i was wondering which of the following strategies is better from an SEO and search engine success longevity standpoint?

1. you have a domain parrots.com

will make site about different aspects of parrots..

ie. parrot training

parrot health tips

teach parrot to talk

parrot care

these are 4 categories or sections that branch off of main topic 'parrots'....

so better identify these four sections as html pages :

.com/parrot-training.html
.com/parrot-health-tips.html
.com/teach-parrot-to-talk.html
.com/parrot-care.html

all content under each of the above links would be very specific to the particular category

OR


to separate each into its own directory:

.com/parrot-training/
.com/parrot-health-tips/
.com/teach-parrot-to-talk/
.com/parrot-care/

and again, all content under each of the above links would be very specific to the particular category

but which is better approach ?

or doesn't it matter...



i guess i have always been afraid to use directories because I am thinking it weakens the page rank pass on effect, but maybe I am wrong.