AAV provides comprehensive downloadable pet bird care and owner resources

The Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV) has assembled a broad set of downloadable resources for pet bird owners, including a new species-focused Pet Bird Care Series and a wider Bird Owner Resource Series that covers health, behavior and husbandry. "NEW! Pet Bird Care Series This series includes 12 handouts on common pet bird species—from budgies to macaws," the organization states, and the materials are described as practical resources produced by avian veterinarians.

The Bird Owner Resource Series supplies topic-based handouts that address immediate concerns and everyday care. "Bird Owner Resource Series The Bird Owner Resource Series offers many helpful topics such as signs of illness, basic care, foraging, diet conversion, senior bird care, and much more, providing you with access to a wide range of information written by our avian veterinarian members," the group notes. The resources include client-education brochure titles such as Avian Chlamydiosis and Psittacosis, Veterinary Care for Your Pet Bird, Basic Care for Companion Birds, Behavior: Normal and Abnormal, Caring for Backyard Chickens, Digital Scales, Feather Loss, Feeding Birds, Injury Prevention and Emergency Care, Managing Chronic Egg-laying in Your Pet Bird, Signs of Illness in Companion Birds, Ultraviolet Lighting for Companion Birds, When Should I Take My Bird to a Veterinarian?, and Zoonotic Diseases in Backyard Poultry.

Owners who need veterinary care can use AAV’s online tools to locate avian practitioners. AAV directs users to its website for a Find-a-Vet tool to "locate an avian veterinarian you are both comfortable with and confident in." The association also emphasizes veterinary partnerships: "An avian veterinarian, monitoring your bird’s health, can play a vital role in this goal," and adds that "The Association of Avian Veterinarians recommends regular checkups for companion birds to ensure they live a full, healthy life." For newly acquired birds, AAV materials echo clinical advice: "The Association of Avian Veterinarians recommends that all newly acquired birds receive a prompt medical examination. Many serious and even contagious diseases are not visually evident in birds."

Practical grooming and enrichment guidance appears throughout the packets. Routine grooming guidance notes that nail trims and, if desired, wing trims are part of standard care, and owners are reminded that nails should be trimmed "as needed when they become too sharp or too long." The AAV enrichment blog breaks enrichment into five categories: "There are 5 types of enrichment that can be provided to your pet bird. These include 1) sensory, 2) nutritional, 3) manipulative, 4) environmental, and 5) behavioral," with weekly #AAVEnrichmentTip posts available on AAV social channels and Instagram handle @aavonline.

Complementary clinical material from The BIRD Clinic Veterinary Corporation supplies disease warnings and contact details. The clinic notes that Polyoma Viral Disease was once devastating and states plainly, "There is NO cure." On psittacine beak and feather disease the clinic writes, "PBFD is part of a small family of viruses called Circoviridae. The blood test for PBFD is very accurate from properly prepared samples. Positive young birds have a poorer prognosis than older birds if clinical signs are observed and often will die." The Bird Clinic materials carry a revised date of 04/17/2024 and list 200 South Tustin Street, Suite E, Orange, CA 92866-2322, phone (714) 633-2910.

AAV identifies its founding motto as "AAV: Setting a Standard in Avian Care Since 1980" and lists its copyright as "© 2019 Association of Avian Veterinarians PO Box 9, Teaneck, NJ 07666." Select handouts are available in multiple languages, with explicit listings including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish, and notices that Swedish and other languages are "coming soon." The materials also point owners to external resources such as ASPCA Poison Control and avian influenza guidance.

What this means for parrot owners is more accessible, veterinarian-vetted information at your fingertips: species-specific care notes, actionable signs-of-illness checklists, enrichment categories to reduce boredom, and a clear pathway to find an avian vet. Expect to use the Find-a-Vet tool and @aavonline updates to connect with local avian clinicians and to integrate these handouts into routine checkups and emergency planning.