A documentary series

Store:      Bird  Is The Word
Location: 30 Shumway Ave  Batavia, IL 60510
Phone:    (630) 406-7610
Website:  www.birdistheword.com/‎

Store Questionnaire filled out on site on June 5th, 2013

1. Does the store sell birds? Yes

2. Does the store have a quarantine area? Yes

3. Does the store sell unweaned babies? No

4. Does the store breed their own birds, or do they purchase babies from outside sources? Breeds their own, and purchases from local breeders

5. Does the store board birds? Yes

6. If yes, are the boarded birds kept separately from birds in the shop? Yes

7. What are the requirements for boarding? Disease testing – boarded bird must test negative for polyoma, psittacosis, and pbfd

8. If the store does grooming or training, are the birds in a separate area than any in the store or boarded birds? *No

9. Are customers allowed to interact with birds in the store? *Yes

10. Is food sold in bulk? Yes 

11. Does the facility work with or support a rescue in any way? No – the employee indicated there were none in the area to work with

12. Are potential owners given access to educational material before the purchase of a bird? No

13. Are staff members trained to assist with issues such as behavior, diet and caging questions that clients may bring up? Yes

14. Does the store staff take part in continuing education? N/A

15. Does the staff readily answer customer questions? Yes

16. Does the store do pre purchase screening prior to selling a bird to an individual? No

17. Does the store sell ‘custom blended’ mixes? No

18. Is the store well lit? Yes

19. How often do cages get cleaned? 1 x daily 

20. Is there a safe area where birds are allowed out of their cages in the store? Yes

21. What brands of food are sold? (Foods listed were foods available on store shelves at the time of the visit)

• Higgins
• Roudybush
• Pretty Bird
• Sun Seed

22. What services does the store offer?

• Boarding
• Grooming

Notes: Question #8 – the employee indicated that there was a separate area for grooming that was done, and pointed at the cash register area, near the door. Since the shop is small and there isn’t any dividing space separating store birds from grooming birds, for purposes of this questionnaire the answer is effectively ‘No’ instead of ‘Yes’ as indicated by the store employee. 

Question #9 – it should be noted that to access store birds one must first use the hand sanitizing station, unlock and walk through a half door where the store birds are. The area where the store birds are is separated by a waist high half wall, which helps stem the flow of foot traffic in the bird area.