Moving Perches

Swinging perches are important for your birds to have access to, and learn how to use when applicable. Obviously I’m not putting Calvin or Rukkas, my most disabled parrots, on a swinging perch because of their disabilities. But swinging perches are important for your bird to interact with.

It mimics natural branches. I’m not sure if you’ve watched parrots in the wild on YouTube, but I’ve seen cockatoos hang onto a thin branch upside down, bobbing like mad people to forage, and be perfectly content with it. That takes a lot of balance, strength, and coordination that is hard to find in our captive parrots.

Most cages have stable perches that go from one side of the cage to another. Most of my bird’s perches are that way! But that stability, though safer, doesn’t engage the bird’s muscles and coordination like a swinging one does. Not having access to unstable, but safe, perches can decrease confidence levels in our parrots, which can shine through with not wanting to step up onto new surfaces (including people), not wanting to investigate higher perches, and not trusting thin perches.

I made my hanging jungle gym the way I did because it does swing… quite a bit. It actually scared Alfie in the beginning, since he’s 1,250g (a giant Moluccan) the swing is much more dramatic when he moves.

Boings and natural fiber rope perches are a great way to add some movement easily! A lot of my cages have one that the birds enjoy thoroughly. You want to stay away from cotton ropes because if your bird chews on it, and ingests the cotton fibers, it can lead to an increased risk of crop impaction. Synthetic fibers can also cause concerns due to it being small pieces of plastic. Natural fibers are always ideal!