Meet Tarzan

Meet Tarzan, a wild caught African Grey Parrot. We don't know how old he is. Tarzan was very loved, but had to be surrendered because his owner became very sick and is no longer able to care for him. He is a very wily bird as he was unexpectedly alone in the house for several days when his owner took ill outside of the home and was taken straight to the hospital. Through a series of very generous people who gave their time to get him out, he made his way to us. We weren't sure if he'd even be alive after so long alone, but Tarzan is a survivor!In his home, Tarzan was out most of the day, but wasn't handled much. After having lived with one person for so long, he was rather scared when he first came to the Center. However, over the past few weeks, he's been settling in nicely.

He is very vocal and interacts with people. He also recently started nicely taking treats from volunteers' hands!
Tarzan will be the perfect companion for someone who lives a relatively quiet life and wants a buddy. His new owner must be patient and not put too many expectations on him. After all, he hatched as a chick in Africa over 20 years ago. He's seen a lot in his time, including some things that were probably very scary and sad.

Stop by if you'd like to meet Tarzan -- the more we see of his personality, the more we fall in love with him!

Ditto Update

Ditto, who we've written about here and here, is still at the Center, looking for a home. You can read her history by clicking on the first "here" in this post. She's been with us for around 4 years now.

Ditto loves to exercise! When we take her out of her cage, one of the first things we do is lift her high in the air. Make sure to hold on tight to her feet as she starts flapping wildly and sometimes gets a bit of lift off of your hand if you're not careful!

Here she is, in mid-flap:When she's had enough, we bring her back down while she recovers, then we repeat. She normally likes to do this at least three times.

Exercise is so important for these captive wild animals. In nature, they'd be flying for miles and getting lots of exercise. They are far too sedentary in our homes. As much as possible, we try to get the birds panting at least once a day. Each bird is an individual, so we need to find a way that is fun for each one. This helps with their physical health as well as providing behavioral benefits!

Back to Ditto -- she's still looking for a home. We can't understand why she's still here -- we suspect it has something to do with her plucked appearance. She has an amazing personality, and though we'll miss her very much when she finally finds a home, we really hope she's able to have a permanent home of her own soon!

Alumni Story: Bart

Earlier this year, Bart, a male cockatiel, was adopted. Here he is with his new buddy, Mork:Since parrots are flock animals and learn from their flock, Mork has become friendlier since Bart arrived, actively seeking human interaction.

Far too often, people overlook the smaller parrots, but they bring just as much joy as the larger guys, and here's another story that proves it!

Meet Wilbur

Wilbur is an approximately 10 year old hybrid macaw -- he's half blue and gold and half greenwing. He lived his entire life with one family, and recently became a victim of divorce. We've known him for most of his life, as he frequently boarded with us.Wilbur has an amazing, fun personality. However, he is quite head-strong and will require an experienced macaw owner. He has definite preferences for people he likes! Wilbur is very mechanical. He will frequently take down all of his perches and has figured out how to open most cages. He loves being outside of his cage and will try to trick you into not putting him back inside! He is very intelligent and quickly learns tricks. He can open a 20 ounce plastic bottle of water (with a small amount of water inside) and then drink it.

Wilbur has stolen the hearts of everyone here. We've known him for so long and were very sad when he was surrendered to us. We need to find him a home that will allow him to flourish as the incredible being he is.

Please stop by if you'd like to meet him!

Bo Update

Our last update on Bo was in September. He was very lucky and found his new home last year. He is very loved and doing incredibly well. Here is a recent picture his owner sent us:

Once again, these happy outcomes are what fuel the volunteers at the Center. It's so great to hear updates on these birds we love and see how well they're doing!

Meet Diego and Pablo

Meet Diego and Pablo, a pair of degus that we have up for adoption. They were given to us by animal control. Since there is no degu rescue in town, they asked if we would be willing to place them. How could we say no to these adorable creatures?Diego is missing an eye, but other than that, they are in excellent health. They are tame, handleable, and very active.

It was hard to take pictures of them as they kept moving around!

Stop by if you'd like to bring these guys into your home. They're looking for a second chance at happiness!

Meet Carlos and Frances

Carlos and Frances are two of the very beautiful doves that we currently have up for adoption. They were some of the doves that had been surrendered to a local humane society. They were able to adopt some out, and asked us try to with the rest.They are in great health. They were very well taken care of, and had to be surrendered when their owner lost her house to foreclosure.They can't go home together, due to the fact that they are male and female, so we're looking for separate homes for them.

Stop by if you'd like to meet them or learn more about what's involved in dove caretaking.

Meet Pepper

Meet Pepper, a Nanday Conure who came from the same house as Matthew. She's about 20 years old. Her previous owner told us that she wasn't tame, so our first thought was to try to pair her up with Tammy who has been very sad since Rocky died.

However, Pepper has not shown any interest in Tammy, and prefers to be with people.
She is a bit flighty and will sometimes jump from your hand to your shoulder or head, but with more experience being out, we suspect that will stop.

Pepper will make a great companion for some lucky person; stop by if you think that might be you!

Meet Matthew

Meet Matthew, one of the most delightful parrots we've ever had the pleasure to know. He's an African Ringneck Parakeet -- look at how long his tail is! He's about 10 years old. He was very loved in his previous home; however, his owner's declining health forced his surrender to the Center.When you put your hand in the cage to ask him to step up, he runs over to comply. He had a large cage and a great diet in his previous home; however, he didn't have many toys, so that's something we're working on with him while he stays with us.He's very helpful; here he is, trying to help one of our volunteers assemble a cage:

With his sweet demeanor and amazing personality, we're guessing he's going to find a home soon. Stop by if you'd like to meet him before it's too late!

Alumni story: Tango

We last updated you on Tango, the severe macaw, here. In case you don't want to go to the link, as a reminder Tango was a very personable severe macaw who'd stolen the hearts of all of the volunteers and many of the visitors to the Center. He had an amazing personality and loved to sing and dance -- reveling in being the center of attention!

Tango had been with us for quite some time; over a year. We needed a very special home for him. One that could deal with the emotional demands of this spitfire, and also the physical demands. It's a bit hard to see in the pictures, but Tango has a scissor-beak which requires frequent trimming. We needed to be sure that his new home would be able to provide this service to him, as otherwise his lower beak could overgrow and he would have trouble eating. We'd had him surrendered to us like that, and couldn't risk it again.

Tango agrees that it was worth the wait for such a perfect home! They sent us this recent picture entitled "Dancing Before Dinner":
Of course this happy fellow would be dancing -- what else could we expect from him?

Tango and his new family hit it off immediately. And, to make things even better, his new owner works in a vet office and is friends with a vet, so he gets in-home servicing of his beak.

Over the months, Tango has become a cherished member of the family. In fact, his owner recently sent this to us: "I know everybody thinks this about their own birds but we have the best green bird ever. Can't imagine life without him. We must have been being real good cause we have been blessed with him." I know the feeling is mutual! The first few years of Tango's life weren't the best, but he's made up for that now.

Alumni story: Super Squirrel

Sorry it's been so long since our last update. I've been writing this too often lately and will try to be more vigilant! Things have been fine at the Center; the volunteer who writes the blog (me) has been busy but I promise to recommit so you can see what's going on up here!

Though the vast majority of our placements are birds, we do occasionally help to place other animals. We work closely with animal control and will do what we can to make sure no other animals are euthanized for space, although birds remain our priority.

Not too long ago, we were asked to take a gerbil from animal control. He was placed in a great home and is doing very well! Here's a recent picture:
He is eating very well and exercising on his wheel. He is very loved, and is just one of the many animals getting a second (or third, fourth, fifth) chance thanks to your support!