A cage
designed for medium-large parrots, with a playtop.
A birdcage (or bird
cage) is a cage designed to house birds as pets.
Pet birds face numerous
challenges in captivity. Most birds fly, which puts them at risk of impacting ceiling
fans, stoves, and other hazards. Even birds with their wings clipped may eat
hazardous substances, chew on cords, or gnaw at furniture. As many pet birds
are not domesticated and still retain their natural instincts, they sometimes
can be unpredictable. Their small size makes housing them in cages a convenient
solution to these problems.
Some people find housing
birds in cages to be cruel. In general, the larger and the more active the
bird, the larger the cage one should use. Some birds have special requirements.
Parrots tend to gnaw on cages, and macaws are known to bite through metal. Amazons
prefer horizontal bars, as they like to climb. Messy eaters should have a seed
skirt to catch food. Breeding may require nesting boxes. Smart birds, like
psitticines and corvines, need secure latching mechanisms to prevent them from
figuring them out, and often require toys and/or playstands to keep them
entertained.
While small cages are
relatively cheap, large, parrot-sized cages can cost hundreds or thousands of
dollars. The materials used to build the cages has a lot to do with the price
level. Most cages are made or wrought iron and painted with a non-toxic paint
referred to as powder-coating. However, the newest trend in the market is cages
made of solid stainless steel. Large parrot cages made of stainless steel can
cost thousands of dollars and will actually outlive a powder-coated cage by 5
to 6 times.
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Birdcage&action=history