Smart home technology has been gradually sneaking into the Barton household. With its lullaby songs, extra bedtime stories and sweet panda face, the Echo Dot is an easy sell for tired parents trying to get three young children to sleep. Next was the Ecobee thermostat, followed quickly by the iRobot vacuum and mopping systems. Months later Alexa turns on my curlers when I wake up, a motion detector and smart bulbs illuminate the guest bathroom and our porch lights automatically turn on and off with the sunrise and sunset. Of course our parrots and guest parrots also benefit from our smart home features. Read on to learn four ways to set up a smart bird room to enrich your parrot’s life. 

 

1. Smart Lights

 

Have you ever accidentally left a bright light on after sunset when your parrot was likely trying to get some zzz’s? Smart light switches allow you to effortlessly control the lighting in your parrot’s room. You can set them up to correspond with the sunrise and sunset or synchronize with your parrot’s bedtime. Take it up a notch by adding a smart bulb to change the light color for your parrot and create a spa-like atmosphere. Some bulb combinations even mimic nature with sunrise or lake lighting imitations. 

 

2. Smart Speakers

 

No doubt your parrots are already enjoying listening to music. Some parrots also enjoy the news or a podcast. My favorite way to welcome a new feathered guest is to turn on the rainforest sounds. You can also “drop into” your bird room and say hello to your flock by using your smart speakers as an intercom system. Your smart speaker can also recognize important alarms and notify you if a fire alarm or carbon monoxide detector is going off. 

 

3. Smart Thermostat

 

After moving a few walls around in our recent renovation we found that our parrot room was often slightly colder than the rest of our home. The smart thermostat fixed this by allowing us to place an extra sensor in the bird room and adjust the thermostat to the appropriate temperature for our flock. Feeling a little hot after cleaning your bird cages? You can also ask Alexa to turn the temperature up or down to your comfort. 

 

4. Smart Cameras and Security Systems

 

Did I forget to mention our Ring doorbell, cameras and smart security features? We originally used the Ring doorbell to replace a broken doorbell, but quickly realized how handy it is to have extra cameras around our property, and even in our bird room! We can check in on the birds quickly whenever needed and have footage if there is ever a birdie jail break. Do you ever wonder what your birds are doing when nobody is watching? Wonder no more. We also keep an eye on the front door from the Echo Show in our kitchen when we are waiting for a customer to arrive. How great is that? 

 

How do you use smart home technology to enrich your parrot’s life? Please leave us a comment or share an idea below! 

 

Warmly,