GI Joe, Happy at Home!!

GI Joe and his new mom!!

Well, GI Joe doesn't have to worry about the "transition blues" anymore. While waiting for a foster home, one of my avian vet's techs fell in love with him! Well, fast forward a few weeks, paperwork and adoption fees and GI Joe is happily ensconced in his new home with his new family. Donna (shown here with GI Joe) took this awesome boy home and he is thriving!!! He is already adding to his vocabulary and is enjoying family time.

It is always so wonderful to get to these happy endings! Donna is ready and willing to give this amazing guy a life long commitment and he is in love! He turned out to be quite a flirt after settling in!

We will be posting updates from time to time to let you know how he is doing but I wanted to put a quick note up to let all of you know that he is with his new family and doing well.

Fly Away Home, Smokey (dealing with loss)

I have avoided writing this post because I have had trouble dealing with it. Smokey, AKA Wonderbudgie, AKA Budgie Butt, passed away during the night last week. This was very unexpected and I was devastated. After Smokey was surrendered to us, he went through two surgeries to repair damage from a dog attack and human negligence. He survived all of the above and was on many medicines. He had been off his meds for three weeks and been hopping all over his special needs cage and chirping with the other birds in the house. He was a survivor; then he was gone.

I have only lost one other bird, many years ago. Smokey was in my life for such a short time but he had a huge impact on me. What a fighter he was! I have tried to focus on the fact that he came to us for a reason. We were able to immediately stop his pain and get him medical attention. He got to eat millet and mash, greens, broccoli and other things that he had never had before. He sat in the sun and listened to the other birds and tried to imitate them. He was free to be a budgie. Now, he is truly free and no longer lame. His wings work perfectly and he is flying over the Rainbow Bridge.

A special thank you to those who donated to his two surgeries. The money was not wasted - it was a blessing to one of the cutest little budgies I have ever met. A special thank you to Disco the Parakeet because watching you amused Smokey greatly. Fly away home, Smokey. You were loved.

The Transition Blues or Why GI Joe isn't Thrilled with Life

GI Joe the Military Macaw

We have a new macaw in the rescue.  His name is GI Joe. He is a Military Macaw and was surrendered under emergency circumstances due to family illness. GI had lived with his previous owner for 11 years.  That is a long time.  He is going through a mourning process that I see in many surrendered birds. He is sad and confused. He isn't eating a whole lot and is choosing to hang out in the corner of his cage at the moment. Due to the rapid circumstances of his surrender and the lack of available foster homes, he is temporarily with my avian vet being boarded. The good news about this is that they have placed him near their lunch room so he gets a lot of friendly "hellos", treats and conversation. The bad news is that I wish he only had one transition to go through. His cage was unusable so we are in the process of procuring another one. Once I secure that, he will be coming to my house temporarily. I often wonder what goes through the mind of surrendered birds. I know that many come from homes where they were loved. I can't imagine what it would be like to one day wake up and the flock member I love is just gone. We can't communicate with these beautiful creatures effectively enough to explain human circumstance (or in some cases human selfishness). GI is trying very hard. He responds when I talk to him, he blushes fire engine red, and he chooses to move away rather than striking or becoming aggressive. I wish he could read my mind and know my intentions. Unfortunately, that just isn't how it works. I simply continue to speak calmly and smile and duck my head away from him when I have been staring too long. My heart is already his, he just doesn't know it yet.  Updates will be coming as he continues to move forward in this settling in phase. Today he actually stepped up without much trouble and played with a foot toy that I gave him. That is a victory for him! Yay for GI!

The Innovative Cockatoo: Figaro Invents, Makes, and Uses a Tool - ScienceNOW

The Innovative Cockatoo: Figaro Invents, Makes, and Uses a Tool - ScienceNOW This isn 't news to most  parrot owners but it is so great to have it confirmed! My Goffins plays Bejeweled Blitz!

Smokey the Wonder Budgie (or Budgie Butt): How I Survived a Dog Attack!

Budgie Butt right before Cage Cleaning!

Hi Humans, my name is Budgie Butt (previously known as Smokey) and I am a budgie. If you aren't familiar with that term, we are also called parakeets. I am a lovely smokey greyish purple color with lots of white. I'm not being boastful, my foster family told me I am lovely. I used to live with a family and then one day, out of the blue - I was attacked by a dog. It was horrible, painful and very, very scary. My legs, feet and wing were damaged and I will never really walk again but I love to hop! When my foster family took me in, I had exposed bone in both feet and protruding bone in my left ankle. They took me to a wonderful person called an Avian Vet who gave me pain medicine right away!! I was so happy and then a little sleepy. I hadn't had any medicine in the four weeks since I had been attacked. This had given me an infection and made me feel very sick. I stayed with those nice vet people for several days and had an operation to amputate a toe on my right foot and to remove bone from my left foot. Soon after, I went home with my new family who gave me four medications twice a day (I really didn't like it much at all). Two weeks ago, I had another operation to remove a little more dead bone from my left leg. This time I only stayed one night and went right back home! My foster family celebrated because this meant that my leg could finally finish healing. I live in a very nice condo now (single story because my feet don't work and I can't climb) but they have put in a handicap ramp and a viewing platform so I don't always have to be on the floor!! I love my food and haven't stopped eating since I came to live here.  The foster family is trying to help me get used to being held and I am really working hard to trust people. Sometimes I get scared because I think something is going to get me!! Foster mom says that it's okay and I will feel calmer every day.  My mom says that a lot of you nice humans gave money to help me get better, I wanted to say thank you. They couldn't have done it without you!

The tiny black dot is where they removed the protruding bone.

The amputated toe area.

Meeting the Public with the Parrots

 This past weekend Parrots as Pets Rescue hosted a booth at the Gainesville Downtown Arts Festival. There were huge crowds of people, great art and some pretty good food (or at least that is what the birds told us as as they were sampling everything!). We were set up near some other animal rescue groups and had a lot of shade...thank goodness! There were quite a few learning opportunities for me as well as our guests who stopped by. It is always important to get a feel for what the general public knows about parrots and to see again the wonder and fascination people instinctively have for these beautiful creatures. I took Madison Macaw down, Henry came with Dusty the Umbrella Cockatoo (who does fun tricks!) and Harley (Harlequin Macaw) came in with Jeff from Orlando. Kovak the Grey, Tilly Shamrock Macaw and Rubix the baby Quatro Macaw came to visit with Casey! I think the most common comment of the weekend was, "oh my God, how beautiful!". The second most common was usually something like, "I knew someone with a parrot once, they had to get rid of it." While the comment usually  makes me sad, this weekend it gave us great openings to talk about parrot care, the time and effort involved in owning one and why it isn't the pet for everyone. People who had never touched a bird got to touch and see them up close. We gave out lots of literature about bird care and about the rescue. We have already had an application come in. We met a young man (around 11) who owns three parrots and provides all their care. His mother vouched for him; he wants to be an ornithologist. He asked great questions and got information about being a foster parront. I was so impressed by him!

We raised some money with a raffle and were surprised by people who gave us donations and didn't even want a raffle ticket - they just wanted to help! We have a few prizes left over and I will be running an online auction at the end of October to finish our fall fundraising efforts! We have a waiting list of birds who need to come into the rescue so please think about fostering a bird!! We will have extra posts this week, including an update about Smokey the wonder budgie!! He is doing great! Time to go make the oatmeal and fruit and veggies and.......!

What? You Mean My Parrot Might Not Be That Into Me??

Recently, I have begun to draw parallels between rearing kids and fostering/raising parrots. I don't do this to minimize or marginalize parenthood. I am definitely still a parent and it is the hardest job ever. I love it almost 99% of the time! The same is true about parrot rescue and parrot ownership. Sadly we have all been led astray with the "fairy tale" version of bird ownership. You know the one...the bird instantly loves you, never poops on you, loves everyone it meets, never gets hormonal, never bites and has a vocabulary of 1000 words. Your neighbors never hear the bird or they think that his/her evening calls are like sweet music.  <queue the violins here for a crescendo> The bird lives sixty years and you both pass gently away together, ending the perfect bird/human relationship. WAKE UP!!! That just doesn't happen! Birds are unique creatures, each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Just like toddlers, they have good days and bad days. Recently my Jardines parrot has been in a "mood". I have been very busy, my mom was in the hospital, we had new parrots come into the rescue, my daughter had the nerve to sound like me (which got her bitten.) My son, Michael, happened to catch Jasmine biting me for the first time in years. He was shocked and offended! "You have fed her since she was a baby, you clean her cage, you take her outside, she gets to eat near the dinner table. She doesn't even realize how good she has it." I wish I could have recorded that, seriously. I stared at him a minute and I said, "everyone has a bad day once in awhile and Jasmine is just tired of me right now." He paused a minute, looked at me and said, "Your bird just isn't into you right now? Is that what you mean? That's kind of pathetic, mom. You and the birds are making me crazy." He strolled down the hall to the kitchen where he proceeded to eat the food that I had made and put out.

Jasmine my Amazing Jardines

Just as I don't take it personally when my teenagers/young adults say thoughtless things (with no malice intended); I try not to take it personally when one of the birds that live with me are having a bad day. The good Lord knows I have had plenty of them. Sometimes, just sometimes, I get tired of certain people too.

I have seen birds end up in rescue because their owners are convinced that the birds no longer "loves" them. This is so sad. All parrots and people go through seasons (hormonal and otherwise). Try to remember, it's not always personal. Your love-bug might have gotten up on the wrong side of the perch. Hormones may be raging through your bird that would make a teenager's hormones look tame. Sometimes birds are getting sick or having a physical problem that they are masking and their only communication option is to act like a jerk. If this has happened to you or you feel like it is happening, reach out to other bird people for help, ideas and encouragement! Don't give up! Even when it hard and all the birds are throwing their expensive, organic fruit and veggies on the floor like its the worst food ever (which two of mine are doing right this minute!) Start asking questions, watch for clues, because maybe it's just not about you.