5 comments about Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock.

1. The title is "45 building plans for housing your flock".....NOT even close. All it contains is poorly drawn pictures of useless coops. I am sorry a stack of hay bales is not a building plan for chickens. I have never written a review for anything but I was so disappointed with this book I am returning it and I don't want anyone else to make my mistake. If I could give it lower than 1 star I would.



2. There are no plans in this book. It does show many great ideas and pictures.



3. I have read a number of reviews about this book, many of which complained this book didn't have x, y, or z to show the how to, the materials used, the measurements or whatever on the plans that were contained in this book. This is simply nonsense!
   
   All that is required for a person to use this book is to look at the pictures, select the plan or plans you want to use, figure out whatever materials you choose to use, look at the measurements supplied or make your own calculations, based on the number of chckens you plan to have and the variety (either Bantams or full sized), together with your particular yard space.
   
   I found this book to be full of terrific ideas, specific information about raising chickens and chicks, watering, feeding, drawings and measurements of a large variety of all manner of chicken coops, the materials used to build them, as well as those for turkeys and brooders for raising baby chicks with the hen. There are even photos in color of the various finished chicken houses, suppliers for coops and supplies, with addresses and website addresses, regular addresses, phone numbers, plus a list of helpful government sources, chicken related websites and related books for readings. Anyone who couldn't use this book to build a chicken coop either has no creativity, no building skills or just doesn't know how to read. They also aren't ready to raise chickens!
   
   Over all, it is a terrific book. I live within the city limits of Raleigh, NC and I will be using plans from this book to build my coop! Basic common sense, a few skills in measuring and cutting, use of simple tools, both regular and power, are all that is required, and of course using your common sense to select a choice of materials. I will even make some changes to the plans and combine the best parts of several different plans to make my own particular design....no big deal! You see, I'm an artist so I'm accustomed to being creative.
   
   Anyway, the book is great and the author has done a real service to the growing number of people who are going back to basics. You can do this!
   
   Pay no attention to those nay sayers. If you can read and comprehend directions, read simple basic plans, use a tape measure, a pencil, a saw, a drill, screw driver, screws, nails, hammer, plyers, etc, you can do this. It's that simple. Thanks for the great help! City Chick Arts in Raleigh, NC Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock



4. This book about chicken coops provides everything you need to create your own style of coop for your own needs. It has city coops, urban coops, coops for 2 - 5 chickens and coops for a thousand. I enjoyed the focus on using recycled materials to create the coops and the well written summary for each design. We live on a farm and I found it just as useful if not more useful than the traditional coop building books . . .



5. This book does not contain good construction drawings with dimensions. They are badly drawn hand sketches and some pictures. This book is OK in regard to information about perches, nest boxes, relative capacities, etc. There is good information about raising chickens in this book, but to include "building plans" in the title is misleading.

5 comments about Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.

1. I too read this book after having read Wesley The Owl. It truly is a shame that Dr Pepperberg couldn't enjoy the relationship with Alex the way Ms O'Brien was able to with Wesley. The prejudices and overwhelming hurdles she had to overcome to prove what she believed to be true are truly sad, in that it forced her to at least outwardly keep him emotionally at an arm's length, keep it all "scientific". Despite all that, I think he truly knew she loved him. When I read his ending, his last words to her and the aftermath, I literally couldn't breathe. I gasped for air through my tears. My heart broke for both of them.
   
   I was astounded at how horribly prejudiced so called scientists were, with their preconceived ideas and "facts". How people in general are so egotistical in their supposed "superiority" over "mere beasts".
   
   I loved how he sometimes "messed with their heads" - when he refused to say the right number and when they put him away in his cage, calling and saying "two! two! I'm sorry two!" How can this NOT just amaze and endear him to anyone?? Being able to SPELL N U T (nuh uhh ttuh) - that just made my jaw drop.
   
   I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although I too wish there were even more anecdotes of Alex and the things he would say and do. I mean, in 30 years there had to have been VOLUMES worth of funny, intriguing, and simply unbelievable things he did!
   
   He was an amazing and special little bird. It's a shame to think "what could have been..."
   
   Dr Pepperberg, I applaud you and grieve with you.



2. The gap between humans and "other animals" keeps diminishing. Human arrogance bristles as our furry, scaly, feathery friends use tools, mourn their dead, learn their names, and complete ever more complicated cognitive acrobatics. As time bobs on we big brained bipeds look less like exceptional creatures and more like a part of the normal biological order. This shouldn't upset us, because it turns out that we're in good company. Animals have turned out far smarter than our ancestors could have ever imagined.
   
   "Alex and Me" defends animals against the prejudices of the past, but not just by rhapsodizing. Alex, an amazing African Grey parrot, really performs astounding brainy stunts such as recognizing substances, counting, spelling ("Nnn...uh...tuh") and lexical elision ("Banerry") under the tutelage of scientist Irene Pepperberg. His most impressive performances appear here (those aching for visuals can peruse YouTube). Pepperberg, for her part, endures ridicule, uncertainty, sexism, speciesism, unemployment, spousal separation, and academic jeers for her efforts. Though controversy lingers - or maybe because it does - Alex nonetheless attracts voluminous media attention. Alex shines every time. He attracted enough attention for the studies to continue (they were almost aborted at numerous critical junctures) and to have a foundation set up in his name, which still carries on proving that birdy brains are in fact smart brains. Sadly, after some thirty years of mandible dropping research, Alex passed away suddenly one evening. The original edition of the book didn't elaborate on what happened, but subsequent sources, including the Alex Foundation website, reveal that Alex had a very hard to diagnose arrhythmic condition. No one knew until it was far too late. The passages relating to Alex's death are heartcrushing. Pepperberg's anguish at this unexpected tragedy pierces the narrative as deeply as it will likely pierce readers. The loss of this amazing animal still reverberates, though his legacy remains solid as the first and final chapters of "Alex and Me" show. Chapter 1 contains an exhausting list of Alex's media coverage. The final chapter, "What Alex Taught Me," relates some of the history of humanity's attitudes towards the critters with which it shares the planet as well as a defense of "The Alex Studies" and animal intelligence.
   
   Alex, the larger than life parrot, will doubtless live on as a pioneer in non-human cognitive studies. This short, highly readable, very sad but very funny book won't quiet skeptics, but it will enlighten anyone willing to delve into the realm of avian brain power. It will assuredly convince some that there was more to Alex than mere promptings. Science being science, however, it demands proof that Alex was not an exception or a freak of nature. To prove this, Pepperberg and the Alex Foundation strive on training other birds in the ways of Alex. So far the research looks promising. Acceptance of studies such as Pepperberg's has increased as well. Ultimately, Alex has opened doors and minds, though controversy still murmurs. At the very least, he taught us that we can learn far more from his kind than just mimickry and party tricks. Hopefully we'll learn.



3. If you are looking for a straight us scientific study, this is not it. This book to me, plays more like a memory about Alex. It contains his achievements, personality, and many small bits of philosophy in the process. It shows us How Alex, a randomly chosen grey parrot grows and blossoms, learns colors, shapes, numbers, same and different, how he perceives optical illusions the same as we do, how he can add, and so much more. By the end you fall in love with him, and his cocky attitude.
   
   This was a joy to read and to learn from. For many bird owners confirms what we have always known and believed but could never prove; In every bird their is a miniature Einstein waiting to be discovered.



4. (First, a confession - I went to the same high school as Dr. Pepperberg, lived in the same neighborhood, became an academic just as Dr. Pepperberg did, and when I got her book, I read it with my 5 year old Senegal Parrot on my shoulder. So I am not completely neutral to the subject matter.)
   
   This is a marvelous book and you must read it. Ostensibly it is the story of Dr Irene Pepperberg's 30 year research with Alex, an African Grey parrot. But it is far more, with windows into academia from the 1970s onward, and more particularly, for women in academia. Even more telling, it is an autobiographical account of a person's life, and the struggles she faced.
   
   Dr. Pepperberg's stories about her work with Alex (and later, the other birds) are both instructive and heartwarming. You will be fascinated to discover just how much this bird learns to do. There is a counterpoint that parallels the story, about the place of cognition and what is/is not uniquely human. But the real story is the story of Alex and Her.
   
   Had I been her editor, I would have asked for a lot more about the bird and a lot less about the work. After all, the work is described elsewhere (The Alex Studies) but this is the one place to learn about the bird, and more particularly, about the emotional bond between Dr. P and Alex. Unfortunately, the author steers clear of much of this area, probably as a function of her own childhood, which she bluntly puts before us.
   
   I also would have liked some more information about how Alex traversed the many changes that took place over the 30 years. Dr. P gives us lots of information about how moving around affected her, how she loved being in Boston, how she was enriched by various friends, etc. But there is little about how Alex went through these same changes. And given his abilities, I think this was a unique opportunity to give us some insight into an animal's perspective. Difficult as this may be, Alex was such a unique entity, that here we had a chance to do something otherwise unthinkable.
   
   These comments notwithstanding, Dr. P gives us a book rich with anecdotes and glimpses into Alex's personality. It will appeal to a wide variety of people, including pet owners, academics, and feminists.
   
   In summary, this is a unique book that gives us a beginning insight into what goes on in the minds of the animals that cohabit our world.
   
   I've given this book a 4 out of 5, but if it had been a 10 point scale it would have been 9 out of 10. The book is not perfect (see my comments above) but there is so much of interest here that cannot be found elsewhere that I have no hesitations urging you to read it.



5. I was hoping for the bond between Alex and Dr. Pepperberg (which we get a little of) but, we get much more in the scientific testing that took place. This book is not what I thought it would be.

5 comments about The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit.

1. Great book to read through and use as a reference. Very happy with this purchase.



2. This is a great book that has actual photographs of real Chickens. We have chickens in our yard so I can tell.
   
   We just have egg chickens (no offense to Elroy the rooster), but the book goes into meat birds as well (we don't have room for that).
   
   This book delves deep into the relationship between humans and chickens (well, as deep as it can).
   
   This is a great book (if you are interested in chickens). If you aren't sure what they are then this would be a good book for you to get a jump start.



3. I am still in the "information gathering" stage of keeping chickens, but this book stood out from others on the same subject for me. The author marshals a great deal of information and makes it understandable. The book is very well written and well-structured. I learned a LOT. And you have to love the story of how she acquired her first chicken by rescuing a beak-clipped battery hen that escaped from a truck that was transporting it (and a bunch of other hens dying from heat exposure due to poor conditions on the truck) to the soup factory. She writes with affection and respect for the chickens, even while she gives very thorough information on how to butcher your meat chickens should you choose to go that way. And, the book -- the photo, the layout, even the type -- is beautiful. This is definitely one to keep.



4. Outstanding book for those interested in raising chickens for fun/profit.
   Very comprehensive with wonderful prose and beautiful photos. Buy it!!



5. Nice images, simple and clear style, good info. As a book on keeping (underscore 'keeping') chickens, I'd expect a bit more info on chicken biology, and somewhat less info on cooking recipes for chicken meat and eggs (this isn't " the joy of cooking chicken", after all!).

5 comments about Fresh-Air Poultry Houses: The Classic Guide to Open-Front Chicken Coops for Healthier Poultry.

1. No matter where you live, how far north and how cold this has been shown to be the healthiest and safest way to keep poultry.



2. I'm venturing into the world of chickens myself and this little book was recommended to me by a man quite obsessed with chickens and the art of raising them. Having read the book, I was so taken by Woods' seemingly unorthodox approach, and the poultry houses he espouses, that I'm convinced this is the direction that I'll be going with my own chickens.
   
   What a delight to find a book originally published in 1911 (the version I purchased is a reprint of the updated 1924 version) that's just as relevant and forward-thinking today as it was 100 years ago!
   
   Highly recommended.



3. Really liked this book and wish there were alot more like it. Sometimes it's hard to remember that it was written almost a century ago. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to raise chickens in a more natural, healthier way.



4. The book was as expected, informative and with useful ideas.
   
   I ordered only one book and Amazon has yet to rectify the order, I was told to sell my other copy or pay postage on the return. Hmmm... What happended to their customer service, I have never had an issue before.



5. This book is chalked full of ideas, about building open front building. It contians several diagrams and "blue Prints". It presents a lot of good ideas. The only draw back is that the drawings don't have all the imformation for building. The imformation is in the book, just not all in one spot, some of it is on the picture, some of it in the text or on the caption below the picture. That just means that you have to do a little digging around the book to find out what you want to know. Over all the book was worth the money to me.

5 comments about Enslaved by Ducks.

1. 
   McGuffy Ann Morris,
   "Enslaved By Ducks" immediately caught my attention with it's title. However,
   Bob Tarte draws you in from the first page and keeps you laughing and crying
   throughout the entire book. His tales (tails) are both funny and heartwarming.
   Sometimes you will find yourself laughing and crying, at the same time.Bob Tarte
   and his pets remind us to live life to the fullest, and why we should,as well.
   
   Reading his books are like listening to a friend.Be sure to read the sequel,
   "Fowl Weather", too!



2. If you are a bunny slave, or a bird slave or a dog or cat slave then you will laugh out loud at the antics of these pets and their keepers. Bob Tarte does not spare himself and I found myself resonating with several scenarios.
   
   A must read for animal lovers. I wish this would come out in audio.



3. I was so hoping to share the same laugh out loud experience that the critic described, but didn't. I was determined to finish the book and glad I did, but it wasn't until the 200th page that I was finally caught wanting to know how the story ended. It seemed to me that the author didn't find his real writing with humor ability until the last 100 pages of the book. I will say that if you have a heart for fowl or especially a heart for rescuing fowl, reading this book would give you insight to those situations that might otherwise remain a mystery.



4. I found this story to be a chronological history of his duck/pet collection. There were few meaningful moments and one is left to wonder why his wife wanted so many pets. Understanding the motivations behind allowing their lives to be controlled by their pets would have been helpful.



5. I heard positive things about this book so I bought it. I enjoyed the book as much as a non-animal lover can love such an account. I have to admit, if I had all those animals in my house day and night, it would drive me to distraction but I give a lot of credit to this couple. However, if they were to read this they might scowl in confusion, not knowing what's so remarkable about caring for pets to which they became easily attached. There are few books that reveal the particular personalities of animals quite like this one does. The fact that I happily completed the book is saying a lot.

5 comments about Keeping Chickens: The Essential Guide.

1. This was the first, and only, book that we bought before we got our chickens. It is very straightforward and easy to understand, with useful tips and basic things we needed to know. We also got some good info from other folks with chickens on youtube. This book will give you some basics on building your coop. That's what we did - we looked at the pictures and read about what we needed in the coop, then looked at some folks had built on youtube and came up with our final design.
   Great photography too. My chickens are doing great. :) We've decided the book is a keeper.



2. The book was sent to me in the condition it was represented. It took a little longer than I anticipated but was still sent in a timely manner.



3. This book has wonderful color photos and great descriptions for the breeds. We have a young daughter so it was helpful to learn which breeds did well with children. I had experience with Rhode Island Reds, but did not know much about any other breeds. It has ideas for housing and even how to tame a chicken. I did not know you could give them raisins! The recipe and craft section was okay, but just general care and the breeds were great!



4. This is a great book for the whole family with lots of information, pictures, and even craft projects and recipes! My son and his family are new to raising chickens. This is now the book on their living room coffee table!



5. This book is wonderfully illustrated, covers a wide range of topics, but doesn't delve too deeply into any of them, and also contains segments with craft ideas for eggs and feathers, as well as egg recipes.
   I am happy to have this as a refrence.

5 comments about Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process.

1. Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process
   Review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph.D.
   
   If you are looking for a short (226 pages of text) enjoyable and yet informative read, this is a great little book. From the inside of the back cover it notes that "Irene M. Pepperberg is an associate research professor at Brandeis University in Massachusetts and teaches animal cognition at Harvard University." This is the story of Dr. Pepperberg and her African gray parrot. It isn't just about the parrot or their relationship, it is, too, about Pepperberg's life. As a former university professor, I easily empathized with her efforts in finding a job and securing tenure. Her valiant efforts to find funding, publish papers, and obtain academic respect, credibility, and support are not uncommon. For some, this may be a distraction from the real story about Alex, his intelligence, training, reasoning ability, unique personality, and sense of humor. You will also learn of the interaction and communication between Pepperberg and Alex. If you are seeking a thorough, scientific exploration of an African Grey's cognitive abilities, then read Pepperberg's, The Alex Chronicles. Despite Pepperberg's credentials (her academic background), this is a book written for a lay person with no academic background. It is easy-to-read, well written, and fascinating.



2. This was a very interesting book about animal intelligence--or, more specifically, how an animal trained in language can let us know what they know. Alex was an African Grey parrot, selected at random by a pet store owner to protect against any bias on the part of the author who purchased him for study. Dr. Pepperberg, who received her doctorate in theoretical chemistry, was well-schooled in the scientific method when she made the crossover to studying animal communication. Alex became her star pupil for the next 30 years, before dying suddenly about 20 years before his time. During their long association, Alex learned more than 100 words and was able to use them to show that he was not just "parroting" back random utterances but was able to use them to distinguish conceptually among issues of color, shape, size, number, etc. Where the book becomes most interesting is when he starts using comments spontaneously to express his own thoughts, such as telling Pepperberg unprompted that she needed to "calm down" one day when she entered the lab in some agitation. The night before his death, he used such phrases with her as "you be good," "I love you," and "you'll be in tomorrow?" He even showed a mind of his own by one day deciding to give wrong answers to questions that he had answered perfectly up until then. In the end, Pepperberg estimated his intelligence to be comparable perhaps to that of a five-year-old child. A notable subplot to the book is Pepperberg's story of how difficult it was to convince universities and especially funding sources to support her work. When she started in the field, there was little appreciation for her type of research, and it took her years of working with Alex and other birds to turn skeptics into supporters. My only quibble about the book is that it reads more like a research study than the personal memoir the title would lead one to expect. (I was hoping for something more like Wesley the Owl.) Putting that aside, Pepperberg is to be lauded for her groundbreaking work and we are all in her debt for being able to understand our animal friends just that much more.



3. I really liked this book, but that's about as far as it got.
   
   Let me start by saying that the story of Dr. Pepperberg's bond with
   Alex is very touching, and if that is your cup of tea, you will
   probably treasure this book. Ditto if you are a parrot fanatic.
   
   I have an African grey parrot, but I'm not a fanatic, and I think I was expecting a
   little more detail on how Alex was trained. Not as much as in "The
   Alex Studies," which was a scientific research piece, but more that
   could help me develop my bird. To be fair, this was not a realistic
   expectation; the book was clearly not "How to Train Your African
   Grey."
   
   Nonetheless, the book was written cleanly, was a quick read and, as I
   said, was a touching story. I think anyone with even a passing
   interest in birds or the bond between human and pet will enjoy it.
   
   In summary, if you are looking for a touching story about a woman and
   her famous parrot, this is the book you are looking for. If you are
   looking for parrot training tips, you won't find them here, but you
   will still probably like the book.



4. Near the end of her book Alex & Me, in a chapter called "What Alex Taught Me," the author Irene Pepperberg says: "Some people take this new understanding of animal minds as an argument for treating animals as if they had the same rights we give to ourselves. That is as wrong as ... " What is so remarkable about this quote is how jarring it is in a book that celebrates animal intelligence and the interconnectedness of all life. While THIS reviewer is not suggesting that we give the right to VOTE to grey parrots (if this reviewer had his way, not every HUMAN would have that sacred right), what is clear to me, from this absolutely grating and gratuitous paragraph (as though an evil gremlin had sneaked in this nasty disclaimer), is that whatever Alex HAD tried to teach Ms. Pepperberg, she did not learn. If this book has any meaning whatever, it is that animals DO (or ought to) have rights.



5. It is a family joke that an aunt who had a dog would sometimes observe that "It can almost think". Irene Pepperberg has demonstrated with her beloved Alex, an african grey parrot, that not only can the bird with a brain the size of a shelled walnut communicate in human language but that it can understand what it is saying and can construct its own interpretations. Alex can certainly think. The example of Alex's description of an almond as a 'cork nut', combining the elements of the outer shell texture with the known edible content, demonstrates just how intelligent this bird is. As Irene says in several places throughout the book Alex demonstrates many traits that previous animal intelligence wisdom (read dogma) had said should be impossible. This book is a real treat from beginning to end. For those who don't want to believe that animal intelligence is a necessary precursor to the the evolution of human intelligence then this book is not for you.

5 comments about The Complete Encyclopedia Of Chickens.

1. I gave this book to my husband because we raise chickens for fun and the eggs. He loves his chickens. He has read the whole book and has found it very interesting. He says it is easy to understand and has great pictures. I can always rely on Amazon. I have bought a lot of things from them and they are always fast and exactly what I ordered. Gail/ Austin, TX



2. This is a great book for the beginner pet chicken owner/lover. It has good basic information about health, coop building, etc. but my favorite thing is the great photos and information on various breeds of chickens and their personality, size and egg-laying abilities. This is very hard to find in any other book. If you are trying to decide what kind of chickens to buy, this is the book for you.



3. Very good Photography, detailed discription, though no size or weights provided, concentrated mainly on European poultry, disapointed little information on Australian Poultry fancy.
   Would recommend this book for the novice & experienced breeder to have in their Library.



4. Title is very misleading. This book while informative and a good source is far from complete. It covers most topic incompletely. It would be much more helpful if it covered fewer topic but covered the ones it did in greater detail. This book will be useful for you until you find the book that covers what you want. It will eventually be useless as you compile a set of better resources.



5. Great book- wonderful color pictures, detailed info. Heath section is very good as well as the breed section.

5 comments about Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot (Barron's).

1. This book gives you an overview of parrot behaviour and introduction to parrot traininng. For a very beginner like me it is great!



2. This book is full of helpful information. It not only talks about how to stop unwanted behaviors but, even more importantly, it talks about how to prevent them. There are lots of exercises in the book that aim to help build a bond between owner and parrot and to help prevent unwanted behaviors. Lots of information on how to prevent boredom, stimulate talking/mimicking, reading body language, stopping/preventing screaming, and emergency preparedness. Overall, a very good book. Highly recommend it for any bird owner.



3. I have a 26 year old Senegal Parrot. Throughout the years, I have had many questions about her behavior, playfulness, talking, nutrition, health and training. Virtually all of these questions have been answered in this book. Sometimes the answers are so simple I'll wonder why I didn't think of them myself.
   
   Some things I've learned that are helpful is that my bird should not be higher than I am so it's not good to put her on my shoulder. The higher she is, the more dominant she feels. I also learned that her nutritional needs are similar to an adult humans. We feed her what we eat along with some runner's gorp. I learned about her changing loyalties to either my husband or myself which may be a result of sexual orientation and maturation.
   
   I recommend this book for anyone who has a parrot and wants to learn about this fascinating animal. Parrots are smart, funny and wonderful pets - - but only for the knowledgeable owner.



4. I got this book as a part of my research when I was collecting information on Greys. I wanted it for a reference so I wouldn't do anything wrong with my Timneh. I wanted to make sure I made her happy and well adjusted. This is a great book for that. Mattie Sue knows her birds.



5. If you are still getting to know your parrot, or want to improve your knowledge and skills, this is a must-have. Clear, intelligent, concise.

5 comments about Parrots For Dummies.

1. boy is this book named right but if is very helpful book i love it.



2. This book provided me with what I expected--good information about parrots. It started out with more information than it finsihed with (wish it had provided the same throughout) but I am overall satisfied.



3. This book covers just about everything you might have questions about before you purchase your first bird, and also covers a good deal post-purchase, as well. Nice background info on the history of parrots kept as pets, and a moderate guide to behavior issues/training.
   
   The author does not sugar-coat the realities of parrot ownership; she describes some of the challenges and potential issues in addition to the joys of a feathered friend. I found her writing to be very well-balanced, providing multiple views on certain subjects, and her writing style to be most enjoyable, with just a twist of humor. The snippets on her own African Grey are a delight.
   
   The author provides some basic information on most major parrots available/popular in the market today, but I recommend purchasing a book specific to the breed you're considering as well. This is not a complaint--the book is, after all, intended to provide a wealth of information on parrots in general, and it does this very well.
   
   Highly recommended for those considering their first parrot.



4. This book was well worth buying as a quick single source for information. Some of the information can be considered "opinions" due to simple personal differences and research within the Avian community. I appreciated being able to look at the various photos of the different parrots for reference.



5. I bought and read this book when I was considering my first Parrot and It was perfect. The information I needed was all there, and presented in a way that was easily understood by someone who was completely unfamiliar with the needs of these wonderful creatures.
   IF YOU READ ONLY ONE PARROT BOOK IT SHOULD BE THIS ONE. I have read many books on Parrots, and now have 3 birds in my family. This book taught me all I needed to decide what kind of bird was right for me and my family, if I was suited to care for a bird, and how to prepare for the responsibility of caring for Birds.
   I have also read many "for Dummies" books, and this one is by far the most fun to read.