Okay lighting first. I would say that yes good lighting is necessary. A good UVB/UVA flourescent type bulb is the best, much the same as what you use with reptiles. In fact we use the zoomed bulbs in our bird rooms and above our reptiles. The light helps them to see better, have healthier feathers and live a better more "natural" life.

Toy shops. Well sense I work with rescue I get most of my toys through a rescue website www.iggysbirds.com they sell toys to help support the rescue. Otherwise I like www.auniqueidea.com or www.smartbirdtoys.com There are several others I like as well but can't find their sites right off.

Nighttime. Covers work well with some birds and not so well with others. For your bird to sleep well it needs to be very quiet in the room, in other word the tv off, the radio off etc. As long as their is movement and noise around them they will want to be involved and won't sleep as well. Do not use a box for night time. Some people use night cages with good results. Personally I don't use night cages. Their cages are nice and roomy with perches in different places for sleeping and playing. I do cover my birds in my home but the birds in the rescue just have lights out. We have nightlights for them which only give off faint light and all radios etc are turned off. There are times when they awake during the night or become startled and will holler or flap around but for the most part they seem to do very well staying in the same cage/room as during the day. If your bird cage is situated in the main part of the house where there is still a lot of action or noise during the night you might consider getting a second cage that can be situated in a quiet, dark area (such as a den, spare bedroom etc) where there is not action or noise. Then you would not have to use a cage cover but could if you chose.

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