Guide to a Well-behaved Parrot (Barron's)

I would not recommend this book to anybody unless they were an American. While the book does highlight some important issues in parrot keeping, such as not letting the bird on your shoulder - there are lots of parts in the book which are just plain wrong and downright opinionated.

She is a firm advocate of wing clipping - saying that it would be a 'neglectful owner' to leave their bird flighted. I disagree heartily. Parrots should not be out when there are dangerous events, such as cooking, occuring - and should not be taken outside. It is a neglectful owner who puts the birds in these situations or does not constantly supervise these birds. Wing clipping in young birds has been shown to lead to behavioural problems.

So yes, take this book with a pinch of salt, and DON'T reward negative behaviour with attention such as saying 'No', or screaming by covering the cage up - instead use positive reinforcement!

Covers all areas to help the reader understand all aspects of parrot behaviour and how to put right less desirable behaviour, but most of all how you can both make the most out of each others company.

this book is very informative.. in my opinion, it is a must have book. It was very helpful to me in my time of need and has continued to be since :)

I thought this was a wonderful book. It is written in a way which makes it difficult to stop reading. There are many wonderful pictures in the book which even make it better. However, if you seriously intend to train you parrot I would advise 'Parrot training: a guide to taming and gentling your parrot' by bonnie Monro Boane. This entire books deals with training your parrot step by step. Both books are woth buying!!!

I purchased my first parrot 6 weeks ago as a baby, and I have found this book really usefull in understanding him. It tells you in detail how to treat your parrot, how to maintain your authority with the parrot, how to fuss them and play with them. It doesn't just say 'play with your parrot', it explains exactly how, which is important if you are not used to handling birds.The book covers alot that is not relevent to me - behavior problems, but by reading the advice anyway hopefully I can prevent problems. The book is abit hard to read sometimes, hard to understand exactly what they mean. It is the sort of book you should keep handy and use it for reference. I highly recommend it, it is a real thrill when you read in the book that they like to be fussed under their chin, so you go and do it and they love it and ask for more and more.