Most people are aware that birds have hollow bones and are light so they can fly. The 2 most important things to remember with bird anatomy is their mass/weight and their lungs. A bird being light means that it can very easily be affected by very minute quantities of things. If you’ve ever known a person of tiny stature that’s new to consuming alcohol you’ll know where I’m going with this. Someone who weighs 100 lbs is going to be hammered on 5 shots whereas someone who is 350 lbs might still pass a breathalyzer test. Due to this fact, birds, especially small birds, can die from the slightest of things. If you take a medication and its still on your lips and your bird kisses you it could get sick or die if it’s a medication that can adversely affect it. If a bird takes a gulp of your cocktail, it could die. If a bird nibbles on some guacamole dip or chocolate bar/chip it could die. Avacados and chocolate are highly poisonous to parrots. Keep them away at all costs. Mushrooms too. See the Bird Safety Tab for more info on this but if you or your kids are going to eat chocolate or guacamole, do it in a room they’re hardly in, throw away wrappers, don’t leave dishes out, wash your hands and face and do it after they’re in for the night. Or at least make sure its been a couple of hours since you at the dip at the party before you come home and kiss your bird. Same goes with alcohol, soda, salt, sugary drinks and treats etc. but that should go without saying. Same with old or rotting food. Make sure its thrown away properly.
