It was just last fall. The weather was getting a bit cool in the evenings and the nights were chilly. The phone rang and it was Mary on the other end. "We are needed." Sometimes you just don't want to be needed but you jump and go anyway. We were headed to the west side of town to help a man catch his Quaker Parrot that had flew out the door. His teenage sons were home and not paying attention. When the door opened, out went the bird.

We find Mr. "R" in an alley looking up into a huge tree. "He's right up there. I can hear him." We searched and searched, well into the darkness of night but could not get sight of the little guy. He was teasing us with vocalizations and whistles but managing to stay out of sight. We finally gave up and decided to try again in the morning. We drafted the help of our resident "tree climbing monkey" (my son) and returned to the scene. We searched and searched and could not find the little guy. He wasn't even answering our whistles and calls now. We figured we had lost him, and after hours of searching we gave up.

Later that same day, we get another call from Mr "R" "I found him. He is in a tree over here" We gather up "tree climber", a ladder, a net, some towels and off we go again. Sure enough, there sits the little green bad boy on a limb, whistling and calling and laughing. He was just out of reach of "tree climber" and our ladder wasn't tall enough. We tried hitting the branch to make him fly down. He just hung on and laughed. We finally thought about talking to the fireman at a near by firehouse to ask for suggestions.

The fireman in charge called his boss to get permission to take out the fire truck to see if they could help. These men went above and beyond the call of duty trying to help us get that Quaker out of that tree. The only thing we accomplished was to make him fly to another, even larger tree. After hours of trying to coax and call him down, we finally lost sight of him. Mr. "R" brought his cage out and put his favorite food in it but he never came down to eat. That was the last anyone saw of that little green guy.We can only pray that he is living happily in that tree or he eventually came down and got some help, but we will probably never know what happened to him.

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Kenny, adopted one of our Quaker rescues and they fell totally in love with each other. When on Ken's shoulder, Missy wanted nothing to do with anyone else. Her favorite place to be was with Ken. Several times we had suggested that he clip her wings and he would let us do so. Once when we suggested it, he told us that Missy would never leave him and fly away. She loved him too much. We explained the different scenarios that could cause her to fly, but Ken was sure she felt safe enough and loved him enough she would never ever fly off his shoulder. She went everywhere on Ken's shoulder and loved every minute of it.

One day she was on his shoulder when he took the trash out. He tossed the bag into the dumpster, the lid dropped with a bang and Missy took off. Luckily, she didn't get far before he coaxed her back onto his shoulder and they were together again. Rarely does it happen that way.

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Just a couple days ago, we get another frantic phone call. Mrs. "E" has found an African Gray in her yard and he looks like he is hurt bad. Thankfully, this one is on the ground and we don't have to contemplate how to get him out of a tree.

When we arrive at Mrs."E's" we find this poor pitiful looking gray creature huddled in a corner, growling fiercely at us. He still had a lot of spunk in him. We covered him with a towel, pried his little talons from the fence and rushed him into the warm truck. It had been very cold the night before and we had no idea how long this little guy had been in the elements. As I held him close, to share my body heat with him, he slowly quit trembling. I uncovered his head and peeked at him. Oh how I wish I hadn't. My heart just broke. The poor little guy had been attacked by another animal. From the wounds we figured it was a cat that got him. He had one eye swollen shut and black and blue.

(the other pictures are too disturbing to show)

He looked like he had a huge shiner. The other eye was surrounded by scratches and claw marks. He had several rather nasty looking scratches around his neck also. He was dehydrated, and about to go into shock, it seemed Once we got him back to the nest, we examined him more closely. Those seemed to be the only wounds he had but he was in very bad shape from them and the cold.

A friend of ours happens to be experienced hand feeding birds, so we called her to help us out. We couldn't get him to eat a bite and was drinking very little. He was not opening his mouth even to be hand fed or force fed. We were afraid he was not going to make to see another day. Of course this had to happen on a weekend when every veterinarian in town is closed.

We called the Vet Emergency Clinic and were told we could bring him in. The Dr on call isn't an avian vet but she will look at him and do what she can. Our poor ailing little friend was given antibiotics, ointments, pain meds and a shot. We were told to take him home, keep him warm, and try to get him hydrated and some food into him. Hours of sitting by his cage, offering food and water, and making sure he had his medicines at the right time and the right dosage was exhausting for him and his caretaker. Finally, morning broke and he was still alive. But how much longer can he live without food? He still was not wanting to eat.

It happened that I knew someone who had lost her African Gray, Alex, the day before. Could we be lucky enough to have already found his owner? Our little Gray was finally drinking but would not eat even a taste of anything we offered him. And, he was throwing up part of the water we were getting down him. The next morning, he was taken to our friend's for her to force feed him some food. He was having no part of that. A bird can starve to death in a matter of hours. We were afraid he was not going to live through the day.

While there we called the lady who had lost her Gray. She came to meet us and immediately you could tell this bird recognized her. He even started trying to speaking to her. The nest kept him one more day, but still could not get him to eat enough to sustain himself. We were hoping that if we sent him home he would be more comfortable and begin eating. Sure enough, little Alex was put in his cage, let out a wolf whistle to his buddy bird and began eating. Very rarely does a lost bird case turn out this well. Most of the time they end like the first little Quaker's story above.

The update to this story - He did indeed end up losing one of his eyes to infection as a result of the attack.

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The point of telling you these stories is very simple. None of these bird wings were clipped.

In fact, Alex was being taken to the car to go get his clipped when he escaped. All of us here at the Nest understand that a bird's nature is to fly, but the domesticated birds we have as pets and companions are not able to fend for themselves in the wild. They have never had to hide from predators, forage for food or find a safe place to roost for the night. We have made them dependant on us. They haven't a clue how to do any of that.

Therefore, we strongly suggest that you clip your birds wings or take them to a pet store, veterinarian or someone who knows how, and get them clipped. Not only for your peace of mind, but for the safety of your feathered friend. A clipped bird is a happy bird with a happy owner.

The nest sees a lot of birds come through on their way to new homes, and never has one of them said to me. "Please don't clip my wings, I want to fly free and not know where my next meal will come from or where I am going to sleep." Okay, I am being sarcastic but I cannot stress enough how important it is to learn to clip your birds wings or take them to someone who knows how. It doesn't hurt the bird if it is done right and they will grow back. Of course I urge you to have them clipped again when they do. I am sure you don't want to wonder if your little guy is eating or being eaten.

So, Please. clip their wings and keep them safe.