Hi everyone, we live in FL and during the summer months we get numerous severe thunderstorms with tons of lightning and very loud, booming thunder. Sometimes these storms start late at night after the birds have gone to bed, other times they are going on when it's the bird's bedtime. My question is.... does anyone do anything special in regards to making your birds feel more secure during storms? Have your birds gotten "night frights" during storms? Our bird's cages are covered most of the way except a bit in the front and their room has a soft nightlight but i'm still concerned that these very loud storms will stress out the birds and was wondering if anything could be done to help them with this or do you think the storms don't bother the birds? Any opinions and comments are welcomed Thanks!

Deb

well...sound proofing would be great for a bird room to lessen the impact of sound, the draw back however is cost and if your birds are alone in there IF lightening strikes your house and starts a fire you can't hear em screaming. I don't worry about thunder though I live above that line. It's just my thought, a vent connecting your bird's sound proof room to your bedroom would be a good idea though then you have a sort of baby moniter on the birds.

hmmm a baby monitor..... I hadn't thought of that before but that sounds like a wonderful idea, I think I will have to get one that way I can hear if they startle from the thunder or anything else. Unfortunately the storms here in FL are just terrible and extremely loud and scary and I just worry as to what effect it could have on them. Thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated

Also another note, if they have their own private room, you could hook up a motion sensor webcam with private website access with a password. I was originally planning on doing this when I thought I'd get secretary work so I could periodically swing over and check on my birds without leaving the office. I don't remember how to set up these sites, but recommend to avoid hackers using a stationary web cam that ONLY points to your birds in said area with enough vantage, and perhaps a 24 hour security loop. People like to steal birds and hawk em for dope money especially the bigger birds I've noticed, so if something god for bid happens you have video tape evidence. I am a very paranoid person when it comes to these things LOL.

Deb, I also live in Florida. Yes, those darn storms can be pretty bad. No, the storms have never bothered my birds. I really don't think it is to much to worry about. They have lived through storms all their lives. In my opinion, the birds will only be affected by sensing your fear.

By the way, what part of Florida do you live?
Great to have another Floridian on the board. Hope to see you post often.

Thanks so much for the replies Grandma, we live on the west coast of FL not too far from the Tampa area. I've had my african grey Yogi for almost 17 years now so he's been through storms, hurricanes, and everything else you can think of but our smaller birds seem to be afraid of the really bad storms as I can sometimes hear them making noises during the very bad thunder, I do think we will get a baby monitor that way we can hear all of them in case they are afraid. Thanks again for all of the replies

Exactly what I was going to say. I live at the opposite end of the coast, and our thunderstorms don't hold a candle to yours in frequency or severity, but I've never noticed that they bother the birds at all. I do worry about transferring my anxiety to them, though.

I live in Wisconsin and we have lots of storms. They don't bother the birds, at all. They do scare the heck out of the dog, though.

maybe some birds aren't bothered because nature wise they live closer to the canopy, like in rain forest birds I'm pretty sure they're used to the thunder and a few of em have been zapped but it rains there all the time, and lots of thunder and lightning I'm betting from the high density cold and hot fronts passing over them with hurricanes and all other forms of intensified weather.