Ellen,

Some of the best information on enrichment comes from individual research papers. Of course those are not always easy to acquire or read! While I don’t want to endorse any one site, there are numerous websites that contain good information on enrichment and foraging for birds. Whenever considering adding enrichment, I follow these basic rules: 1. It must work for the bird. If it is too complex, too big, too small, too whatever does not work for your bird, then it is not enriching. 2. On the same note, it must work for the caretaker. If the enrichment plan is too time consuming, complicated, messy, or too whatever for the owner, it will not work. 3. Make sure it is safe. If it is destructible and made of synthetic items (plastic, metal, rubber, etc), assume that it will be eaten and need to be surgically removed! Safe destructible items include non-treated wood, paper, etc. 4. If more than one bird is involved, be prepared for strife when a new enrichment item is added. You may even need to multiples of the same item if there is more than one bird.

Sincerely,

M. Scott Echols, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)