A must have for parrot owners and bird lovers

When you have parrots, you can never have too much information. Especially new parrot owners should have at least one year of this magazine. It's full of articles on behavior, medical issues, fun stories, and serious conservation issues. I especially like the behavior articles. They have excellent authors like Mattie Sue Athan, Bobbi Brinker and a host of other well known authors, breeders and bird owners. I have a Macaw, Cockatoo and African Grey - and I have pulled back issues of Bird Talk many a time to find things out like "why is he doing that?" or "should he be doing this?" It especially helped when my parrot was beginning to act aggressive, I found out from Bird Talk that this tends to happen when they are moulting. So make sure you get your info, you won't be sorry.

Good Beginner's Magazine

Bird Talk is a good magazine for people new to companion birds, including children. It contains solid basic information on diet, housing, and safety for new bird owners. The focus is on parrots, though recent articles have begun to cover some finches and softbills as well. Reading this magazine for a year will be enough to help most people decide if a bird is right for them, and to give people some idea of what species to select. The beautiful photography and extensive advertising for specialty products are also plusses.

There are three main drawbacks to Bird Talk. First, the information is very basic. Those interested in in-depth information on any species won't find it here - check out books or the AFA Watchbird (the American Federation of Aviculture's magazine) for more serious information. Second, as another reviewer pointed out, the material is often redundant. Subscribe for two years or more, and you'll feel like you're reading back issues instead of a current magazine. Finally, the magazine tends NOT to cover the more difficult aspects of bird ownership in any depth. As any parrot rescue can tell you, parrots (like dogs) can have some serious behavior issues if not properly socialized and cared for, including screaming, feather picking, aggression, and self-mutilation. The magazine glosses over or outright ignores the more difficult side of parrot ownership, which is unfortunate, especially since so many up-and-coming bird owners rely on it for information.

Lots of advertisements! Little information¿

If you are looking for a magazine and have low expectations. A magazine with a few cute photos, with very basic (VERY) information then you may want to read a copy of this as well as a few others produced by this same publisher.

I cannot stress any more that the information contained within these pages are BASIC! If you know that parrots have hard beaks then I can honestly say that you will probably read this magazine in 5 min flat.

DO NOT take the blind advice through advertisements on what to feed your bird. Find someone knowledgably in the subject. It will make the difference between your bird living 40% of its life span and 100%.