Abstract:
A feeding system for captive birds combines the activity of foraging with feeding in a manner that can be easily managed and used by the bird&#39;s owner or caretaker. The system includes a disposable feeder box made of frangible edible material for storing food and a mounting system for mounting the box to an inside surface of a bird cage.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to an inexpensive, easy to use system for feeding captive birds which requires the birds to work for their food as they would in the wild. The extra activity required to access the food keeps the birds healthier and less likely to exhibit emotional problems. 
         [0003]    2. Discussion of the Background Art 
         [0004]    Recently, the pet bird industry has become aware of the importance of foraging for captive birds. Foraging is the activity of searching and finding food. In the wild, it is common for birds to spend much of their day foraging for food. The birds move from place to place seeking, probing, tearing and discovering edible foods. In other words, they work for their meals, which keeps their mental and physical abilities challenged at all times. In their natural habitat, birds, especially large beaked birds such as parrots, have a natural instinct and a need to search for food, such as berries and nuts. After the more readily available supplies are gone, this requires that the birds search in less accessible locations in order to find such food. Also, large beaked birds in the wild constantly exercise, strengthen their jaws and sharpen their beaks by chewing and destroying the wood of trees and shrubs. 
         [0005]    On the other hand, captive pet birds usually have food readily provided for them at all times. Foraging and normal feeding behaviors are thus eliminated. Often, the resulting lack of activity results in boredom, lack of natural curiosity and other emotional problems. This occurs because the only activities left for a bird after foraging and feeding are social interactions, feather care and sleep. As a result, captive pet birds often exhibit undesirable behavioral characteristics including excessive feather picking and deterioration of physical and mental abilities. 
         [0006]    In an effort to address the foregoing problems, a variety of bird exercisers and amusement toys have been marketed for domestic caged birds. The theory behind these devices is that the bird will spend more time playing with the toys, which will take up much of the time normally used by birds in the wild for foraging. However, it has been discovered that provisions of these toys and exercise devices still do not eliminate the aforementioned behavioral problems in captive birds. Presumably, this is because the devices still do not involve the actual act of foraging. 
         [0007]    Foraging toys have now appeared on the market which require a bird to search for and then actively work to retrieve a treat or other reward. Typically, a foraging toy includes an enclosure containing a treat or reward to be retrieved by the bird. A window or opening is usually provided that allows a bird to see what is inside but not to access the treat or other item without significant effort. To gain access to the treat the bird must either tear away a portion of the device or figure out how to open a door or other means to gain access to window in the device. These devices are intended to stimulate the foraging instinct of the bird to some extent, but are not designed to replace conventional feeding devices. 
         [0008]    In conventional feeding devices, the feeding aspect of the device is its sole function. The food is readily visible and accessible, and its access requires only nominal effort by the bird or animal. As long as a bird&#39;s normal supply of food is readily available in this manner, foraging toys can only improve the bird&#39;s well being to a small extent. However, the feeding of a pet bird represents a significant expense that would be increased further if the feeding process were to involve a complicated design to simulate foraging. Further, the added upkeep of a foraging based feeding system could deter many bird owners from considering such a feeding system. What is therefore needed is a bird feeding system which combines the foraging concept with a conventional feeding device in a simple, inexpensive manner. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention fulfills the foregoing need through provision of a feeding system for captive birds that combines the activity of foraging with feeding in a manner that is inexpensive and can be easily managed and used by the bird&#39;s owner. Unlike known foraging toys, the feeding system is designed not to supplement the bird&#39;s normal food supply, but to replace the readily accessible food supply completely with a supply that requires the bird to work for its food. 
         [0010]    The feeding system includes a replaceable frangible container for storing food and a mounting system for mounting the frangible container to an inside surface of a bird cage in one or more positions. Preferably, the frangible container is a box that is made from edible material, such as food grade cardboard or chipboard. The box is preferably formed from an inexpensive flat blank that includes a tab and slot securing arrangement that avoids the need for toxic adhesives or glue to hold the box in an assembled condition. One or more small perforated sections are formed on one or more outer surfaces of the box which can be removed by the bird owner to allow the bird to view the contents of the box without being able to access them. Once the bird learns that food is contained in the box, the perforated sections can be left in place when a new box of food is provide to the bird. 
         [0011]    To simplify use of the feeding system by the bird&#39;s owner or caretaker, the mounting system preferably includes a flat base having a threaded shank that is sized to pass through an opening in the cage wires and be secured to the cage by a thumb nut. A receptacle portion of the mounting system receives the frangible feeding box and is the secured to the base, preferably by a pair of tab and slot snap connectors. The receptacle portion includes one or more openings that allow a bird to gain access to the exposed surface or surfaces of the frangible box. 
         [0012]    Preferably, the frangible box includes a plurality of compartments that are formed by dividers inside the box. These dividers require a bird to work repeatedly through the dividers to access the various compartments. A variety of food, treats, toys etc, can be provided in the various compartments if desired. 
         [0013]    Once the bird has consumed the contents of the box, the owner removes any remains of the feeder box and replaces it with a new box by unsnapping the mounting cover, inserting the new box and re-snapping the cover in place. 
         [0014]    Preferably, the system can be mounted in more than one way inside the bird cage to provide a variety of access positions that the birds must accommodate. As an example, a plurality of the feeding systems can be provided, each mounted in a different manner inside the cage, to provide a variety of challenges for the bird or birds. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are briefly described as follows. 
           [0016]      FIGS. 1A-1C  are front perspective, back perspective and exploded front perspective views, respectively, of a foraging bird feeding system constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIGS. 2A-2C  are front perspective, back perspective and exploded front perspective views, respectively, of a variation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention which employs a different feeder box cover to facilitate mounting of the feeder box to a bird cage side wall in a vertical position which allows access to the feeder box through three open sides of the cover. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a top view of a box blank employed to form the feeder boxes of the preferred embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    With reference now to a more detailed consideration of the present invention,  FIGS. 1A-1C  illustrate a foraging bird feeder system  10  that is constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The system  10  includes a base plate  12 , a cover  14  and a disposable feeder box  16 . The cover  14  fits over the box  16  and includes an opening  18  for exposing a top surface  20  of the feeder box  16  to facilitate access thereto by a bird. First and second flexible tabs  21  and  22  depend from first and second ends of the cover  14  that engage and snap into first and second corresponding slots  23  and  24  in the base plate  12  to secure the cover  14  thereto. Extending from a backside  26  of the base plate  12  is a threaded shank  28  which is sized so that it can pass through the space between two cage wires  30  of a cage sidewall  32 . A threaded nut  34 , which preferably can be hand tightened, is threaded onto the shank  28  to secure the feeder system  10  to the sidewall  32  of the cage by crimping the cage wires  30  between the nut  34  and the backside  26  of the base plate  12 . 
         [0020]    The feeder box  16  is preferably made from a frangible, edible material such as thin food grade cardboard or chipboard that can be torn, chewed and consumed by a bird without any deleterious side effects. It should be noted that the term “edible” does not necessarily imply that the box material has food value, but is used here to mainly to mean that the material can be consumed by a bird without adverse effects on the bird as mentioned. 
         [0021]    In addition, one or more removable perforated sections  33  are preferably provided on one or more of the outside surfaces of the feeder box  16 . The sections  33  are sized so that when they are removed, a bird can view the contents of the feeder box  16 , but cannot access the contents without removing additional material from the box  16 . When first using the feeder system  10 , a bird owner or caretaker can remove the sections  33  to assist their bird in understanding that food is present in the feeder box  16 . Once the bird is familiar with the system  10 , the owner can leave the perforated sections  33  in place when replacing the feeder box  16  because the bird now knows that food is in the box  16  and will peck or chew through the box  16  without further coaxing. 
         [0022]    Unlike the feeder box  16 , the base plate  12  and feeder box cover  14  are preferably made of durable non-frangible “bird proof” material, such as high impact polycarbonate plastic, for example. The material for the cover  14  should be pliable enough, however, that the tabs  20  and  21  can flex and allow for easy snapping and unsnapping of the cover  14  onto and off of the base plate  12 . 
         [0023]    In the variation of the invention shown in  FIGS. 2A-2C , the system  10  includes the same elements as in the  FIG. 1  variation except for the feeder box cover  14 . In this variation, which is designed to be mounted at a 90 degree angle relative to the  FIG. 1  embodiment, the cover  14  includes three openings  35  instead of one and small trays  36  extend from the bottoms of the openings  35  to allow a bird to perch on the cover  14 . The trays  36  also catch some of the food that invariably drops as the bird forages through the feeder box  16 .  FIG. 2C  also shows the interior  37  of the feeder box  16 , which includes a plurality of compartments  38  that are formed from a honeycomb shaped cardboard or chipboard divider assembly  39 . 
         [0024]    As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the feeder box  16  is preferably formed from an inexpensive flat box blank  40  that is assembled by folding along a number of crease lines  42 . The assembled box is secured together with a plurality of tabs  44  and slots  46 . This arrangement eliminates the need for glue to hold the box together, which eliminates any potential that a bird would be exposed to a toxic substance. 
         [0025]    To use the system, the bird owner first mounts the base plate  12  in any desired location to the inner surface of the cage sidewall  32 . Preferably, the system can be mounted in more than one way inside the bird cage to provide a variety of access positions that the birds must accommodate. In this way, a plurality of the feeding systems can be provided, each mounted in a different manner inside the cage, to provide a variety of challenges for the bird or birds that encourage environmental exploration and present numerous reward opportunities. 
         [0026]    A full feeder box  16  is then inserted into the cover  14  and the cover  14  is secured to the base plate  12  with the tab and slot arrangement. If desired, the one or more perforated sections  33  are removed by the owner so that the bird can view the contents of the feeder box  16 . In the use of the invention, the bird must break through the frangible surface of the feeder box  16  to gain access to the food therein. If the perforated sections  33  are first removed, the resulting openings provide an easy starting point for the bird to begin tearing into the box  16 . This process must be repeated each time the bird wants to access another compartment in the feeder box  16 . In this manner, the bird must chew into the box  16  to find the food or other reward. Use of the compartmentalized box  16  thus encourages birds to learn eagerly that they must continue working to expose additional food. Because the birds spend more time engaging in healthy, time consuming foraging behavior, there is less time available for peripheral displacement activities and/or other potentially harmful or undesirable behaviors such as feather picking, excessive screeching etc. Once the bird has consumed the contents of the box  16 , the owner removes any remains of the feeder box and replaces it with a new box by unsnapping the mounting cover  14 , inserting the new box  16  and re-snapping the cover  14  in place. 
         [0027]    While the invention has been particularly shown, described and illustrated in detail with reference to a preferred embodiment and modifications thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other modifications are exemplary only, and that equivalent changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the following claims.