Field notes.

Up to two households at a time, maximum. That's the cap. A "household" can be one bird or a bonded pair sharing a cage — but never more than two separate cages in the room.

We keep it small because the birds settle better, and because we can actually keep up the standard of care we promise. Other places scale up. We don't.

We take budgies, finches, canaries, cockatiels, conures, lovebirds, parrotlets, caiques, quakers, ringnecks, pionus, African Greys, Eclectus, smaller Cockatoos, and mini macaws (Hahn's, Severe, Yellow-collared) by arrangement.

We don't take unweaned babies, breeding pairs in active cycle, large Macaws, Moluccan or Umbrella Cockatoos, or birds who are actively unwell. We say no when it's not a fit — that's not a brush-off, that's the right call for your bird.

Yes, for first-time clients. It's free, takes about thirty minutes, and happens at the studio. You bring your bird (or not — sometimes the human meeting is enough), we walk you through the room, you ask whatever you'd want to know.

If we've boarded for you before, no meet-and-greet needed for subsequent bookings.

Three to five photos and a short paragraph, every day. Sent by email or text — you pick. It's a real update from us — what your bird ate, what they refused, what they did, anything we noticed. Not a templated marketing thing.

If something seems off, we tell you the same day with a call.

The list — we email this once you book, too:

Enough food for the stay plus two extra days · cage liners (paper, newsprint, or what you use) · one or two familiar toys · any medications with written instructions and a measuring tool · a list of your bird's preferences and quirks · your vet's name and number · a signed emergency-care authorisation (we provide the form).

The cage itself we'd usually leave at home — we have a clean transport cage we lend out, since most bird cages are awkward to move and birds settle faster in a cage they associate with their own home.

We call you first. Always. Then we follow whatever you instruct.

If you're unreachable and it's an emergency, we go to the avian-experienced vet in Aurora that we have on file. You pre-authorise the emergency visit at first booking. We never make the call to medicate or treat without explicit instructions — even from your vet — unless your bird is in life-threatening distress.

Mist bath, daily, if your bird's used to one — free of charge. Full bath only on request. Nail and wing trims are $25–$35 each, on the rate card. We file beaks rather than clip them. We don't dremel nails — most birds find it more stressful than a hand trim.

More than 7 days before drop-off: full refund. 3 to 7 days: 50% refund. Inside 3 days: no refund unless we can re-book the spot, in which case we refund 75%.

Holiday weeks (Christmas, New Year's, Easter, Family Day, Thanksgiving) have a 14-day cancellation window because the spots are in high demand.

E-transfer or cash at drop-off, or e-transfer once you confirm the dates. We send an itemised receipt by email. We don't take card — keeps things simple and means we don't have to charge processing fees.

Yes to both, through Pet Sitters International — happy to share the certificate at meet-and-greet. We've also held a CPR for Pets certification since 2022.

We'd rather you didn't. Birds settle into the routine within 24–36 hours, and a mid-stay visit usually resets the clock and stresses them out. We send the daily photo letter for exactly this reason — so you can check in without the bird knowing.

For summer and Christmas: 6 to 10 weeks. For most other weeks: 2 to 4 weeks. Last-minute is sometimes possible — just ask.