I just wanted to send a quick note to wish you a Happy New Year!I am looking forward to a great year and I hope you are too. It looks like I will be teaching a few workshops and making a few appearances this year and I wanted to make sure you knew about them in case you might be able to attend. Here is the schedule for this year so far.

January 22-24, 2010 "Parrot Festival" Houston, TX, USA. Barbara Heidenreich will be presenting at this event. Visit http://www.parrotfestival.org/ for more information.

I have a parrot that talks up a storm and I love it! I have also enjoyed working with amazing talking parrots like "Groucho" back in my days at Natural Encounters. (You can see a video clip of us both on the Tonight Show at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfDFa2sQj1s )

It has been a beautiful fall and I feel like cooking. Not for people but for my birds. I buy Jiffy cornbread mix and follow the directions. What makes it "Birdy Bread" are all the goodies you add. I chop in fresh jalapenas, sprinkle in bird seed and some fresh herbs from the garden. I bake according to directions and serve up when cool.

Rehabbing wild birds or taking in unwanted exotics, is expensive, and not tax deductible for us, according to the IRS. So we had to economize as much as possible. Fortunately, Jim can build anything. He built the muse, flight pens and cages to hold my rats. Raptors need meat and buying rats at a pet store was too expensive. We were often given frozen chicks to feed but ultimately we had no choice but to buy a few rats and breed our own. At one point I had over 500 rats and was able to supply other rehabbers.

Recently it came up in a conversation, that someone needed to prevent their bird from tearing its skin, as part of plucking all it's feathers out. On many occasions I have had to prevent animals from pulling out stitches, splits, casts and feathers. I have used old xray film to make a victoria collar.

This is the time of year baby birds are jumping out of the nest to test their flying skills. If the baby bird is not injured, just leave it alone. It's parents can't pick it up, so if you want to move it to a higher branch, that is fine. But the parents will feed it and watch over it. Let the little bird learn to fly and be wild. Leaving bird seed and water out for the birds is a great way to encourage the parents to come around. And just because you don't see the parents doesn't mean that they are not close by watching.

Science Diet’s dry dog and cat chows are an excellent base for temporary feeding of baby birds. Powdered and moistened with water to an applesauce consistency is the usable bird formula. Exact, a birdseed manufacturer, makes a powdered baby bird hand feeding formula. Be advised that none of these foods is as complete as the diet provided by the natural parents.

If it's a baby bird...

"I found a baby bird on the ground and I think it is a eagle!"

Everyone has trouble identifying baby birds, I certainly do, and I have seen quite a few. So possibly, the following descriptions will help you narrow down what you have. Once you have an idea of what the baby bird is, you have a better idea of what to feed it until help arrives.

Note: The international food for birds, milk and bread is WRONG! Until a bird can milk a cow do not give it milk and bread! There are easy, safe and effective alternatives.