One of the most frustrating and disconcerting conditions of caged birds is feather picking. Moreover, feather disorders rank as some of the most difficult and challenging conditions to diagnose and treat in avian veterinary practice.

Feather plucking or shredding is as frustrating for the bird owner as it is for the companion bird. There is nothing more dreadful than returning home to find the bottom of your bird's cage filled with feathers. The guilt that pet bird owners feel is not unique.

How do you teach a bird to talk Well, you can talk at the bird, or you can talk to it. Teaching a bird to talk with a tape or CD is essentially talking at the bird.

Liz Wilson, an avian behavior consultant from the Philadelphia area, has some strong opinions about how birds should be treated. She advises, "Don't dump the bird. Fix the problem." If you can't fix the problem, don't get another bird. Birds are not used cars. They should not be considered disposable pets.

In the Dark Ages of bird care, just as diets were poor and cages small, the information of teaching birds to talk was scanty and highly inaccurate. The lore of the day was bizarre and often potentially dangerous. A popular myth was that birds couldn't talk until their tongues were split! Some "experts" believed that a parrot learned better if it was put in a dark closet and words were periodically shouted at it.

Article on biting pet birds.

Many parrots start biting as juveniles, when they start asserting themselves to see who in your family will be the flock leader. Of course, the parrot hopes it is itself. Parrots start using their beaks to refuse a command, such as the "up" command. If the owner pulls their hand or finger away the parrot takes that gesture as a sign of submission.

Although there are a number of species of birds which mutilate their feathers, this behavior is most common among African Greys and Cockatoos.

Birds mimic human voices because they enjoy communicating with their social group. Some species are better mimics than others. Even birds that are not tame have the ability to mimic and talk.