That's fine if you have some place to park your bird for a few hours. (I put Louie, our blue-and-gold macaw, in an outdoor aviary.) But not everyone has that option.

I don't know much about chemical cleaning, but it doesn't sound safe and I wouldn't risk it. Steam cleaning seems to be the ticket. Louie has always done fine with Stanley Steemer. Then again, I've always removed her from the house for a few hours.

Last week I decided to save a few bucks on professional cleaning and I bought my own Hoover SteamVac TurboPower 5200, which uses Hoover Ultra Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, a liquid detergent that comes in a green bottle. I just finished rinsing the carpets after shampooing and drying two days ago, and Louie? No ill effects so far.

I think carpet cleaning with soap and water, no matter how you apply it, should be safe. We all use soap in many parts of the house, and we're not talking about killer fumes here, even for birds. I'll let you know if anything changes, but right now all of us, bird and human, are happy with our new steam vacuum.

Ogden wants feathers only from fellow bird lovers who believe as she does: that birds do not belong in captivity. She'd like to receive only a few feathers from each contributor.

Let her know if you would like your parrot's name to be included on the back of the piece and your name listed as a contributor. If you like, also include a statement expressing your views on birds in captivity and the reason why you are donating feathers. Mail feathers to: Bird Freedom Art, P.O. Box 338, Westville, NJ 08093. You can e-mail Ogden at birdfreedomart@gmail.com.

Spring - and love - is in the air
The winners of the March-April 2009 Your Birds photo contest are a bunch of love birds: hugging, kissing, preening - it's oh so sweet!

Congratulations go to Nachala Faifuenfusiri of Phuket, Thailand, for her first-place photo of Odie, a blue-and-gold macaw, placing a wing around Sembae, an African grey, and sharing a kiss. Nachala will be receiving a $50 gift certificate from our Your Birds sponsor, The Perch, or equivalent prize.

Second-place honors and a $25 gift certificate from The Perch go to Susan Weber of Little Ferry, N.J., for her entry, white-fronted Amazons Betsy Ross and Liberty Bell, showing sisterly affection.

Thanks to everyone for entering this time around. We received such an overabundance of fantastic photos, it was really, really hard to pick just two.

Deadline for the next Your Birds contest, May-June 2009, is April 10; results will be posted no later than April 20!

When I got back to the living room, I smelled something funny, a burning smell. It got stronger, and I thought of sitting in front of the fire with Louie, and how her long tail had swung around when I turned to talk to Paul.

I ran back to Louie's room and switched on the light. She was fine. Not in flames. But the smell in the living room got more acrid. We looked around for the source. Was it us, a pillow, the dog? What was on fire?

I went back to Louie's room and turned on the light again. And looked more closely at her tail. The ends of her long, beautiful blue tail feathers were curled and blackened. Burned. Now it was everywhere, the smell of burning feathers, so strong it almost stung our eyes.

We thought we had nothing to worry about with a glass-enclosed gas fireplace. No open flame. Louie is smart enough not to perch on the grill when it's on. Too hot. But a feather need make contact with the blistering glass for only a few moments to begin shriveling and what, catch fire? Hard to imagine. But I don't think I'll be sharing the hearth with Louie anymore.