In the Winter of 2007 I had the honor of meeting “Sue”. A breeder of exotic birds and a woman with a big heart. Not only did Sue breed exotic birds but she also rescued them from time to time from homes that are not so worthy of owning such birds. She had mentioned to a mutual friend that she had a 10 year old Blue and Gold Macaw that she needed to find a good home for. She had known the bird for quite some time and it had been shuffled from one neglection home to another over the course of 7 years. Some abuse had taken place and it was time to find a reputable home that was going to take care of “Kacey”.
On December 22, 2007 Kacey became part of my family…9 months later she became my best friend…
The first time I met Kacey was at Sue’s aviary. She was extremely untrustworthy and had issues that stemmed from the neglection and abuse she had received from her previous owners. She ran across the floor at me and attempted to attack. Thank goodness for Sue being there. At the time I didn’t know that much about Macaws, let alone being the possible owner of a rescue. I took Kacey home that night not knowing where this would all lead for me and the relationship I was going to have with a huge bird that had a huge beak! One that could easily snap my hand off my wrist! I didn’t trust Kacey and she didn’t trust me. Music seemed to soothe her anxiety so I would sing “My Girl” by the Temptations…she would swing back and forth in her cage on her swing. After a week of this she was stepping up without snapping at me. That was the beginning of her rehabilitation as well as mine. She never pushed me and I never pushed her…it was always mutual ground. When she was ready and willing I would take it to the next level. 9 months later I was taking a nap and had left her out on my bed. I woke up to a big beak making kissing noises on my nose and snuggling in the sheets with me…we were now inseparable. 2 weeks later she flipped over on her back and started kissing me again. This was her thank you to me as well as her acceptance of me…we were now the best of friends.
Every night before bedtime, Kacey kisses me goodnight. When I come home from work late at night and it’s dark in the house she says with a whisper, “Shh, mommy’s home”. She talks to me all day and we seem to understand what each other is saying. The reward of having Kacey after 9 months of rehabilitation on both our parts is an emotion that can’t be explained. It has been the biggest, greatest adventure of my life. Kacey has the ability to outlive me and she will be my best friend and the biggest accomplishment of my life until the day I take my last breath…
In April of 2008 we had the pleasure of meeting Chloe, a Moluccan Cockatoo that was by far the most comical bird we had ever seen. After spending many years in a home full of smoke she was covered in nicotine. Once again, “Sue” our trust worthy aviary owner had rescued this beautiful little girl from an unfit home. Chloe had issues of not so much plucking her wing feathers, but shredding them. Her anxiety level was sky high. Thinking that maybe she should have a mate, Sue’s male Moluccan Cockatoo was looking for a girlfriend. 6 months later, Chloe was part of our family.
We had been talking about adding another bird to our home and it only felt right to bring in another rescue. We made the phone call to Sue and asked how Chloe was doing in the breeding program. We were happy to find out that she wasn’t. Again, trusting our husbandry and the lives of her rescue birds with us, Sue gave us our second rescue girl…Chloe.
Chloe is now the main character in our presentations showing off her many talents like hanging from her beak and flapping her wings from her coop cup on her perch and telling the audiance how pretty she is. Her feather shredding will always be an issue as she has seperation anxiety. With alot of cuddle time and kisses, she is a bright, comical, spastic little girl that we have tons of fun with.
This Congo African Grey was an unexpected surprise. Left at a forclosed home, in a cage, on the back porch with no food or water Sophie came into our lives and quickly adapted in a matter of weeks. She was a baby…not even a year old when we found her. After being a part of our family she has matured and blossomed into your typical African Grey…boy does she LOVE to eat! Sophie is the most talkative of our flock and she picks up on words and phrases in a matter of weeks (sometimes days), so we are always watching out for what we say in the house…our motto is…”If you don’t want your parrot repeating it…don’t say it!”
Sophie still has issues with being “hand-fed”. Now when I say hand fed, I mean taking food (almonds, peanuts, fruit, etc.) from our hand. This has made it a bit difficult to train her. She loves food, she just doesn’t like it handed to her. This leads me to believe that maybe an incident had happened where she was “reprimanded” a bit to harshly while being fed by hand. It’s OK though…little by little with baby steps and positive reinforcement (R+) training, she’ll get on track.
The African Grey is by far one of the most intelligent companion birds. Sophie picks up on everything that Kacey and Chloe say. Her favorite words are, “Peek-a-boo” and “Chloe is a pretty girl”. We are still learning about Sophie on a daily basis. She is an amazing little bird and despite her beginning in life…she has become a major part of a good home…she is the ultimate Cinderella story.
On March 17th, 2009 a little Blue and Gold Macaw was born at Sue’s aviary, The Baby Bird Shoppe.
While at a bird show in Orlando with Sue, I was helping her out with the 18 birds she had brought with her. This particular baby Blue and Gold Macaw was a very special one. She was one of 6 that Sue had brought with her that day and the only one that had a cosmetic difference (so to speak). On one foot there were three toes and on the other only two. All the birds were sold that day except for one…Zazu.
Sue hadn’t planned on going home with any birds that day, only the ones she was considering on purchasing. Then came the question, “Do you want her?” Ok…now, I ask anybody in their RIGHT mind…who wouldn’t take a 14 week old baby Blue and Gold Macaw for free and despite the cosmetic imperfection? Uh…right! Well…that settled that! Zazu was on her way back with me to Naples, Florida!!
Despite her “handicap” you would never know she had one…in fact, she doesn’t even know she has one!! She is treated as though she had all of her toes…her balance and coordination is precise. Being a fledgeling bird, Zazu has now entered into training for flight recall (which is a SLOW process with fantastic results) under the Internet guidance of some of the most celebrated trainers and the support of Angela Herschel and Barb Saunders in California (those two ladies have put me in touch with some great people in the Avian World that I am forever grateful). I am so OCD with teaching Zazu the right way…ya know, my first baby and everything. I thank my lucky stars I have all the right people helping me out and contributing their knowledge and educating me the correct way for the betterment of me and Zazu. This has also helped with the others (Kacey, Chloe, and Sophie). They are getting the idea of positive reinforcement and enrichment. Although the others do not recall in flight mode, they engage in the concept on a daily basis.
These methods prove to work! There is nothing better then a parrot that WANTS to come to you…instead of a parrot that feels he/she has no choice.
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