What are some good books about parrots?

Kentuckienne

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I stopped in to a local used bookstore at lunch - they were having a sale. I found two shelves of books about parrots. One or two I already have, but there were many older books, both general and species specific. I just glanced through because I didn't have much time. I didn't find a thread with parrot book titles - is there a list of good books or good authors?
 

Allee

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This is my personal favorite list.

Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings by Mark Bittner

Your PTSD Support Bird: Healing Trauma With Unconditional Love by Melody Milam Potter PHD

Alex & Me by Irene Pepperberg
How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence--and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process


The Parrot Problem Solver by Barbara Heidenreich

I'm sure there there are lots more but those are the ones I've read. Do you use Kindle, their library is well stocked with new titles.
 
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Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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Book report: guide to a well behaved parrot is great, lots of practical advice and information.

I finally read Alex and Me last night - there was too much lightning and thunder to sleep - and I am still crying. I knew Alex's general story and some of the details, but the book revealed how truly spectacular a mind he had. Having just lost a bird last year made Alex's death even more terrible. I'm grieving for a bird I never even met! Yes, it took thirty years to teach him what he knew, but what he did was so far beyond what people thought parrots were capable of that he changed the world. He was not a tiny human, but he showed how complex and capable a non-human mind can be, and proved humans aren't the only ones on the planet who can think, feel, reason, communicate, joke, argue, complain, do math, read or grasp abstract concepts. It took thirty years to get him where he was...where would he have gone if he had lived? Will it take other parrots thirty years to get where he was? Then the questions won't be answered in my lifetime. How exceptional was he? How many are like him but were dulled into being a family pet or shut up in a dark room to keep them quiet?

Highly recommended reading. But heavy on the heart.
 

cnyguy

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Most any of Mattie Sue Athan's books are good, like the one Allee mentioned. She also wrote several books specific to different types of parrots; on my bookshelf are Ms. Athan's African Grey Parrot Handbook (with co-author Dianalee Deter) and Guide to the Quaker Parrot. I like Bonnie Munro Doane's Parrot Training. Parrots for Dummies is popular with lots of parronts too.
 

SailBoat

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I'm out of town, but will provide a list mid-early this coming week!

There are a number of great books in the used book sections, there also is a great deal of really bad books out their also!
 

Inger

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texsize

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If you are looking for Fiction.
For those of you Macaw fans try
David Palmer Emergence.

The author had Parrots and his description of the behavior is right on.
 
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Kentuckienne

Kentuckienne

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So far I have found useful:

The Beak Book, Companion Parrot Book (Blanchard)
The Secondhand Parrot, Guide To Well Behaved Parrot (Mattie Sue Athan)
The Parrot in Health and Illness, My Parrot My Friend (Doane)
Of Parrots and People, will make you rejoice and cry, (Tweti)
Alex and Me, will make you swoon and cry (Pepperberg)
 

Taprock

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Gloria - Foster CAG
I happen to be a librarian and I track all the books I read so it's a longer list. I did not track the ones I ditched part way through.

Favorite kids picture books
Memoirs of a Parrot, Devin Scillian
Alex the Parrot no ordinary bird, Stephanie Spinner
Cockatoo too, Bethanie Deeney

General books all ok but the first two are the ones I like best.
Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior, Mattie Sue Athan
Good Bird, Barbara Heidenreich
Parrots everything about purchase, care, feeding, housing, Mattie Sue Athan
The Guide to Owning a Parrot, Dennis Kelsey-wood
The African Grey, Julie Mancini
Gourmet Bird Food Recipes, Holly Armstrong
For the Love of Greys, Bobbi Brinker
Parrot Toys and Play areas how to put fun into your parrots life, Lauren Shannon-Nunn
African Grey Parrots everything about history, care, nutrition, handling and behavior, Margaret White

Then there are the true stories. The first was my favorite because it was so honest.
Winging it: A Memoir of caring for a vengeful parrot who's determined to kill me, Jenny Gardiner
The Parrot Who Owns Me, Joanna Burger
Alex and Me, Irene Pepperberg

Birds with mention of parrots
The thing About Feathers the surprising lives of birds and what they reveal about being human, Noah Strycker
Birds of Pandemonium, Michele Raffin
Birdology, Sy Mongomery
And just because I loved the book and title...
Enslaved by Ducks, Bob Tarte
 

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