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Here are a few of our more extraordinary Success Stories

Fawkes' Story
Barney's Story (Professor)
Mega & Mini's Story

Sweet Success*

One of our rescues was a Quaker parrot. She was splay legged, a runt
and very anti social. When you would reach in the cage for her you were
struck at and bitten. When you did get her out of the cage, she would
try to get back to her cage every chance she got. Working with her on
her problems became an issue for her and she began plucking and we
suspect she may have even begun some self mutilation.

After months of bandages and nursing, and vet visits. Our board had come to the conclusion that this little girl was never going to be adoptable and would become a permanent resident of the nest.

Just when we think we are never going to get this little girl to be a
bird that can be handled and happy, along came Deb and Tom. Deb is a
special needs teacher. They had just lost their long time companion
and friend. After hearing about this special bird, they wanted to
meet her. They even started calling her Fawkes, after the Phoenix in Harry Potter.
 
As fate would have it, the opportunity arose for them to
be in our area and we set up a meeting.

When we introduced our little Quaker to them it was love at first sight.
Our girl sat on Tom's shoulder for hours and even allowed him to move
around with her still on his shoulder. She preened his hair, and eye
brows, picked at his ear and then snuggled in as though she belonged there.

Needless to say, they were so in love with her, they adopted her.
Within days, they were able to reach in her cage and take her out, hand
feed her and interact with her on a constant basis.

As of the time of this article, the little Quaker we worried about so much
is not plucking, not mutilating and loving the human contact of her
new parents. She no longer fights the hand in the cage nor does she
try to escape to her cage every chance she has.

So, you see, not only is there a Mr./Mrs. right for us humans but there
is also that special place for a splay legged, runt of a Quaker.

*It is with much sadness I have to report Fawkes passed away unexpectedly today, June 24th 2006. We are all stunned but reassured by the fact that during the past year with Deb and Tom this wonderful little Quaker
learned how to love and found happiness for the first time in her life.

This picture of Fawkes was taken about a week before she passed away

Barney's Story

A few months ago, a 20 year old orange wing Amazon was surrendered
to us.  His owner's work schedule was not conducive to being able to keep him any longer.  They were totally heartbroken to have to give up their
little Barney,  but knew that they could not keep him and give him the quality of life he deserved.

Barney was a protester.  No matter what you wanted him to do, he would squawk.  He usually performed the task you had asked of him, but raised
 a noise every time someone came near him. He would squawk and strike
at you and raise a noise of great proportion before stepping up or accepting
a toy, or being fed.  He wouldn't usually  bite you, but he sure tried to scare you away  with the noise he made.



He didn't know how to play with toys and was fearful of most new things
that were introduced to him.  Each new experience would bring about another round of loud protests.  He was also very cage and perch
territorial. He had been raised on a horrible diet of only seeds. He had
no desires to leave the comfort of what he had known for so many many
years.

We were visited by a friend shortly after we got Barney and she fell in love with him.  She was not a bird person.  Her gramma had parakeets when
she was younger but she had never had her own bird.  We were a little concerned about her taking on a larger bird with the issues Barney had,
but she convinced us to let her foster Barney until he was ready for
adoption and we could find a home suitable for him.  We knew this was
not going to be an easy task with his issues and temperament.

She took Barney home, bought him a beautiful huge cage, and began spoiling the little guy horribly.

New Deluxe Cage

His own personal swimming hole

A few weeks later, Barney and she came back for a visit.  The difference in this bird was phenomenal. When we got Barney, his chest was rough
looking and he had stress bars on his wings.  A few weeks later, his chest was almost normal and his wing feathers shone like jewels.  He reacts to
her with love and affection, just as she reacts to him.  If she walks away
from him,  it is obvious by his actions that he knows she is gone.  If he
hears her voice, he honks like a goose to get her attention.  (ooops,
she hates it when I say he honks)  You can just see the love between these two.  He still protests,  just not as long before he does what she wants him
to to do.  She is working on converting him to pellets. He is slowly coming around to losing his seed diet.   He actually wants to come out of his cage and spend time with his foster mother even.

Well, needless to say, as of July 29, 2006, Barney has a new permanent
home with our friend. Both are thrilled to pieces. However, Barney is not often referred to as Barney anymore . These days he is more affectionately referred to as "Professor the Protester".

Once again, we have been shown that there is someone out there for every bird. It is just a matter of matching them up.

Mega and Mini's Story

As we all know, life has a way of throwing curves.  As you get older, you learn to expect them and roll with them.  Well, birds are no different. 
 
Recently, we acquired two cute little parakeets.  Their owner lives alone and bought them for company.  He named them Mega and Mini.  They were a bit wild when he first brought them home but blossomed in the attention they received.  Then, life stepped in with a curve.  Their owner is a truck driver and had only local runs for years.  Now, he is driving over the road and no one would be there to whistle and talk to Mega and Mini.  Being a good person, he didn't want to just give them to anybody and hope they would have a good life, so he asked us to take them and find them a home.  We brought them into the nest and one of our foster parents took them home.  She worked with them to teach them not to be afraid of humans and taught them to trust again.  When it came time to find them a good home, we were amazed at how quickly it happened.
 

Mega and Mini are now with their new owners, in a house with one adult and two children.  It is hard to tell who is happier with the arrangement, the birds or the humans but they all seem to be in Heaven.  Mega and Mini are adapting to their new environment well.  Their new mom informs us that it has become an educational project for all.  Mega and Mini are learning they have nothing to fear and a few simple tricks, the children are learning how to care for them and responsibility.  She tells us that there are many more lessons for all them to come in the future and she hopes Mega  and Mini are as excited about the education as they are. You can just see the light in the little ones eyes when she holds her new little brother and sister