Start with the day as your bird expects it
A bird sitter copes best with instructions written in the order the day happens. Open with wake-up: when the cover comes off, what greeting or song your bird expects, and when fresh water and food go in. Name each bowl clearly, for example the seed or pellet bowl, the fresh food bowl, and any foraging toy you load, and state quantities in the measures you actually use at home, such as a level scoop or a small handful of chopped vegetables.
List forbidden foods plainly and without exceptions, and say where treats are kept and how many is normal. A sitter who has never lived with a bird may not know that a food safe for people can be dangerous for a parrot, so clarity here protects your bird better than a general warning to be careful.
Handling, out-of-cage time, and bedtime
State exactly how much handling your bird enjoys and where stroking should stay, usually the head and neck, and warn against handling that encourages hormonal behaviour. Say whether out-of-cage time is allowed, in which room, with which doors and windows closed, and how your bird is usually encouraged back, whether that is a favourite treat in the cage or a familiar step-up cue.
Give bedtime as firmly as wake-up: cover routine, lights, and the quiet your bird needs overnight. Note normal evening behaviour, including contact calls as the house settles, so the sitter does not mistake ordinary noise for distress, or real distress for ordinary noise.
What normal looks like, and when to call you or a vet
Describe normal droppings, appetite, energy, and favourite sounds for this individual bird, because a sitter cannot spot a change without a baseline. Name the changes that should prompt a call to you at once: sitting fluffed on the cage floor, not eating, laboured breathing, bleeding, or a bird that cannot grip or fly as usual. Add your avian vet's name and number and an emergency option, and say clearly that a sick-looking bird should not wait until you return.
Include practical house details too: spare food location, cleaning routine for bowls and cage paper, what to do in a power cut, and how to secure the cage if your bird is an escape artist with a favourite latch.
Leave instructions the sitter can actually use
Print or share the instructions where the sitter will stand when doing the job, keep sentences short, and walk through the routine once together before you travel if you can. Update the sheet whenever food, routine, or health changes, rather than relying on an old version with handwritten corrections.
Add one short section a sitter will thank you for: the bird's personality in plain words. Say whether this bird steps up readily or needs a perch offered, whether it fears hats, brooms, or unfamiliar men or women, which phrases it answers to, and what game or song reliably calms it in the evening. A sitter who can reproduce one familiar game can settle a lonely bird far faster than one working from feeding times alone.
Handing that routine over through KinsLe's Care Pass gives your sitter temporary, clear access to your bird's care routine and key details for exactly the days you are away, without loose notes going missing.