Codys Dog House

The relationship between windows and birds comes in different degress of deadliness. Sometimes it’s just a quick peck of bird meeting glass. Others it is a tiny series of small crashes and a light flutter of many wings. The worst, however, are the jarring impacts that resonate throughout an entire house, leaving you and your family members startled and often crippling or killing the bird. Sadly, these impacts are far more common than you might think. In an article for Audubon magazine, David Malakoff cited that in North America, window strikes kill between 100 million and 1 billion birds annually. According to an NPR story, Professor Daniel Klem of Mulhenberg College things that Malakoff’s estimate is too conservative, and that the real number easily exceeds 1 billion birds in the United States alone.

Why Strikes on Windows Occur?

It’s hard to know for certain exactly why window strikes happen, but observation has granted some measure of insight. The first, and seemingly most common, rationale is that birds simply cannot see glass. The transparency of the glass makes the window look open, and this is often complicated further by a window on the opposite side of the house. This causes what is commonly referred to as the “tunnel effect,” meaning that the bird believes that the two windows lack glass and thus represent a clear tunnel to fly through.

The other primary reason for bird strikes seems to be reflections. Windows in homes and office buildings sometimes give a good reflection the area around them. So, while the house or building certainly appears to be a house or building, the windows look more like wooded areas which are perfectly safe for flying.

Ways to prevent window strikes

There are a range of possibilities for preventing window strikes. The most effective method is to remove a window, or to completely cover it with something opaque and non-reflective like wood or cardboard. Sure, taking out a window is a big deal and not very practical for most home owners. Thankfully, with a little understanding as to why birds strike windows, home owners can reduce bird strikes with more people-friendly methods.

Covering Windows

While boarding up windows is an extreme solution, it does prove a point. Putting something between the window’s glass and the outside world can both alert a bird to a physical object and prevent reflection. The last line for many people seems to be when such a covering starts blocking views. Home owners have several options like summer storm screens, to heavier plastic “shade cloth” and even the commercial CollidEscape film, all of which help to remove transparency and restrict reflection to various extents.

Silhouettes and Obstacles

Another tactic is to prevent the bird from coming  near the window. Some homeowners put blockades, such as a tree or bird feeder, in front of a window, particularly windows that are struck with some frequency. If you notice that your bird feeder is causing birds to strike your window, then moving the feeder further from your house would be a prudent move. Another popular method, which works to varying degrees, is to intimidate birds away by way of statues and silhouettes. A statue of an owl, or a cut out made to resemble a flying hawk can cause an errant bird on a collision course with a window to change course.

The Happy Medium

For many home owners, window strikes are infrequent happenings and thus can easily be remedied by merely moving a bird feeder or placing a hawk silhouette in a tree. For others, other more permenant efforts must be used. Lucily, for most people in areas with a lot of bird traffic, there is a happy compromise. Make part of the window more obvious with the application of custom window decals or stickers. PUtting decals and stickers on a window makes the glass in the window less transparent and can disturb reflections, minimizing two of the reasons why birds hit windows. Special sticker creating techniques can even make these stickers nearly-invisible to humans while birds staying perfectly visible to birds. Such stickers benefit birds while doing very little to detract from the value humans derive from said windows.

Custom Stickers used to prevent bird strikes can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Homeowners can use of the many seasonal options such as snowflakes for winter, leaves for fall and holiday images. These stickers can even be made in the images of predatory birds, thus mimicking the silhouette effects and adding to the sticker’s effectiveness.

The big key to stopping bird strikes to your windows is to change it up. This can be done through changing the locations of physical things - like bird feeders and trees - thus forcing birds to alter their flight paths. Or, it can be done though intimidation, via silhouettes of predators. Or, a home owner can change the bird’s perception of the actual window. Stickers, whether they are human-visible or not, make windows more obvious to birds, while screens and covering cloths negate the qualities (reflections and transparency) that make windows harmful to birds in the first place. The question for home owners is to determine which window strike prevention method works best for you.

If you haven’t owned a cat for a while, or even had a cat “guest” for a long time, you’re going to need to get familiar with some of the basics in house cat care. A house cat has special requirements, as would any pet, and if you are prepared with the right information, you’ll be more likely to guarantee that your cat will be healthy and content. Try to remember some of the fundamentals of cat care given here, and you’ll be in good shape.

The first thing that you should do is consider cat-proofing your home. Before you bring your new cat home, try to see what the cat will be seeing. Wander throughout the rooms that you will be using to house your cat, and make sure that there are no dangerous places that he or she could get to. To save yourself some headaches, remember that you will also want to move any valuable pieces of furniture away to a room that is off limits for your cat.

Remember that house cat care will require that you use a litter box for your cat. Remember that this litter box should be scooped at least once a day, preferable more often, and that it should be placed away from the busy areas of your house and out of the reach of other animals or small children. You’ll find that cats are generally easy to house train; all you usually have to do is to put them in the litter box a few times and let them know where they can scratch at loose gravel.

If your cat has longer hair, you will also want to remember that your cat needs to get used to being brushed. By keeping your cat brushed, you’ll be able to avoid having your cat swallow its own hair and develop hairballs.

You could run into worse health issues because of this later. House cat care requires that you handle and brush your cat. To make things easier, start this practice when your cat is a kitten, if you are able to.

Generally the most important aspect of how to care for a cat is to carefully observe your cat. If you notice anything unusual or different you should pay attention. In this way, you’ll not only avoid a problem that could develop into something more serious, you’ll also get to know the behavior of your cat.

Toilet training your cat isn’t that hard, as long as you’re patient and diligent in following all the instructions. Really, it’s quite easy. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Going through each of the phases slowly is important if you want to make sure your cat will take to the new arrangements.

You should give some serious thought to attempting cat toilet training. Toilet training your cat will save you much money, will get rid of unacceptable odors arising from the litter box, and is among the most environmentally friendly decisions you can come to. If you’re interested in giving it a try, here are some guidelines to help you.

To start with, you need to begin slowly moving the litter box towards its new location so your cat doesn’t find it too much of a change. Therefore you need to move the box a small distance at a time. This may take you a fair bit of time, but it’s essential for your cat to figure out that the bathroom is where it now has to go to relieve itself. You can move the box an inch at a time or you can do it in smaller or bigger increments, whatever works best for your cat.

After the litter box is located right beside the toilet, the next step is to elevate it. Slowly build up the base so that the litter box is eventually the same height as the toilet. Make certain when you do this that you also securely fasten the box to the base because your kitty will now have to jump in order to do its business, and you don’t want to have to clean up any accidents. Heavy blocks or phonebooks work well for this purpose. Once the base is level with the toilet and your kitty is used to the new arrangement, it’s time to start sliding it over nearer to the toilet, and eventually resting right on it. The entire time, you should be reducing the quantity of litter progressively so that there’s only about an inch of it remaining.

You’re now ready to move to the last step of this operation. Remove the litter box and replace it with an aluminum tray that is securely attached to the toilet. Eventually, you’ll get rid of the litter entirely and cut a small hole in the bottom of the tray. Gradually increase the size of the hole until all the cat is using is the toilet itself!

Whether or not to clip your parrot’s wings will be debated forever. There are good arguments made on both sides. You won’t avoid to have to make that decision yourself. Whatever what you’re considering, I would like to recommend you to get well informed.

A haircut! That’s what a lot of people say about clipping a bird’s wings. But, considering that their wings help them go around and avoid danger, maybe it should be considered as a leg-cut. You don’t need your hair to do so. Your parrot does. Now, maybe you should also take into account that feathers will grow back. So, it’s not an irreversible decision. After a while, your parrot should be able to fly normally again.

One positive aspect of clipping a bird is that it’s less likely to fly away. So, it helps prevent that it could get to toxic chemicals around the house or fly near a hot stove. But even clipped birds have been known to fly away. For this reason some people {advocate|argue that you should be} clipping both the primary and secondary flight feathers.

On the contrary, others think that it’s cruel as a bird is meant to fly. As a primary consequence, a bird who can fly will have its respiratory system much more developped. They argue a clipped bird has its best defense taken away from it; he is no longer able to get away from cats and dogs or other dangers. A bad wing clip can lead to plucking and sometimes in extreme cases to injury.

You’ll have to decide what’s best for your bird given the environment he will live in. Just be sure to consider the decision carefully. Maybe one acceptable compromise it to clip you parrot only part of the year, during summer when the weather is warm and windows are generally opened. Please consider well all the options and then, decide.

It is not the only responsibility as bird owners to provide food, water and spacious cage for our pet birds.  It is insufficient to spend more time with our birds and bond with them.  The first thing that we should do make sure our pet birds would live a long and healthy life is choose a good avian veterinarian.

If you have a dog or a cat and already have a veterinarian for them, that may not be necessarily be the vet that you need for your bird.  Birds have different anatomy and different needs compared to your feline and canine companions. 

Where can you find an avian vet?

An association known as Avian Veterinarians (AAV) which maintains a directory of qualified veterinarians.  You can even get assistance from the Veterinary Medical Association located in your state. You can find many information from yellow pages.   If unable to get hold of anybody from these groups, you can check out their websites in the internet or even ask the local Bird Club if they could recommend anybody.  Pet bird owners like you are can give you the best advice based on their experiences. Also check with local pet breeders.  Most of the times, the most sensible advice comes from them.

Once you have identified the vet that you would go to, the next step is set an appointment to further know the practice and background of the vet.  When talking with the avian get, get to know how long has she or he been ion practice and their professional background.  Make sure that the vet that you have chosen is familiar with the pet that you have. 

Get to know the vet’s schedule and if the vet can do house calls.  Birds can easily get stressed in the slightest change in their surroundings, which is why birds find it difficult to move or to travel.  If the vet is unavailable, it is also important to know if the vet who would be filling-in is also capable to treating avian sicknesses and concerns. 

If you have an exotic pet bird, then it would be helpful to ask the vet if they are constantly updated with new methods in the avian medicine.  Also, get to know the financial costs of getting veterinary services from that vet.  You want to have a qualified and good vet within your financial reach.

Once you have settled that you will be getting services from him, ask the frequency of the check-ups your bird needs to have.  To avoid any emergencies or any sickness, it is best to have your bird regularly checked.  Most of the times, you have to bring your pet bird to the vet annually.

Aside from this, it is always a great point that whenever you visit the vet the doctor and the staff receive you and your pet warmly.  It will be great to walk into a pet clinic that provides you an air of assurance and importance. 

Keeping tabs on the health of your beloved bird does not only fall in the hands of the avian vet.  How would they know that your bird is suffering sickness if you are not paying attention?You do not know about the emergency requirements so you got to maintain a healthy working relationship with your vet.

The vet can even help you draw up a diet plan for your bird which would surely improve the disposition and health of your pet. It is better to find out from the veterinarians about any emergency first aid methods that can help you in case of some emergency with your pet bird.An avian vet is your partner in making sure that your bird is healthy and leads a long joyful life.