There are 4 types of bird toys your parrot must have in their bird cage. These types of toys will make for a well adjusted bird who is not wanting for your attention by screaming or plucking his feathers.

Chewable Toys

Chewable bird toys are the toys that once you put it in your bird's cage, he immediately tears them up. Believe it or not, this is great fun for your bird and not only is it great fun it also makes them feel accomplished. Have you ever accomplished a task at work or at home that once you were done you felt great. You might even have stared at what you accomplished just to enjoy the feeling a little longer. This is the feeling that a parrot has when he chews and tears a toy up and can see the fruits of his labor below. This is also a great activity for his beak and keeps him active and in a playful mode. I also often think that my birds love to watch me come clean up after they have destroyed one of their toys. It is as if they like the attention of me coming over and cleaning.

Some examples of chewable toys are toys made out of wood, such as pine and other soft woods and also hardwoods, leather, soft plastics, paper and supreme cotton rope.

Foraging Toys

Foraging toys are the latest rave in Parrot toys. These toys are great and allow your bird to forage for food as he would in the wild. It forces your bird to instinctively search for food and also allows them to work their mind in finding this food. My Mom's Quaker parrot Phantom, loves to forage for his food and finds it difficult playing with regular toys. A lot of foraging toys are made out of indestructible plastic materials which makes these toys what I call Last Forever toys. Some foraging toys are meant to be destroyed so your bird can rip and tear at it while he searches for the hidden surprise. Sometimes your bird can get too smart and is able to figure out the trick to finding the hidden treats too quickly and it is up to you the bird owner to think of ways of making it more difficult for him to find his treats in the Foraging Toys. In the case of my Mom's Quaker Phantom, she stuffs newspaper and recyclable paper into his foraging toy to make it more difficult for him to find his food. At first he thought it was a little too much work to pull out the paper and get the food inside but he then realized no pain no glory and started tearing out the newspaper with a vengeance in order to get the food inside.

Last Forever Toys

Another classification of bird toys is what I call Last Forever Toys. In most cases these toys should last forever because they are so durable. These toys can be made out of PVC, acrylic, hard plastic or metal. These toys are great for the bigger birds because their beaks are so big and they will have a more difficult time destroying these types of toys. Some of the best toys in this category are made out of acrylic and PVC. Your larger birds such as Macaws and Cockatoos with those big beaks will love the different components they can twist and turn in these types of toys.

Physical Activity Toys

An example of a physical activity bird toy would be a swing. The reason that a swing is a physical activity toy is that your bird has to use a lot of his muscles to stay on the swing and balance. Our Severe Macaw Buddy loves to play on his swing. He will actually swing his body back and forth to make his swing move and you can just see the workout he is getting. He also loves to sleep on his swing as does our Cockatoo Marshmellow. Swings also help promote coordination for your bird as well is preventing feet atrophy. There are many different types of swings to choose from. Some swings come with chewable parts on the sides and chewable parts hanging below the swing to allow your bird to have the best of both worlds, a swing to get exercise and a toy to play with.