Rating: 
Summary: At last, a guide written with experience & insight.
Review: This is an excellent book for both the first time parrot owner and for someone who has had a parrot for many years like myself. It contains many approaches and tips for the handler to try. It also explains things from the bird's point of view so that you can better understand your bird and build a more rewarding relationship with your pet. Most books I've seen on this subject don't have enough depth; they appear to be written by hobbyist with a limited understanding of birds.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This is an excellent book. The anecdotal stories that the author includes make the book much more readable when compared to other parrot guides. The authors book on Senegal parrots and their family is also full of information.
Rating: 
Summary: Oof !
Review: This week, I fell in love with a beautiful, cuddly green bird in the bird store. Then I forked over an awful lot of money for the bird plus various other things, including this book -- all non-refundable, of course. I suspect that if I had read this book first I might not have made this purchase -- because now that I've read the book I have learned that my cuddly baby may grow into a vicious adult who may mutilate my face or take out an eye if I dare to let its eyes get above my mouth! Lovely thought. (Shiver) Well, since the purchase WAS non-refundable, the bird and I are stuck with each other. That all being a given, it's probably a good thing I have the book. It's easy to read; has lots of great illustrations; and some pretty easy to understand advice. I hope the result will be that the bird never does become a bloodthirsty monster. The only thing that is bothering me is the towel game -- described fairly early on in the book -- that is supposed to be critical to preventing the bird from becoming vicious. I'm finding the explanation of how to do it difficult to understand. This is making me all neurotic about whether I am going to be able to keep my bird tame.
Rating: 
Summary: Good info that's maddeningly disorganized
Review: This woman seems to know her stuff. At least, she writes in an authoritative way. However, the biggest obstacle is finding what you want to know in the book. It's not a thick book by any means, but to give you an example of what I mean, you'll find a very insightful tidbit of information on preventing screaming (my bird's specific problem) in the middle of the chapter on biting, or in one spot she mentions "a bird that has been patterned with aggression-prevention techniques." She doesn't mention 'aggression-prevention techniques' anywhere else in the book. I looked. So Ms. Athan, what are 'aggression-prevention techniques?' In the middle of this chapter on the young developmental period of birds, she breaks off and starts writing about what to expect when the bird becomes sexually mature. Stories are interjected that ramble for half a page. This is a big deal because the book is printed in larger type and includes lots of illustrations and photos, which means that half a page contains a good amount of information. Oh, there's a lot of we-speak in the book, too. "we need to do X", "we find that Y", etc. This annoys me. She's not here, so she should not be using the inclusive tone. If you can put up with these things, good, because this is the only book of its kind and you can't find the information it offers anywhere for free.
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