One similarity between caged birds and tiny tots is that both groups are pets of those who care for them. Another similarity is that both need toys as much as they need food and drink. Bird toys may not be of as wide a variety as baby toys, but bird toys are beautiful, and supplant to a large extent some of the natural toys that birds miss in their caged existence.
Colorful swings, ladders, bead chains, bells, ropes, and merry-go-round like hanging are the common bird toys to which birds have been seen to instinctively react. In each of these categories, there will be toys of different colors and sizes, made of different materials. Bird ladders may be rope ladders, bamboo ladders, or climbing nets, and could be resting on the cage floor, or may be hanging from above.
Swings are also popular bird toys, because many birds, especially those in the parrot family like macaws, like to swing. Some of the swings will have a hardwood perch as the swing seat, with chewable toys dangling from the swing chains. Swings may also be circular or triangular rope rings. Where the swing seat is a wooden perch, some birds even sleep on it. Multicolored swings made of plastic discs and beads make excellent bird toys, which have a high level of aesthetic appeal.
Many bird toys like ropes and bells are designed to be chewed, and among these chewable toys are some highly innovative toys made of cuttlebone. Cuttlebone, which is the bone of cuttlefish, is rich in calcium and is a necessary nutritional supplement for birds. Some bird toys manufacturers make perches and bells out of cuttlebone so that when the birds chew it, they would actually be getting all the nutrition that they require.
Foraging bird toys are also a welcome addition to any bird cage. With foraging toys, birds are trained to search for their food that is kept hidden within the rings or slits or drawers of a multilayered toy. Foraging bird toys may be in the form of a carousel, or interlinked containers, or sliding rings or in any creative form that manufacturers can think of. Disposable foraging toys can also be made at home if the bird owner has the time and creativeness to think of treasure hunt ideas for the bird using leftover paper cups, containers, fruit rinds, twigs, newspaper bits etc.
And when it comes to the question of doing things oneself, it is not just foraging toys that can be made at home but many other type of bird toys as well. Those who have access to long varieties of leaves like palm leaf can make any number of disposable woven toys like whistles, diamonds, rings, snakes etc. with it. Broader types of leaves and twigs, stuck together to form boats, or crocheted together to form paddles or ladders, will also make excellent bird toys.
Homemade or factory-made, bird toys are a must for bird cages, both from the beautification perspective and utility perspective.
