My wife and I have been members since November 2000.

2. How many birds do you currently own?

3 birds

3. List the species of each of your birds and the birds' names.

4. Which species that you have owned or currently own is your favorite? Least favorite?

5. If you were to buy another bird, which species would you buy?

If we did not own any other birds, I would want to buy another African Grey or perhaps a male SI Eclectus

6. At what age did you acquire your first bird?

20 - 29 years

7. What do you feed your bird(s)?

My "Ollie" is extremely fussy when it comes to his pellets. I have found that he likes Zupreem pellets or if I can't get them, he will tolerate pellets made by Kaytee. Ollie and I are big "Star Trek" fans, so when we watch the show, we need to snack on microwave popcorn.

8. Describe the funniest encounter that you had with one of your birds.

When you first acquire a "second-hand" bird, it is recommended that the new bird be quarantined from the other birds in your house for several weeks. This will minimize the chance of spreading an undesirable disease to your own bird(s) if the new bird has some sort of ailment. Anyway, Ollie was in his third or fourth day in quarantine...our dining room. Ollie and the gang where in the family room. On that particular night I had a long-time friend come over with his guitar. My friend, "Ken" seeing Ollie in his cage, decided to go over him and sing a song while playing his guitar. Well...about half-way through the song, Ollie said, "Sh-yup". With a puzzled look on his face, Ken just continued playing his song for Ollie. This time, Ollie, in a clearer voice said, "Shut Up"! I immediately burst out in laughing and laughed so hard I cried. I swore to Ken that I did not know that Ollie had this in his vocabulary. After we finished drying the tears away, Ken played another song for Ollie. Well...Ollie must have liked the second song, because he began bopping his head up and down to the beat of the song...again...another funny antic of Ollie.

9. What advice would you give to a first-time bird owner?

Speak to as many people as possible to see what you are getting yourself into. Reading, while good is not always the best source of information. For example, during our research on birds, we found relatively nothing on the topic of birds and children living in the same household.

Take it from us...

If you have young children in the house (under 14), then WAIT ON GETTING ANY BIRD LARGER THAN A COCKATIEL! Birds are easily stimulated by the "ruckus" of a household. When the children fight, the birds need to add their two cents worth (more like two dollars worth) of screaming.