The mission of The Parrot Perch is to have fun sharing stories of our parrots and other companion birds, no matter the species. Our focus and hope is that each person will come and make new friends, enjoy old friends, share the stories that our birds love to tell, and those that we love to tell about them. And of course along the way, share the joy of learning more about our wonderful birds.

As such, The Parrot Perch message board does not provide medical advice from experts in the field or medical professionals. If your bird is seriously sick or hurt, please seek professional medical advice from your avian veterinarian.

We do not mind sharing the World Wide Web with all the other bird-related boards out there. We're not here to compete, but to offer an additional place for you to perch and chat about your birds.

There are rules that govern this board as defined by Boardhost. Additionally and more specifically, these are our rules:

• If you are 13 years of age, but younger than 16, you must obtain a parent or guardian's permission to post on this board. This rule for our younger members is to ensure internet safety. Please have your parent or guardian write us at The Parrot Perch. Further posts will be deleted if you have been asked to have a parent or guardian contact us and do not do so. Children under the age of 13 years are not allowed to post at The Parrot Perch Message board until their 13th birthday. Further posts will be deleted after we have informed you directly via email or the message board. Boardhost dictates this age limit. We invite you to return on your 13th birthday and with parental permission. Photos posted on our board are the property of those who **own** the photos and any use online anywhere requires the **permission** of those who own the photos. Graphics, backgrounds, borders, and other board related formatting is protected by copyright law and cannot be used without permission.

  We will not allow and will automatically delete posts with:

• Racial slurs or derogatory speech towards any group or creed.
• Pornography


• Profanity or swearing and if words are used that are deemed to be such they will either be deleted or changed by a Perch Host.
• Flaming (attacking another participant in overly harsh and often personal terms) or Trolling (deliberately posting inflammatory comments to a forum in order to bait other users into responding).
• Libelous or defaming statements (Anything that is spoken against another person, message board, product, company, etc). Posts may offer records of personal experiences with products, companies, individuals, etc., but they may not characterize those products, companies, etc. in general).
• Copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise protected materials (unless it is yours or unless permission by the owner is granted).
• Inappropriate medical/veterinary advice (we reserve the right to determine what is inappropriate).
• The intent to collect or retrieve emails for the purpose of sending unsolicited advertisements (ie: Spam).
• Debates are welcome, but please remember your manners. It's better to agree to disagree. Also, sometimes threads can become heated. In those moments please remember that we are all human and can make mistakes. We ask that you temper what you say and try to keep the spirit of the board alive. If you think something you have to say may be questionable use this test: “If you wouldn't say it in front of someone's grandmother then don’t say it at all”.
• We are not an ad board. Sharing links to websites that sell bird products, services, and etc. is allowed as long as it submitted by a poster and is relevant to comments within the posting thread or is relating to a product or service a poster is interested in or uses. However, posts containing only direct advertisement of products, services, etc. are not allowed.
• TPP does not support nor is in any way affiliated with animal rights groups. Because of this, we ask that you neither support nor endorse any animal rights groups or provide links or information to or about them on the board. Posts with links or information may be shut down either by deletion of the post, links being taken out, posts being amended by information being taken out, or disallowing any further posts to the original. This will be done at the discretion of TPP Hosts and/or Administrators. If a poster continues to violate this rule, posting privileges may be suspended or revoked.
• We reserve the right to remove any post(s) we determine to be in violation of our rules and guidelines. A removed post does not mean you are immediately banned, are in the wrong, or not welcome - it merely means the post has been determined to be in violation of our rules and guidelines. Also because our focus for the board is more relaxed, we prefer to not “ban” anybody unless other resolutions have been attempted and failed. If a ban is implemented, the person being banned will be notified and an explanation will be given as to why the ban is in effect.
• Email addresses are not required for every post. If you specify to a Host or the Administrator that you would prefer that your email remain confidential by contacting us at The Parrot Perch your email address will remain confidential and will not be shared with anyone.
• This board was created to offer a safe community to chat about birds. If it is reported to The Parrot Perch that unwanted or unwarranted contact was made through The Parrot Perch Message Board, a careful review of any communication will be conducted. Unwanted, uninvited and unsolicited contact through the use of The Parrot Perch Message Board reported by an aggrieved party may be considered a violation of the rules.
• If you feel you have received inappropriate contact through the use of The Parrot Perch Message board, please contact us at The Parrot Perch.
• Just a reminder: In case of a medical emergency with your bird please contact your avian vet. This board is not to be used for advice in lieu of seeing a professional medical practitioner. Discussions of alternative methods of treatment are welcomed, but using these in lieu of seeking professional medical advice may be at the risk of your bird's health and well being.
• If you choose to follow medical advice from posts or linked articles on the Internet or more specifically, The Parrot Perch Message Board, you do so at your own risk. The Parrot Perch assumes no responsibility or liability for your own personal decision.

These rules may be subject to change.