The second updated edition of Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior is a pick for any library strong in animal and bird behavior: it tells how to choose the right parrot, train it, and how to consider toys, household hazards, and environment. From how a bird inhabits a controlled environment to making the most of its first few days in the home, this should be a 'must' for any new parrot owners and, particularly, would-be owners who would gain useful knowledge key to making purchasing decisions.
This book has a lot of good things going for it.
It has sections so you can actually look up the parrot you are interested in and read about that bird. My problem is that some parrot species have much more information she gives then others. She also makes a point in the beginning of the book of saying she wants to tell us the pros and cons of certain species. This never really happens in the individual species area. The cons are just something to skim off the intro of the books and in some of the chapters after the species sections. In fact, even when she does mention cons of a species it is just glossed over and it doesn't read smooth. She she to gloss over how loud conures can be for such little birds, and barely mentions the noise of the larger birds. Someone new to the species might gloss over this fact as the author does. Many times I found her wording in most instances to be to much like jargon and not like easy in simple words information.
I think if her book was better organized to include these cons, go into more detail on the species, and use simpler less beating around the bush wording, under the actual parrot species sections she would have a much better book.
Also this book makes it seem like you can jut look up a certain species and just read that part. But the author anticipates you are going to read all of the other species as well. Many times she includes a little tidbit of info about the species you are interested in, in a totally different species area.
It should really be split into two books. Because as of right now both sections of the book suffer from not enough information, and bad organization.
One book should be on the parrots behavior (with tricks and hints to curbing bad behavior), what to expect growing up, what they need and so on. This should be a book all by itself.
Then there should be another book JUST on the different parrot species, what to expect and the pros and cons. And created so you can just look up a certain species without having to read the whole book.
I think in the end this is a average guide to parrots.
Some people new to parrots, will get something out of this book. But people who have owned parrots before and have researched them won't read anything new here, and they shouldn't buy this book as a way to learn all about the different species or as a reference book to look up new parrots they haven't had contact with.
Best book for parrot owners to date
This book is well written and extremely informative. A must have for any parrot owner. It is one of those books you can read and then re-read and learn something new each time. It's great as a reference book.
The techniques it suggests are simple and logical and can be applied to any species. It also would be a great book to read to help you choose which type of parrot would be best for your personal circumstances, especially if you are thinking about getting one of the larger parrots.
Absolutely Essential for Parrot Owners
I agree with all of the other raving reviews on this book. The book is well organized, the parrots are organized by continent (Africa, Austrailia, Asia, and S. America) and the author draws similarities between the types of birds from each area. As the title would suggest this book focuses on behavior and gives well defined characteristics of each type of bird, while emphasizing that they are generalizations and that each bird might be different. The author reiterates that the owner should not buy a bird with preconcieved ideas of what they will be like, but love each bird for thier individual personality. All over excellent information and the author is clearly an expert in the area.
