Bird Toys

This collection brings together the store's bird toys across four ranges — made for chewing, shredding, climbing and foraging rather than decoration. It covers hanging toys, swings, ladders and rope bridges, play gyms, foot toys, foraging puzzles and shredders, in sizes that suit anything from a budgie or canary up to a cockatoo or macaw.

Match the toy to the beak, not just the bird

The sizing question that matters is how much destruction the bird can do. Small birds with fine beaks — budgies, canaries, finches — do best with sisal, wicker, soft rattan, light beads and small block swings, where the parts are light enough to move and shred. Medium parrots such as conures, quakers and ringnecks want a mix of timber blocks and shreddable material. Large parrots go through soft toys quickly and are better served by chunky hardwood, java wood, cork bark and thick rope, or by anything labelled jumbo. Most toys here are listed as Small, Medium, Medium/Large or Jumbo, and the larger pieces carry dimensions in centimetres, so measure the free space in the cage before you buy.

Foraging, shredding and climbing all do different jobs

Foraging toys — barrels, boxes, treat towers, shredding balls and puzzle boards — hide food so the bird has to work for it, which is the closest thing in a cage to how it would feed in the wild. Shredders in rattan, palm, seagrass, cardboard and sola exist to be pulled apart, and they give a restless bird something to destroy other than its own feathers. Chew toys in timber and cork keep beaks in condition. Climbing gear — ladders, rope bridges, swings and play gyms — puts the height of the cage to use. A cage with one of each, rotated every few weeks, holds a bird's attention far better than six toys of the same type left up permanently.

Brands in this collection

Birdie accounts for most of the collection, including the Naturals line in java wood, cork and rattan and a long run of rainbow-coloured timber and acrylic toys. Beak Joy works in sola, seagrass, bamboo and apple wood, and adds play gyms and activity boards. Cheeky Bird makes timber block stacks, swings, ladders and bell toys. Nature Island focuses on shredding boxes, foraging ladders, bamboo climbers and mineral or calcium perches.

• Birdie toys and cages
• Beak Joy foraging toys
• Cheeky Bird timber toys
• Nature Island shredders
• Bird treats for foraging toys
• All bird supplies