Some one asked me to be more specific about my Starling 'Kiwi' that I posted a video of and the fact I said they are not 'cage birds'.. Here is my reply in case I confused anyone with what I said... :)

I know, I'm good at confusing people lol.

Human imprinted birds, even Starlings can be kept in cages for some reasons, and at some times. They cannot be kept as 'ornaments' to collect and look at from outside the cage as many people, unfortunately, do parrots, parakeets, cockatiels and finches. They, for their own safety, especially at night, need a secure place to sleep. If startled at night they might fly in fright and hurt themselves.

My birds do have 'bedroom' cages for lack of a better term. Some people I have met though never keep their imprinted in cages, I won't risk that nor do I want a house that looks like an encrusted pigeon visited park statue either! During the day these birds are so curious and intelligent they could get in all sorts of trouble if not supervised. They poke, prod and crawl into and under all sorts of weird things... not to mention anything they can pick up may just be swallowed! Our two Starlings 'Kiwi' and 'Lilly' spend many, many hours a day out with the family but do mellow out in their 'rooms' when, on the rare occasion no one is here, or another bird is out that does not get along with them so well (remember, they don't think they are birds when they are human imprinted and often do not get along with other birds, even those of their own kind).

'Softbill' birds, like Starlings, many types of finches, Loris and Toucans make a far bigger mess because of their diet than do seed eating birds. We just keep paper towels or baby wipes handy. The 'mess' is small by comparison to a parrot but wetter. It does NOT usually stain though and has NO smell. As the birds mature and are less fidgety and nervous about new things in our home they tend not to make a mess on you as often a when they were babies. A clean freak would probably not want a Starling in their house but with kids I learned long ago almost everything is washable. They can be caged at night and during unsupervised daytime hours (so long as that is not too many hours a day!) but do need rather large cages much like you would have for a very large parrot. The problem is they are sneaky and the bars must be close together or they will squeeze through. Most people make their own cages for them. It is not hard to do nor expensive.

If you ever have the chance to rescue one keep in mind that they require a different kind of care than a seed eating bird but IMO are worth every minute of it. Human imprinted House Sparrows (aka English Sparrows) are far easier to care for and if rescued and unable to be returned to the wild are super intelligent, lovable birds as well. We have two House Sparrows (which can be kept legally in most US states), one was a wild adult who suffered a destroyed wing after being hit accidentally by a car on a highway (my son and husband risked life and limb to save him), the other one, 'Woody' was rescued as a baby from a cat's mouth. He can wolf whistle, call my daughter's name and comes when called! (I'll post a pic of him bathing in my hands)

Go to www.starlingtalk.com if you want to learn more about Starlings or House Sparrows as pets!

Namaste!

Silver

Hate not the those people and things that you do not understand if you do not want to suffer the hatred of others because they choose not to understand who and what you are....

What goes around comes around...