Your Basic Bird

This store made me sad and ruined my Sunday. Walked in and took a look around because I love birds and am thinking about getting a conure or electus in the near future. The cages were very small and over cluttered with birds. The cages for the larger birds were clearly way too small for them and very dirty. I only saw one toy in each cage. A few of the birds looked very stressed and plucked a lot of their feathers out. The one guy I saw working there looked like he hated life and didn’t even acknowledge or look at us, just said «excuse me» as he pushed his way by. I hate to see birds stressed out in an environment like this it breaks my heart.

I have been browsing through the bird section in Your Basic Bird for years.
What a terrrific selection of birds from all over the world, Claudia, the owner, has!
One afternoon while I was browsing there, a little German Roller canary caught my attention… I was drawn to him by the beautiful melody he so passionately sang!
I saved up and went back the next month, and was so glad to see that he was still available. I brought him on the spot, took him home, and his song has filled my house ever since.
Later, when I wanted to get a mate for him, I called Your Basic Bird and asked if they had any female German Rollers; they said they did not, but that they would call me as soon as some came in.
A few months later, I got the call, the German Roller females had arrived, and they said that they had three to choose from.
I immediately drove out to take a look at their selection.
When I got to the store, I was led to a large cage, where I could see one big German Roller, and two smaller ones. I bought one of the small ones, however, when I got her home, she did not like my little guy at all, so I put her in a separate cage, went back to the pet shop, and bought the other small one. They got along great!
On July 4, 2015, their egg hatched! The hatchling was all boy, and grew into a very bold little bird, earning the name Toroburu which, in Japanese, means trouble. He’s trouble, because he always wants what everyone else has. He stalks the other birds and bumps them out of the way from the lettuce, or the seed or the water, but once he gets what they have, he doesn’t what it anymore.
Unfortunately, there is another, more somber, reason why he is trouble, one that reflects negatively on the integrity of the shop.
It turns out that Your Basic Bird sold me an American Singer female, and not a German Roller, as I had been led to believe.
Little Toroburu has a slash of brown coloring across his face, and the back of his neck, which identifies him as an American Singer. German Rollers are solid yellow.
One of the females I was originally shown, had a teeny speck of brown on her, and that was why I did not purchase that one first.
When the first small female I did purchase rejected Toroburu, I went back, as I said earlier, and bought the other small female, who was still part of the Roller collection.
Even with the teeny speck of brown, I thought it was an anomaly, because I was told that it was a German Roller. I know better now — «Buyer beware!»
Later, when I went back to buy seed, (which in itself is another story, but I won’t get into it here), I told Claudia about Toroburu’s coloring, and that his mother had to be an American Singer and not a German Roller. Claudia moved the conversation to the back of the store, away from the customers at the counter. As we stood in front of the American Singer cage and the German Roller cage, she asked, in a soft voice, «What does his song sound like?»
His song is amazing, and I enjoy him, but I wish she would have apologized, or said something about the switch. Instead, she chose to ignore what I was saying, and change the subject.
Because of what happened to me there, I feel like Claudia thinks that making money is more important than having integrity, and that getting away with pulling the wool over her costumers’ eyes is more important than being honest.
If this is how she thinks, it does not bode well for the future of her business.
If the little hatchling had never hatched, I would never have known that Claudia had sold me an American Singer female, falsely advertised as a German Roller.
From some of these other Unilocal reviews, I see that I am not the only one who has experienced how their business is being run, and it is a shame, because it has such great potential.
I hope Claudia reconsiders her ways so that she can save both herself and her business!

5 stars, I’ve dubbed it the ‘Berkley Bird Spa.’
Claudia takes my bird under her wing and makes her part of the flock when I’m out of town. Its cool to see my bird so happy and well adjusted.
Chad

This store was very well kept and full of happy and obviously very healthy birds. I ran into the store by chance when passing by, and was delighted to see it actually had pet birds for sale, and some possibly were store resident birds.
The store was well stocked and full of lots of happy customers when I visited. I don’t live in Berkeley, but I plan on stopping by again just to visit this gem of a pet store. :)

A store just for birds? That’s cool! I’m surprised they manage to stay open, must be hella people with birds around here :)

Let me preface this review by saying I have never purchased anything here, just stopped by a couple times to look/​talk/​play with the birds. On my last visit, I encountered an employee so sour-​faced and rude that I was completely deterred from ever stepping foot in YBB again.
My friend and I (both college students) went recently, we were having a great time moseying from cage to cage and talking to the feathered residents (we’re both avid bird lovers). I walked up to an employee there (Angelina – avoid her at all costs) to ask about purchasing a bird. She had the worse attitude– perma-​scowl on her face, rude as hell, and condescending about bird care to me, despite the fact that I have owned birds all my life (and told her this). So I dropped the whole buy-​a-​bird question and kept perusing the store.
Soon after, a cockatoo threw a screeching fit. I walked over to the ‘too and interacted with him. I was merely talking to the bird when Angelina marches over and scolds me for paying attention to him when he screeches. I understand why you shouldn’t acknowledge bird behavior like that, but the way she practically yelled at me and handled the whole situation was way rude and uncalled for.
This employee is chasing off potential customers (like me) left and right. When I do purchase another bird, I will steer clear of this store and certainly will never come back for any reason.

We recently found out that one of our kids had developed an allergy to our cat. Claudia, the owner of Your Basic Bird, allowed us to post a note in her store window. After just a few days, we found a new owner. Thank you, Claudia!
Your Basic Bird has a nice selection of birds, bunnies and pet supplies. The store has been a staple in the Elmwood neighborhood for years. Keep up the great work!

They really know birds. They sell safe toys and healthy food at reasonable prices. They are glad to give advice.

I will be forever grateful to Claudia and Garret for helping me with my parakeet that I bought from another chain store months ago. I had been worried about ever getting my bird out of her cage. I had read that parakeets are very intelligent and need to be out of their cage. I’d tried and tried on my own. I made an appointment for an evaluation the week before and spent an hour there and in that short time she was out of her cage and even able to get her onto my finger! It was just AMAZING! Had her wings and nails clipped; the training session; cage reconfigured; bird seed, a ladder for her cage and out the door for barely $ 20.00!

I couldn’t agree more with fellow Unilocaler Ashley, who wrote:
«We were shocked and saddened at what we saw.
All of the cages were way too small, and those for the smaller birds were crammed with far too many of them. Most of the cages were filthy, and had little or no enrichment/​chew toys. Many of the birds were self mutilating/​plucking feathers out, others were obviously visibly sick… we couldn’t support it in good conscience and had to leave.»
These kinds of stores break my heart. She is right. The animals are receiving minimal enrichment. You can tell they are struggling, and are not happy. It breaks my heart.
Please look into rescuing or adopting your next pet. Please. There are many organizations all over the world that are taking care of animals that need your help. You can make a huge difference by saving a life. Giving your patronage to stores like these only further worsens the futures of animals that end up in this shop.

Kind of a horror show. Birds are crammed, traumatized and mutilated. Walked in with the intention of buying 6 months worth of supplies. We left knowing only that we had to tell others of what we saw. Booooooooo!

DO NOT BUY OR BOARD HERE!!! Please adopt a bird from Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue and don’t support terrible shops like these.
I was so very excited to go to an all-​bird supply store for the first time. My fiancé and I made a trip out if it, planning to stock up on lots of new toys, a play gym, and treats for our two adopted tiels.
We were shocked and saddened at what we saw.
All of the cages were way too small, and those for the smaller birds were crammed with far too many of them. Most of the cages were filthy, and had little or no enrichment/​chew toys. Many of the birds were self mutilating/​plucking feathers out, others were obviously visibly sick… we couldn’t support it in good conscience and had to leave.
Needless to say, we’re sticking to Amazon here on out.

I have been a retail customer here for 10+ years and my husband and I have been boarding our special-​needs Alexandrine Parakeet, Lucky, here for 2+ years. Claudia and the staff are Lucky’s 2^nd family. They treat him so well, they accommodate him in back since he’s high stress and a plucker, and he always comes home happy. We sometimes call for boarding at the last minute, as we just did for the thanksgiving holiday, and as always, they squeeze Lucky in. We adore the loving and very competent staff there and feel super lucky to have them near where we live.

I’ve bought a number of birds from Claudia and they’ve all been healthy and well cared for. Going into Your Basic Bird is a real treat because there always seems to be some adorable entertaining conures and sweet kittens and cats up for adoption. The staff is very knowledgable and they really care where their birds and other small animals end up. My only issue is that I purchased a canary that I was told was a male but the cute little thing is laying eggs like crazy!
I could have called Claudia and returned the bird for a male (she offers that guarantee) but by that time I was too attached to let her go…

The owner Of Your Basic Bird is RUDE, RUDE, RUDE — The store is so dusty — they need a better filtering system — her employees are nice but afraid of her as she can’t stay focused ! — YUCK

I met an employee there who obviously loves birds but hates people, especially kids. Maybe she should start a bird rescue instead. Disappointed and won’t go back.

This is one of the few pet shops in the Berkeley area. I can’t buy any pets since I am in college and would be a horrible pet owner (I am never home), I love to check out this place to see all the animals! It’s a great way to get some pet therapy, especially because of the adorable cats and birds that talk. The staff is always super friendly and informative! I wish I could get a pet here, but it’s just not the right time! The baby cockatiels are so funny when they make that «I’m hungry» shrieking sound. Stop by!

Whenever we go on vacation, we board our parrot with the avian vet in whose store he was born. We’ve never regretted that, and always considered it a wonderful setup…
…until we walked into here. Your Basic Bird is more of a traditional (locally owned) pet store, with well cared for kittens, puppies and of course, birdos of all feathers. What struck me was the way they had their boarders (birds whose families were on vacation) in the main part of the shop, where they could socialize, be stimulated by one another and enjoy occasional skritches on the neck by bird-​loving passers-​by. Birds need toys and puzzles for proper stimulation — and they had plenty here. The cages were clean, the water was fresh, and the birds looked engaged. The few that were a bit more shy had a nook in the back of the store where they could just be, undisturbed.
Frankly, I got my «bird fix» while we were in there, just loving on a couple of beautiful juvenile Meyer’s parrots. Well done, YBB!

This place is as nostalgic as it gets for me. When I was a little boy, I used to have a pet cocktail that I loved so much. One day he slipped out of his cage and flew away. So visiting Your Basic Bird brings me back to those happier days when it was me and my cocktail. Sigh, how I miss that bird! This store makes it hard for me to come in and leave without a bird.
The sales staff are highly informative and have great customer service.
Nice spot to come browse and check out the different birds.
(-) parking
(+) kids love it

Both my girlfriend and I are anxiously awaiting the day we can have a dog or cat of our very own. Whenever we pass shops like Your Basic Bird, however, it makes the wait that much more difficult.
However, the animals here are well taken care of. While it is true that their specialty is birds, there are also the guinea pigs, rabbits, and the cutest kittens you have ever seen. The staff manning the shop do their best to make sure the animals are taken good care of at all times, and it shows in their demeanor.
We might not have a pet of our own just yet, but at least these little guys have a home for the time being.