Dear Parrots magazine,
Weather issues
I have read in this magazine the issues that hot weather can bring about (I live in the UK) and our summers seem to be getting hotter with rising temperatures creating problems for all of us and in particularly our birds. I am a self-employed plumber and have two Yellow-fronted Amazons, which live in large flights in my conservatory. I am very aware of the problems of extreme heat that can quickly become a lethal threat to captive birds and to that end I have insulated my conservatory to keep cool in summer and warm in winter.
But I was shocked recently when I was called to a house that had a water leak problem and was horrified to find the owner had a Blue & Gold Macaw in her conservatory that was really hot as she had not opened any windows or doors. She was as horrified as I was to find her conservatory so hot and think it was because she had been mopping up the water that was running all over her kitchen floor, which had completely distracted her. She did seem very responsible in the way she told me she looked after her macaw and I can understand how this leak consumed her attention. But the lesson to be learned here is that conservatories can become frighteningly hot in a very short space of time, and I think she has learned a lot by this.
I am glad to say she immediately opened all doors and windows and removed her macaw into a cooler room. Also, I managed to deal with the leak as well and did tell her about this magazine that she had never heard of, so there might be a new subscription here?
Richard Longly, by email