Biking With A Bird
There are many considerations to take into account before adding bicycle riding to your birds activity list. While I cannot advise you as to how appropriate it is for you and your bird, I will share some of the things that we have learned in more than 2000 miles riding bike with our Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot Barney. If done properly it will be enjoyable and stimulating for your companion parrot, and good exercise for you. If not you may harm your bird and your relationship with him.
- Make sure that the environment that you will be biking in is safe and appropriate for the activity. If you live in Manhattan or on Michigan Ave in Chicago, or a similar high density location, biking is not an appropriate activity for you and your bird. You will need safe and smooth bike paths or lanes to bike in.
- Make sure that your bird is robust enough for this type of activity. A small bird like a parakeet is not a candidate for this. An Amazon Parrot is. Use common sense and judgment.
- Make sure that you are an experienced cyclist familiar with the routes you will be riding.
- Make sure that you are considering biking with your parrot to provide bonding and stimulation for your parrot.
- Make sure that you are in tune with your bird so that you can sense when he is enjoying himself. If he is not, then you will need to stop and rest, or if your bird does not enjoy biking generally, stop doing it. My sample size is small, consisting of 1 bird who loves it. That does not mean that your bird will.
- Make sure that you have the funds, tools, and mechanical ability to construct a safe and sound biking rig for your bird.
If after considering the factors above you are interested in bike rides with your bird, then please continue to the articles below, and we hope that you and your bird enjoy riding as much as we do. In any case it is up to your judgement. We cannot be responsible for any negative outcomes for you or your bird.