I cannot believe that there are six of these content rich chapters are
included in only one DVD.
Each of the chapters contains information that they should really know
before purchasing a bird.

一見は百聞にしかず。それに尽きる。← this is Japanese proverb

There is a saying in Japanese “One look says it all”. This is what I
would think about this entire DVD.

Reiko Soga, DVM
Grow Wing Animal Hospital
Yokohama, Japan

by Sheryl Robinson

The Expert Companion Bird Care Series: Volume 1 is an excellent source of avian health and care information for both the novice and experienced bird owner. It covers nutrition, signs of illness, household dangers, appropriate housing, how to select an avian veterinarian and species identification for commonly kept parrots. The information is presented by Dipl. ABVP veterinarians in concise short chapters. The video shows many parrot species and the best way to care and house them. I highly recommend this video if you are considering getting a new bird or if you already have a feathered companion.

Sheryl Robinson

Board Member, Northern Illinois Parrot Society

By John Kerns

Every person, “experienced” or inexperienced, that comes to Phoenix Landing and wants to foster or adopt a bird, the first thing they need to do is watch this DVD.

Great content and very well qualified presenters.

John Kerns, Chantilly, VA

By Barbara Heidenreich

When it comes to providing the best for parrots in our homes, education is critical. The Expert Companion Bird Care Series includes detailed information every parrot enthusiast should know.

If you are a parrot owner or animal industry professional seeking quality information from a trusted resource, backed by credentials be sure to pick up this series.

Barbara Heidenreich, Professional Animal Trainer, Good Bird Inc.

By Laurella Desborough

In my opinion as a long time bird breeder, I am still interested in learning about bird care and I was excited to find that I learned new information about birds while watching this DVD.

The material is outstanding and covers the critical areas for the pet owner, the bird breeder, the pet store staffer, and student veterinarians going to work with birds. I think it will also be helpful to state and federal agency staffers and others who are seeking basic information about birds. The visual material is well presented.

The sound is clear and precise. The approach of using several different experts for the various topic areas is great. I hope this DVD is going to be available in the offices of veterinarians, in pet stores, and on the internet, because the information is valuable and needed. I look forward to the next DVD in the series. Congratulations on an excellent product for an important project.

Laurella Desborough, Avian Breeder

By Dr Bob Doneley

DVD Review: Expert Companion Bird Care Series: Vol 1.

This DVD introduces a new concept in bird DVD’s – a guide to caring for companion birds, produced and narrated by avian veterinarians. A phrase I use with my clients when they tell me “The breeder said…” is that, while I have been driving a car for 33 years, I am not a mechanic. Avian veterinarians have the training, the expertise and the experience to be able to advise pet bird owners on a wide range of issues involving the care and health of pet birds. This DVD is an excellent starting point for new and experienced pet bird owners to learn more about their charges.

Scott Echols and Brian Speer are internationally renowned avian veterinarians. They have brought together a team of exceptionally talented American avian veterinarians (Jeleen Briscoe, Greg Burkett, Susan Orosz, Laura Wade, Paul Gibbons and Kemba Marshall) who each discuss a separate section: how to identify commonly kept parrots, housing the pet bird, basic avian nutrition, household dangers and toxins, identifying when your bird is sick, and how to select an avian veterinarian. Each section discusses, over a 15 minute period, an overview of the topic and highlights the most important areas.

The DVD is well produced and well illustrated. For Australian viewers, it could do with some more Australian input. However, it does provide the opportunity to view species and cage setups that are outside the typical Australian experience. This more than cancels out the negative aspects of minimal Australian content. By breaking the content into separate sections, the viewer is able to break up their viewing time into more convenient blocks – an aspect I always find appealing for those of us with busy lives.

I would strongly recommend that people contemplating the purchase of a bird for the first time watch this DVD before making any decisions or commitments. I would also recommend that those who already own a pet bird watch the DVD to learn or revise concepts they may feel they are conversant with. Veterinarians and pet shop owners would find this DVD to be a useful staff training tool. Breeders supplying the pet market, pet shops and avian veterinarians should be able to find a ready market for this DVD.

Bob Doneley BVSc FACVSc CMAVA (Author and Lecturer)

West Toowoomba Vet Surgery
 – Toowoomba, Australia

published in Australian BirdKeeper Magazine

By Dr Pat MacWhirter

This U.S. based DVD brings together images and commentary from leading North American avian veterinarians covering basic topics in pet bird care including species identification;  housing;  nutrition; household toxins and dangers; how to recognize if your bird is sick and how to choose a bird veterinarian.

While aimed at bird enthusiasts, there is useful information that veterinarians who work with birds will find helpful in day to day practice.  For example, Dr Greg Burkett, in his chapter on cage layout, gives an excellent run down on available perch types and advocates spiral swinging rope perches as a way to provide more open space in a large bird’s cage when compared with traditional side to side perches. Dr Laura Wade does a good job of covering household dangers and toxins. However, neither of these chapters provides any warning about the risk of gastrointestinal foreign body problems from birds ingesting fibers from rope toys or of fine fibers from cotton wool or seed catchers being caught around digits of small birds and causing injury or toe loss. These are commonly seen problems in Australian bird practice. This is a minor criticism however as overall the contents are quite comprehensive for a beginner bird owner and the DVD/video format is an excellent way to cover the material.

The species identification chapter shows species that are commonly seen in US avian practice which are somewhat different than those typically encountered in Australia. With exotic parrot species becoming more and more popular here, the DVD provides a good introduction.  To nit-pick on another minor point, one presenter spoke about Red tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) only eating one main type of seed in the wild. I think she was really referring to the Glossy Black Cockatoo’s (Calyptorhynchus lathamii ) preference for Allocasuarina seeds as the various subspecies of Red tailed Blacks have a wide distribution, are more cosmopolitan in their eating habits and are known to eat eucalypts, acacias and banksias in the wild. The point of the segment was that different species of birds vary significantly in their dietary preferences and requirements and this point is still entirely valid.  The chapter on how to choose an avian veterinarian discusses health insurance and comprehensive diagnostic testing, both of which are well worth discussing even if the up take rate by owners in Australia may be somewhat lower than that in the U.S.

I highly recommend this DVD both for veterinarians and for veterinarians to offer to bird owners at the time of their bird’s first examination. It gives entertaining and credible coverage of points that are typically included in any well bird examination. I look forward to the next 3 DVDs in the series, which I suspect will include behavior and basic training, the other major points of discussion in a well bird examination.  It is most welcome to have informed, targeted, multimedia educational material available for owners to help to improve bird welfare and the bond between pet birds and their carers.

Pat MacWhirter, BVSc, MA, PhD, FACVSc (Avian Health)

Owner of Highbury Veterinary Clinic

Melbourne, Australia