Whether you're a pet retailer, adoption center, aviculturist, or a pet owner, written records are vital to the welfare of the birds in your care.

First, written records create a documented history of a particular bird. This is important for evaluating the health of the individual bird or possibly a collection of birds. Written records assist in avian health professional's assessment of possible disease and malnutrition in an aviary, pet shop, and individual birds. You'd be surprised what a trained eye sees when viewing a good record keeping system! Sometimes chronic problems are resolved by looking at a "flock" as opposed to an individual bird. And, sometimes the human mind tends to forget when dealing with many birds over a period of time.

Secondly, written records should also include a "disaster" plan, which is required in many states for licensing requirements. Keep in mind that "Disasters" are not limited to hurricanes or wildfires. What happens when the human caretaker is unable to take care of the birds? Or how about an escape? A disaster can be considered anything that interferes with the normal activity of a bird in our care.

Can documentation be something other than written? Sure, just remember to keep a back up in universal language, i.e. computer software that anyone can read-and have access to in the event of emergency.

The following forms are examples of written records used at HARI.