{"topic_id":"exotic_behavior_bird","category":"exotic-behavior","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_behavior_bird\ncategory: exotic-behavior\ntitle: \"Pet Bird — behavior & socialization (companionship, play, bonding, preventing boredom/behavior problems)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"First-hand owner-practical care page saved to source_file; C1 byte-substring verified. Pulled 2026-08-01.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/companion-care/exotic_merck_bird.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-01\ntokens_estimated: 520\nverification:\n  method: substring_match\n  claims: 8\n  passed: 8\n  date: 2026-08-01\nrecovered: false\npath: exotic-behavior/exotic_behavior_bird/01_exotic_behavior_bird.md\nsource_document: \"RSPCA pet care advice / Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner version\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"RSPCA pet care advice (rspca.org.uk) / Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner version (merckvetmanual.com)\"\n  title: \"Pet Bird — behavior & socialization (companionship, play, bonding, preventing boredom/behavior problems)\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/bird-owners/choosing-and-taking-care-of-a-pet-bird\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-01\"\n  ref: \"Pet Bird owner-practical care (first-hand, https://www.merckvetmanual.com/bird-owners/choosing-and-taking-care-of-a-pet-bird)\"\n  doc_type: \"animal-welfare-org / veterinary-manual consumer version\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Pet Bird — behavior & socialization (companionship, play, bonding, preventing boredom/behavior problems)\n\nSource: first-hand owner-practical care page, saved to `source_file`; every claim below is a C1 byte-substring of it.\n\n## Claims\n\n- `Birds are social and can get lonely if they don’t get enough attention.`\n- `If they're not stimulated enough, they can develop behavior problems like biting, screaming, or pulling out their feathers.`\n- `Boredom is a big reason for these unwanted behaviors, so it's important to provide ways for birds to stay active and interested.`\n- `To keep your bird entertained, you can play music or leave a TV on nearby.`\n- `Regularly spending time with your bird, especially for training, helps keep them happy.`\n- `Small cages can stress birds out and lead to problems.`\n- `Most birds shouldn't have their cages covered at night, because that can stress them out.`\n- `Avoid mirror toys that might confuse birds and stress them out.`\n\n---\n\n**Source:** `pdf-raw/companion-care/exotic_merck_bird.txt` · https://www.merckvetmanual.com/bird-owners/choosing-and-taking-care-of-a-pet-bird\n","sources":["exotic-behavior — Pet Bird — behavior & socialization (companionship, play, bonding, preventing boredom/behavior problems) (retrieved 2026-08-01)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-behavior","title":"Pet Bird — behavior & socialization (companionship, play, bonding, preventing boredom/behavior problems)","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/bird-owners/choosing-and-taking-care-of-a-pet-bird","retrieved":"2026-08-01","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"RSPCA pet care advice / Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner version","verification_file":"pdf-raw/companion-care/exotic_merck_bird.txt"},"source_document":"RSPCA pet care advice / Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner version","source_file":"pdf-raw/companion-care/exotic_merck_bird.txt","tokens_estimated":353,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}