Meet Kim Russell

If you have followed BirdTricks for any period of time on YouTube, you have most likely seen Kim and some members of her flock. She has been a long time client of BirdTricks (including being a free flight student) and, for the past few years, has been working as our Customer Care Manager and Free Flight Coordinator.

Everyone who has worked with Kim, whether as a customer or a co-worker, raves about her attention to detail, her dedication to always furthering and expanding her knowledge, and her ability to really get to the root of any issue, no matter how complicated it may seem at first. She truly excels at explaining and applying the foundations of training to every situation she encounters.

A Brief History

Kim has always had a passion for working with animals, and it is thanks to this passion that she became a Certified Veterinary Technician. She also trained and fostered hard to place dogs, as well as owned, trained and showed horses. These experiences are what drew her in to learning to free fly parrots. This passion for training is also why she continues to work and grow with BirdTricks.

For the past few years her emphasis has been all in on parrots, but her introduction to parrots is not recent. She owned her first parrot (a cockatiel named Bobby) when she was just a teenager. Her exact words when asked about her past parrot were What I would have given to have the knowledge I have gained with BirdTricks with my first parrot! .

Meet The Flock

(See Photos For Pictures of Each)

Reggie – Congo African Grey

He is the one that started her journey with BirdTricks! He came to Kim as an older rescue on a horrible diet, no interest in toy interaction and began biting shortly after she got him. She found BirdTricks on YouTube and booked a consult with Dave and Jamie! The rest is history as they say…

Piper – Green Cheek Conure 

This is her smallest bird and the one that keeps Kim on her toes the most! Permission based training is the ONLY option with this little spitfire! Piper could be the poster child for all things hormonal, so if you have a hormonal bird, Kim knows EXACTLY what you are going through! 



Ricochet – Red Fronted Macaw 

Called Rico for short, he is the one that Kim has learned the most from! He is freeflight trained and quite the character. Together they hit some major bumps in the road when Kim was grieving the loss of her first freeflight bird, Boomer (who passed from illness); she and Rico struggled for quite some time. However, with a LOT of time, patience and training, they have overcome so much together and the lessons she learned during this have not only been the most valuable to her, but also spurred the most growth in herself as a trainer.

Halo – Camelot Macaw 

Yes, the one and only Halo from our baby bird course! He is freeflight trained and is just the absolute sweetest. Kim always calls him her BIG melty boy (aka: Sir Melts A Lot).  Halo has matured into an adult and she has learned first hand with Halo about managing those hormonal swings that comes with maturity of a parrot and will have some great insight for you if this is something that you are struggling with in your own flock. 

Breezy – Galah (Rose Breasted Cockatoo)

Breezy is a mixture of sweetness and of course orneriness because, well, she is a cockatoo! She feeds Kim s soul every time she celebrates life with her enthusiastic galahness (it s a word, we promise lol). She also has taught Kim some amazing lessons when it comes to really embracing their pace and going with the flow of training.

Consulting With Kim

While Kim has an extensive list of topics that she will consult on based on the wide range of training she has done with her own flock, there are a few topics she really excels at consulting in…

• Diet Conversion!! Diet is the VERY FIRST step to address and can fix a large percentage of common problems. However, this process can be tricky and she s here to help guide you through it!
• Weaning baby birds and introducing our diet to baby birds. (she will always advocate for self-weaning from the bird and will not participate or support a forced weaning approach) 
• Anything pertaining to our Beginner Level Course  or Advance Level Course If you need help just knowing where to start, Kim was once there with you and can help get you on the right path.
• General husbandry training for your flock. Including voluntary nail trims, crating, syringe and other medical training and voluntary toweling. 
• Hormones – these cause a lot of problems and, while seasonal, can end up creating problems that last even in between seasons. While we can t get rid of them, we can manage them together!
• General handling concerns such as fear of hands, shoulder rushing, and shoulder aggression.
• Toy training, cage set up and working with getting your parrot to self entertain.
• Screaming, aka: how to manage the sounds of your flock. While screaming is a part of life for most bird owners and will not go away completely, there are ways to help mitigate the occurrences that Kim can assist you with!

• There are a few topics, though, that Kim does not consult in. Please keep these in mind before purchasing a consultation with her…

  • Anything regarding flight, both indoor and outdoor.
  • Anything that could be considered medical advice – this needs to be discussed with your avian vet. 
  • Anything regarding breeding, hand feeding or selling birds.

  • If you aren t sure if your issue is one that Kim consults on, please feel free to email our customer service team at [email protected] and they will be happy to check with her before you make your purchase. 

    Consultation Information

    Digital instructions on how to set up your consultation will be available in your account with us after purchase. You can also access the PDF instructions via the email that is sent to you after purchase regarding accessing your content. All digital content including booking instructions will be available in your account with us if you have an account with us set up (if you do not, please make an account but with the SAME email address you used to purchase your consultation). 

    What s Included…

    • One 30 minute online consultation with Kim via Zoom

    • What You Get For Free…

      • Family Friendly Parrot Formula 1 + Target Training Mini Course Digital Download 

      • Diet Conversion Course
      • Pre-Consultation Diet Video Digital Download

      • All consults must be used within 1 year of purchase. 

        There are no substitutions for any of the free digital downloads. The price of the consult is the same with or without the downloads.

        Please see our returns refunds policy on consultations here.  BirdBucks cannot be applied towards the purchase of a consultation.