Whether you already have a pet bird or you are considering bringing one home some time soon, there are things to consider as a responsible bird owner. Birds provide homes with a connection to nature and companionship, and talking birds can even be friends. All are beautiful, and some exquisite and rarer varieties are extremely divine in appearance.

First, you need to take your home environment into account: Is it well aerated and do you have natural sunlight coming in through windows and doors? Bearing in mind your bird will be happiest in a surrounding closest to their natural habitat, so light and fresh air are high on the list of importance.

Next, you should find the right sized cage for the bird you choose, and of course, the cage size will depend on your home.  If you only have a small corner allocated for your feathery friend, then a small cage on a stand will be optimal, however, if your home is very large, you could go as far as an aviary sized indoor atrium.

When you have determined the best cage for your home, it’s time to investigate your options as far as which birds will be best suited to the overall environment you have planned. There are also some tips for ensuring you buy a healthy bird:

1.   Does the bird have smooth, bright feathers?

2.   Are the bird’s breast muscles full?

3.   Are the bird’s eyes alert and clear to look in?

4.   Does the bird exhibit a playful personality?

If the answer to all of the above is yes, you can feel confident to buy the bird. It is a good idea to take new pet birds to the vet for an initial once over health check. Bear in mind not all vets accept birds at their clinics, so finding one who does prior to buying the bird is recommended.

Birds hide illness very well, and as a bird owner, you have to constantly be aware of what is normal behaviour for them. If they show any changes in appetite, loss of feathers, wounds or lethargy you should take them to a vet immediately. The best way to keep your bird from becoming sick is to keep him in the cage rather than allowing them to fly all around the home. Make sure his water and food trays are always clean and free of faeces, and most important, keep his water supplies up all the time. Have a good idea what amount your bird will usually eat so you can tell if he goes off his food.

Birds are low maintenance pets. You should keep their environment clean, bearing in mind they wouldn’t naturally stay in one place for so long. Newspaper or some non-glossy paper is perfect to line the cage, and this should be changed every day.  About once a fortnight, you can wipe their entire cage out with warm soapy water and a cloth.

If your bird has been sick, there are specialized disinfectant washes your vet can sell for occasional cage cleaning. It really only takes five minutes a day to keep your bird’s surroundings clean so they can live a long and happy disease-free life and, in turn, keep you happy by being the perfect pet.

The bat is a peculiar creature which flies and yet is not regarded as a bird. It comes under the category of mammals. Bats are only mammals capable of flight. The mammals are those animals whose females give birth to the young and suckle them. Unlike birds they don’t have feathers on their bodies but have hair. The young ones of the bat are born directly and fed on mother’s milk. It also has hair on its body. But it is the only mammal which has wings for flying. Bats are night time creatures. They have leather-like wings that enables them to swoop and glide through the darkness catching moths and other airborne insects.

The study of fossils has revealed that bats were in existence some 60 million years ago too. There are nearly 1000 different types of bats including red bats, brown bats and dog-faced bats.

Most of the bats live on insects and worms. In tropical areas they live on fruits and flowers only. There are some other kind of bats which feed on the blood of other animals and birds - they are called the ‘vampire bats’. Perhaps this is the reason why many people fear bats. The biggest vampire bat is around 30 cms. Their teeth are as sharp as needles. They pierce their teeth into the skin of an animal and suck its blood with the help of their tongues.

How does a bat see in the night

While flying, the bat produces high frequency sound waves from its mouth, which are so high-pitched that most humans cannot hear them. This is called echolocation. The sounds made by the bat bounce off a nearby object such as tree or a moth. The bat can detect the returning echoes with its large, forward-pointing ears, and in a split second it works out the size, distance and direction of the object.

Some experiments have been conducted on the bat. In one experiment, ropes were suspended from the ceiling of a room. Few bats, with their eyes sealed with gum were made to fly in the room. It was observed that the bats were flying without colliding with any of the ropes. This experiment proved that bats don’t make use of their eyes while flying. After this the mouths and ears of these bats were closed and they were again left in the room. This time they experienced difficulty in flying. They collided with the ropes or the walls quite frequently. It has been concluded on the basis of this observation that they take the help of their ears and mouths while flying.

Hibernation

Many warm-blooded animals need extra energy in order to stay warm in cold winter months, but the source of that energy such as food is scarce in winter. To save energy, bats allow their bodies to cool and their heart beat and breathing to slow down for part of the day or night. This is called torpor. Bats often huddle together as they hang upside down to prevent too much heat loss.

Many kinds of bats are threatened because of the loss of their forest homes for farmland and because of the increasing use of insecticides on the food they eat.