AAV backs avian health and wild bird research grants
AAV is pushing grant money and a warning on chronic hypovitaminosis A, the preventable parrot nutrition problem that still trips up too many cages.
AAV’s Conservation and Research Committees were reviewing Avian Health Grants and Wild Bird Health Grants. AAV highlighted chronic hypovitaminosis A, a common and preventable welfare problem in captive parrots.
AAV lists Brynn McCleery, DVM, DABVP (Avian Practice), as a veterinarian at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Red Bank, New Jersey. In her president’s letter, she marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, pointed readers back to AAV’s founding members through a featured video, and marked June as a global celebration of the LGBTQ+ community while reaffirming AAV’s commitment to inclusion and representation in avian medicine.
AAV has provided more than $600,000 in avian research funding since 1982, and 77 funded scientific studies have moved clinical practice forward in areas such as nutrition and pain. The 2026 wild bird pre-proposal call limits individual projects to $5,000 and opens the door to work on epidemiology, ecotoxicology, diagnostic testing, treatment, and conservation medicine.
Poor diets remain a major problem for pet birds, and pelleted and extruded diets have improved psittacine health and quality of life. Vitamin A deficiency in parrots is associated with seed-based diets, metaplasia of mucous membranes, chronic rhinitis, and respiratory fungal infections.
The Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery covers work on both captive and wild birds, and the association’s publications library and conference proceedings archive stretch back to 1982.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
