State Fair: Monday 8/4/08

Monday was another successful day at the Fair! Five birds came along:

• Queenie - 17 year old Rose-Breasted Cockatoo -- resident
• Cobalt - 4 year old Blue-Headed Pionus -- alumnus
• Cisco - 23 year old Mexican Red-Headed Amazon -- up for adoption
• Sam - 4 year old Congo African Grey
• Burt -- 25 year old Goffin's Cockatoo -- alumnus

We actually shined the spotlight on Burt a few months ago on this blog; you can see him do a trick here.

Among the people representing CARE at the Fair today were some of our younger volunteers. Ranging in age from 11-16, they have been involved with CARE for between 4-8 years. Younger people are welcome to volunteer at the Center, as long as they're accompanied by a responsible adult. It's a fantastic way for a family to spend quality time together!

A picture of Queenie:
Monday's presentations were about the different species of birds we had at the Fair, and of course we focused on Cisco, who needs a forever home. Burt entertained the audience with his rolling over antics (which you can see in the video we linked to above), proving once again that you can teach an old bird new tricks! C. (one of our teenage volunteers) spoke to a group for the first time -- he talked about his volunteering experience with us at the shelter.

A Mexican Red-Headed Amazon (not Cisco, but of similar appearance):One really neat thing happened today. A member of one of the other groups in our building came over to us today and said she was phobic of birds and wanted to know if she could try to hold one. We let her hold Cobalt, a wonderfully tame pionus. She was so excited -- Coby even let her pet him -- it was awesome. A little later when we were packing up, she came back over with her friend and asked if they could take a pic of her holding a bird. Coby was already in his carrier, so we used Sam, the CAG. She was so excited - she said no one would ever believe she was holding a bird. Her excitement and the smile on her face were just a joy to behold. It was very rewarding to have given her her first bird holding experience - I doubt that it will be the last.

At CARE, we try to focus on education, and that was a wonderful opportunity to help someone overcome her fear of birds. Yea!