By Allison M. Strickland
Allopreening – The communal grooming of feathers birds practice when living in flocks.
Aves – The Class of Birds (A category in biological taxonomy ranking.)
Aviary – A very large enclosure, usually outside, that houses multiple birds. Some include bird-safe plants and trees.
Aviculture – The breeding and keeping of birds in a domestic setting.
Bristles – Feathers that look more like hair, found mostly around a bird’s eyes, nares and beak.
Cere – A soft, waxy-looking structure above the beak.
Cloaca – The terminal area of the digestive, renal and reproductive systems; divided into three sections: coprodeum, urodeum and proctodeum.
Clutch – A group of eggs laid by a female bird during one nesting period.
Coverts – Smaller feathers covering a bird’s large wing and tail feathers.
Crop – At the base of the esophagus, a pouch-like enlargement of the gullet that acts as a storage area for food and passes metered masses of food into a bird’s gastrointestinal tract.
Cuttlebone – A dietary supplement of calcium carbonate, from cuttlefish.
Dimorphic – A visible difference in the size, coloring or other physical characteristics between male and female birds.
Down feathers – Hidden under the contour feathers on adult birds. Very soft and insulating feathers.
Eye pinning – The rapid dilation and contraction of a bird’s irises. Eye pinning indicates excitement or fear.
Feather picking – A behavior occurring when a bird over-preens itself, leading to feather damage.
Flock – A social group of birds.
Grit – A fine rock or gravel fed to certain bird species that aids the grinding of food in the gizzard. Parrots do not need grit.
Hand-fed – A bird fed by humans until it was weaned.
Hardbills – Birds such as canaries and finches that mainly eat seeds and nuts.
Hookbill – Another name for a parrot; refers to its curved beak.
Hornbills – Birds of the family Bucerotidae that have a large bill surmounted with a protruding “horn” called a casque.
Lore – Area between the eyes and the bill on each side of a bird’s face.
Lutino – A color mutation in a bird, such as in a cockatiel, ranging from white to creamy yellow.
Mandible – Lower bird bill; Maxilla – Upper bird bill
Millet – A low-fat, high -carbohydrate seed.
Molt – When a bird loses its feathers and grows new ones.
Nape – Back of the bird’s neck.
Nares – Two round openings in the cere that carry air into a bird’s sinus cavity.
Neonate – A bird in its first few days of life. It is blind and helpless.
Nest box – A small wooden or metal enclosure, which parrots can lay eggs in.
Nestling – A baby bird still in the nest.
Neutral room – An unfamiliar room or space in an owner’s home where the bird is nonterritorial.
Night thrashing – When a bird is startled at night and blindly flies around its cage (predominantly in cockatiels).
Nocturnal – Birds that are active at night.
Passerine – Of or relating to the Order (a category in a biological taxonomy ranking) called Passeriformes, which includes finches, canaries and other small perching birds.
Pellets – A manufactured food source designed for bird’s nutritional needs.
Pied – A pattern mutation that shows up as patchy, splotchy feather coloring.
Preening – The bird’s self-grooming, which helps clean and maintain feathers.
Primaries – Main flight feathers on the outer part of the wings.
Psittacine – Of or relating to the Order (a category in biological taxonomy ranking) called Psittaciformes, which consists of the various hookbills.
Sexing – Determining the gender of a bird.
Softbills – Birds, such as mynahs or toucans, which mainly eat soft foods, including fruit, insects or nectar.
Vent – The outer opening of the cloaca; through this single opening all cloacal contents exit the body.
Waxbills – Finch-like birds of the family Estrilididae. However, not all finches are classified as waxbills.
Weaning – The process where a baby bird goes from being fed warm, wet, mushy food to eating solid foods on its own.