Mira Tweti

Pet Parrot Peeve

Aug 01, 2015

I'm sure this will go over like a lead balloon in some quarters. But, after 20 years of rescuing & rehabbing more than 150 birds I've developed a strong "us vs them" feeling for veterinarians that make $ treating birds rescued from abusive situations when the funds are coming from people without...

Bottle birds - what could be worse?

May 27, 2015

When I wrote my book, "Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species," back in 2008 I covered the heinous practice of smugglers shoving parrots into bottles - everything from deodorant canisters (the obvious giveaway were...

Rio’s $200 million box office is great for 20th Century Fox. For parrots, not so much…

Apr 23, 2011

Rio, the new 3D animated film about parrots from 20th Century Fox opened Thursday in theaters nationwide and has done blockbuster box office business.  I'm concerned pet stores will be doing an impressive amount of parrot sales as a result.

That scenario is exactly what happened with clown fish...

Sweet birds and hard choices

Dec 28, 2010

For the last seven years, I’ve lived near the beach,  beside the Del Rey Lagoon in Playa del Rey, California. The lagoon is 1/4 mile long and about two blocks wide. The immediate area is salt water and fresh water from some of the last remaining wetlands in the US. Historically, there are over 300...