Yahoo Lifestyle 12 Cute & Fun Ways to Spoil Your Beloved Bird on National Pet Bird Day
Calling all Tweetys, Pollys, and their human parents around the world - it's time to celebrate! September 17 is, quite literally, "for the birds," because it just so happens to be National Pet Bird Day! Our four-footed fur babies get lots of love year-round, so why not highlight our feathered friends with their own special day?
As having a pet bird becomes increasingly popular across the country (and across the world), there's lots of new bird parents who are just learning about National Pet Bird Day for the very first time. We know you don't need an excuse to spoil your favorite pets, but why not take the opportunity to do something extra special for your beaked buddy this September 17?
Celebrating National Pet Bird Day
If you haven't heard of National Pet Bird Day before, don't feel too bad: it's only been around since 2019. This holiday was originally founded and sponsored by the Bird Enjoyment and Advantage Koalition - yes, that shortens to BEAK - for the purposes of uniting pet bird parents, educating them on the responsibilities and commitments of raising their avian companions, and of course, celebrating our beautiful birds!
It doesn't matter if you've been around pet birds your whole life or just adopted your first-ever parakeet this year. National Pet Bird Day is a great time to beef up on your bird care knowledge and show your flighty friend just how much they mean to you in a myriad of fun ways such as these!
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1. Break Out the Tasty Treats
What pet doesn't love a yummy treat? No matter what species you belong to, holidays are always a great opportunity to enjoy a little culinary indulgence. Different bird species go for different treats, of course, but it's hard to go wrong with a spray millet treat or a fresh homemade fruit salad (chopped up into safe, bird-sized pieces, of course).
2. Introduce a New Food
Not only do birds require lots of enrichment, but they also need a delicious and diverse diet to be at their healthiest. A birdie cannot thrive on birdseed alone! Why not try expanding their palate by introducing a brand-new fruit or vegetable they've never had before? The Best Friends Animal Society details healthy and bird-safe foods you can try experimenting with, along with which foods to avoid.
3. Switch Up Their Toys
Birds have a funny way of showing their affection, and it doesn't take them long to bite and tear their favorite toys to shreds. Keep your beaked buddy happy and stimulated by replacing their worn-out toy with a fresh version, or better yet, introduce a new, more challenging type of toy they haven't played with before. Birds are highly intelligent animals, and challenging them with a new puzzle toy helps keep them engaged and mentally sharp!
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4. Make or Buy Them a 'Bird Playground'
Even with big cages full of toys and perches, pet birds need plenty of daily outside cage time to stretch their wings and get some exercise and enrichment. If you really wanna give Polly something to "squawk" about, how about getting - or creating - an interactive bird playground for playtime? Plenty of reputable pet supply sellers like Chewy sell pre-made bird playgrounds, but they're not too hard to make from scratch if you wanna flex your crafting prowess. Pango Vet has these seven DIY bird playground plans if you want some inspiration to start you off!
5. Create a Crafty DIY Bird Toy
Speaking of DIY fun, making a special toy from scratch can be a great way to tailor a toy to your buddy's tastes and show them just how much you love them. It's easy to make simple yet enriching bird toys from common cheap materials like egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, cupcake liners, and even old puzzle pieces. Again, Pango Vet has some great DIY bird toy how-tos to help you get creative.
6. Upgrade Their Cage
Your birdie's cage should be a comfortable, clean, enriching, and spacious sanctuary that they can relax into after a long day. Spruce up their cage by deep cleaning it, laying down some fresh bedding, and swap out an old toy or perch for a new one to keep things exciting.
Also, if you don't know if your current bird cage is the right size for your friend, now is the time to check. Many bird parents unknowingly purchase cages that are too small for what their birds really need, potentially contributing to stress and mental health issues. Cross-reference your bird's cage with these minimum cage dimensions detailed by the Center for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (CARE) to see whether your bird's sitting pretty or it's time for a bigger upgrade.
Related: This Charity is For the Birds
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7. Spend Some Quality Time Together
Many common pet bird breeds like Parrots, Budgies, and Lovebirds form very close emotional bonds with their owners that last for a lifetime. Daily hangout time with their humans keeps these birds happy, calm, and well-socialized. They are flock animals, after all!
While active playtime is important, you don't always have to focus 100% of your attention on your bird to spend quality time with them. Even allowing your bird to keep you company while you do chores or watch TV is an effortless way to show your bird that they're part of the family!
8. Bring on the Head Scritches
Just like cats and dogs, a lot of birds love getting head scritches, especially as it's the one part of their bodies that they can't preen for themselves. If you really wanna do your birdie buddy a solid, the Lafeber Company recommends helping them preen their budding pinfeathers, which are often covered in a keratin coating that looks like plastic or wax. Gently rolling the tops of their pinfeathers between two fingers will help release the new feathers and give your avian pal a lot of relief!
9. Show Their Stuff on Social Media
If your bird's a bit of a show-off, let them flaunt their feathers for the camera! Get a selfie with them, or take a cute video of your bird being their crazy, cute self. Don't forget to tag any posts with "National Pet Bird Day" and spread the word on what today's all about!
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10. Learn a New Trick Together
For all the cruel jokes about "bird brains," most pet bird species are pretty keen in the smarts department. Exceptionally intelligent species like the African Grey Parrot can learn complex tricks and memorize an extensive vocabulary of words, but you don't have to start out so ambitious. Even just learning how to play a basic game like fetch or teaching them a fun party trick like "dance" or "bow" is a great way to both keep your bird intellectually engaged and spend quality great one-on-one time with them. Don't forget to use positive reinforcement - treats are a must!
11. Shake Your Tailfeathers to Some Tunes
As if their love of singing and natural sense of rhythm didn't give it away, birds absolutely love music of just about all kinds, especially if it's something they can sing along to! If you know your bird's favorite music, put it on for them. If you don't, try exploring some genres with them to see if you can discover a few new faves!
12. Take Them on an Outing
Let's be clear: not every bird necessarily likes going outside, as big shifts in environment can stress some of them out. However, a lot of them enjoy going on little outings or car rides with their humans while riding in a special travel carrier. If you think your birdie might enjoy a fun change of scenery, BEAK has some great tips for safety measures for bird outings to help keep things low-stress for everyone!
Becoming Better Friends to Our Avian Companions
Birds are bigger than ever. According to Zymox, a 2022 survey from the American Pet Products Association reported that over 5.7 million U.S. households had pet birds, with 50% of bird parents reporting that the pandemic had played a big role in their decision to adopt a bird. Pet birds have only continued to surge in popularity over the past couple of years, especially with adorable videos of them constantly blowing up on YouTube and TiKTok.
The problem with any type of exotic pet suddenly becoming popular is that many first-time pet parents jump on the trend without realizing what they're getting into. Birds are very cute animals, but they're also incredibly intelligent and emotionally complex ones with lots of needs and long lifespans, often even rivaling those of humans. Factor in a ton of misinformation and outdated knowledge spread across the internet, and many first-time bird parents end up giving their bird subpar care without even realizing it.
While spoiling our pets on the holidays is sweet, it's important that we consistently provide our pets with lots of love and care every day. Doing something fun to celebrate the holidays is great, but this National Pet Bird Day, I encourage bird parents to go one step further by educating themselves on their birds' mental, physical, and emotional needs and implementing long-term changes to ensure that their bird feels happy, healthy, and loved all year round, not just on one special day!
