Our Birds Respiratory System

Written by Sal Salafia, Certified Avian Specialist Founder of Exotic Pet bird

Recently, I visited a Facebook group I belong to and an image was shared that I think is valuable to all pet bird owners. Our pet birds have highly sensitive and much different respiratory systems than ours. They compress oxygen so differently that in very early years cole miners learned that they were highly sensitive to dangers in the air and would send in canaries into mines to ensure the air was safe to breath. Hence the phrase “canaries in the coal mine”.

Owning a bird, you should be aware that the respiratory system of your pet is extremely delicate. Staying away from harmful smells is extremely important for pet birds. We’ve included this great diagram to illustrate for you the biology of your pet birds; giving you a better idea of what’s going on inside your birds respiratory system. Remember birds in the wild can move on from harmful conditions with a simple flap of their wings. In our homes we are their custodians and responsible for setting an environment that is always safe.

Know that in our homes we are surrounded by harmful chemicals that our bodies are more capable of living around. Air fresheners, teflon and phosphates fill our homes through many house hold items. It’s critical that you are vigilant on making sure you are not surrounding your birds environments with things that will cause respiratory distress. The great news is that your birds inability to live in environments like this will inevitably cause you to clean the air you breathe as well.

Years ago I had a client come to us when their bird passed away suddenly. The bird passed away so unexpectedly without warning that we started to discuss environmental impacts in their home. After a day I received a call notifying me that the owners had their furnace looked at after it stopped working and learned it had a cracked heat exchanger that was leaking in carbon monoxide into their home. The birds cage was positioned right next to the vent. This birds passing literally helped the family start to investigate a very serious issue that could have negatively impacted the entire family. As sad as the loss was it was a clear “Canary in the coal mine” situation that no one in the home realized was happening.

It’s my hope that sharing stories like this help you to better ensure you are creating safe environments for the birds we are raising for you here. We work very hard to keep our community of Aviculturist well versed on the education they need to have full understanding of. Hopefully you find this illustration helpful!