shelter pets with her innovative website, The Pet Postcard Project, along with her hands-on rescue efforts and vocal advocacy for homeless animals has led her to be dubbed "Saint Nik."
Nikki Moustaki is also considered an "Urban Dog Guru," specializing in training city dogs for their particular needs. She has published more than 42 books of nonfiction, primarily on the care and training of pets. Her pet books and articles have been translated into 5 languages. Along with working as a dog trainer, Nikki is one of the country's foremost experts on parrots, having authored more than 24 books on birds and their care and training. Her expertise in pets ranges from dogs and cats to fish and hermit crabs, and everything else in between.
An energetic, lively and personable TV and radio guest, Nikki currently hosts a pet-related cable show on The Beach Channel in Miami Beach, and she hosted, co-produced, and co-wrote the national NBC/MSN show, The Celebrity Pet Dish, with her Miniature Schnauzer, Pepper, as her co-host. Nikki has appeared on CNN, Howard Stern (XM Sirius Radio), NBC News, FOX News, CBS News, Martha Stewart Radio, BBC Radio, Animal Radio, Pet Talk Radio, and Talkin' Pets Radio, among others, and was the animal handler for the second season of the Tony Danza Show, where she often appeared on-air along with her parrot and dog. Nikki has also been featured in The New York Times, Glamour Magazine, The Humane Society Magazine, and Dog Fancy, among others.
Nikki also writes, collaborates and co-writes books on a variety of topics. She also created a canine focused blues album, Dog Training Tracks: A Musical No Bark Solution: Blues for Buster, for "alarm barkers" and dogs who suffer from separation anxiety.
A self-professed "pet product geek," Nikki also enjoys working as a consultant for pet product manufacturers, helping them brand, position, and develop their products and succeed in social media. She has worked on projects ranging from microchips to dog toys to pet food research and development. Her many years of expertise with pet products at both the consumer and the trade level give her unique insight, and she is able to communicate about pets and pet products in any medium.
Nikki's two primary interests - writing and animals - collide in her work, allowing her to travel through both the landscape of the literary writer and the interesting world of the pet industry. She writes feature articles for many pet-related magazines, including Dog Fancy, Popular Dogs, Dogs USA, CATS Magazine, Cat Fancy, Pet Product News, Bird Talk, Birds USA, and Water Garden News, among others. Nikki has written for Latina Magazine, the Village Voice, Jane, Time To Spa Magazine, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Magazine.
Her popular websites include The Pet Postcard Project, a fun and charitable site that raises awareness, food, and funds for shelter animals, and has raised over 120,000,000 pieces of kibble for shelter pets. The site has no advertising - all of her efforts are to help feed the homeless pets.
Nikki holds an M.A. in creative writing from New York University, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Indiana University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from NYU. She taught creative writing at several universities for 10 years, including both NYU and IU, as well as at The New School in New York City. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant in poetry, and has been awarded many national prizes and honors for her writing, including two Pushcart Press nominations, and her poetry and essays have also appeared in various anthologies and college textbooks, including Poetry After 9-11: An Anthology of New York Poets, and America Now, chosen by Robert Atwan, editor of the Best American Essays series.
Before beginning her career as a freelance writer and editor, Nikki worked as an acquisitions and development editor at Macmillan Publishing and IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., where she specialized in the non-fiction market and edited more than 60 non-fiction titles. Nikki splits her time between New York City and Miami Beach with her two rescued Schnauzers, Pepper and Zoey, one rescued Schnoodle named Pearl, and two parrots. When she's not writing, you can find Nikki rocking out on the drums, teaching herself 80s metal on her Gibson guitar, rescuing dogs from the shelter, and working on her various charity projects.
This review is from: Parrots For Dummies (Paperback)
This is my first "for Dummies" book and I was extremely impressed with this text by Nikki Moustaki. She brings real life experience and knowledge and puts it plain and simple. Her real life stories are short and sweet, which is good, as I wanted a book to give me the details and the pros and cons on all aspects of parrot companionship. This book hits the nail on the head.
If your are considering purchasing a parrot, read this book. If you already own a parrot, read this book. If you're looking for cute candy coated stories on how wonderful parrot ownership is, without the "dark" side of it, this is not your book. Nikki Moustaki presents all sides of parrot ownership and lets you choose whether taking on a possible lifetime companion bird is right for you.
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This review is from: Parrots For Dummies (Paperback)
Considering a parrot/cockatoo? Already a new parrot in your life? Even the experienced parrot owner will get something out of this book, possibly be reminded of a few things. Got a question? Bet you will find an answer here. Do not hesitate to get this book!
Cockatoo~Momma
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This review is from: Parrots For Dummies (Paperback)
Whether you are a novice or a "seasoned" bird caretaker, this book is for you. It has information on how properly house your bird to what type of foods to feed it. Great reading put in language everyone can understand!
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First Sentence:
Welcome to Parrots For Dummies, a detailed guide to parrothood. Read the first pageKey Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
shyne foundation, parrot guardian, handfeeding formula, proper parrot, avian veterinarian right, parrot nutrition, companion parrot, parrot care, parrot intelligence, healthy parrot, parrot bites, avian expert, smaller parrots, talking species, most parrots, breeding parrots, new parrot, clipped bird, parrot behavior, baby parrots, sun conure, avian nutrition, larger parrots, hanging parrots, hospital cage
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Parrot Behavior Made Simple, Introducing the Parrot, United States, Bringing Home Your New Parrot, Choosing the Right Companion, The Part of Tens, Normal Companion Parrot, Liz Johnson, South American, Bringing Home Birdy, Shyne Foundation, Understanding Your Wild, Multiple Parrot, Association of Avian Veterinarians, Call Home, Choosing Proper Housing, Ten Ways
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