Our pet birds have got it easy. Imagine not having to work for a living – having your food put in a dish right in front of you so that you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want. Doesn’t that sound great?

Actually, it probably isn’t very great at all. A bird in the wild spends a good portion of each day foraging for food. They may look in the trees – or on the ground – or in a puddle of water - or under a leaf or the dirt. After having to look for their food, I’m sure it tastes so much better than if they had found it in a dish, placed at just the right level by a perch in a cage.

Of course, our pet birds can use the extra time that they have because they aren’t out looking for food, by playing with the toys that are placed at just the perfect place, right beside a perch so they can reach it easily.

If this is the way your bird lives, maybe its about time that you started to think about getting him to work at finding his own food and his toys.

You’ve got to take the dishes out every day to clean it anyway – so why not put them in a different place each time you put them back? If the cage has certain places to put the dishes, at the very least, you could switch the food & the water dishes, or – you can use different dishes that can be moved around.

Maybe you could hide some food in different places. Wrap something yummy in a paper towel or a piece of newspaper or put it in a plastic container or paper cup. You could weave some greens through the bars of the cage – or wrap a peanut or almond in some greens.

There are several toys available that can be used to make a bird work to get some food or treat out. Take a look at an online store – or at a neighbourhood store.

You could weave pieces of newspaper through the bars as well. Your bird isn’t going to eat the newspaper, but will have lots of fun removing it. Speaking of fun – how about those toys. You could move them away from the perch so your bird has to reach or climb to play with them.

Some of the best toys are ones that can be destroyed. Keeping the beak occupied with toys that can be either eaten or ripped apart is a terrific way to make your bird work and keep him from being bored.

Now think about the perches. Are they straight dowel perches – or are they real branches that have twists & turns & different widths throughout the length? How about cutting a fresh branch from a safe tree that still has leaves or even berries attached.

Once you start thinking about it, I’m sure that you’ll be able to come up with many more ideas on your own. You, of course, know your bird better than anyone else does.

If he has been used to just eating out of a dish, it is possible that you might have to show him what you are doing at first, so that he knows there is a peanut in that paper towel or paper cup. Also, at first when you move the toy away from the perch, it might be best to only move it a little bit, so he doesn’t just decide not to bother with it any more.

Before long, your bird will be just waiting for you to try something different, so that he has a chance to figure it out.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop by the Bird Forum anytime (see the most recent topics below).

After many years of pet bird ownership, I have decided to write e-books about the care of some of these wonderful birds.