Meet Mya

Meet Mya, a teenage female blue and gold macaw.  Poor Mya has lived in several different car dealerships for her entire life until being surrendered to us.  That means she's not had a stable, predictible life.  Parrots love routine and knowing what's going to happen next.  They love interacting and bonding with their flock and not having many unknown people coming up to them, trying to touch them or make them speak.

As you can see, Mya directed her frustration with his previous life into feather destructive behaviors.  We've got her on a good diet and she's got tons of toys to play with and destroy, so we're hopeful that we can turn her life around.

In this picture, she's in the process of getting her head scratched -- notice how she's lifted her head feathers to give fingers easier access.

We're so happy that she now has an opportunity for a better, more routine life.  She's a very sweet girl who will make a great companion to the right person.

Meet Bailey

Meet Bailey, a young timneh African Grey parrot.  We don't have an accurate history on her, so we are learning about her personality through experience.  She is a very sweet parrot.  She gets very excited when she sees people she likes enter the room, and she runs to the front of her cage to come out.

Once out, she revels in the attention.  Perhaps a little too much, as she has been known to pinch your finger if you're holding her and divert your attention to another bird or person!

So far, she has not shown a male/female preference -- she likes everyone!  Timnehs tend to be extremely intelligent and require lots of interesting toys and learning opportunities to keep them happy in captivity.

As with all of our parrots, if you'd like to meet Bailey, please stop by.  She is a special treasure who will thrive in a stable, loving, enriching environment!

Puzzle

Puzzle, one of the most adorable Weber's lories ever, was up to his tricks of entertaining us last week.

Nikki, a hybrid mini macaw, was being adopted.  When her new owner came to pick her up, she dropped off some tasty treats for the volunteers to eat, including some delicious and fancy sandwiches.

Puzzle, who'd been wandering around the front counter, decided that these sandwiches were fascinating:

Despite his best tapping efforts, they remained out of his reach:

Because Puzzle, as a lory, requires a specialized diet, and especially because he has suffered from health problems due to a poor diet in his previous home, we didn't let him eat any of the sandwiches.  Instead, after filming this video, we distracted him with something better -- attention!

Though we don't understand why, Puzzle has not yet been adopted.  He's hoping he'll find the right home soon.!

Durante video

Durante is an approximately 8 year old female greenwing macaw.  We introduced you to her here, over a year ago.  We really want to find her a home, as our purpose is mainly that of finding birds new homes -- not providing permanent sanctuary.

Durante needs an experienced macaw person and must choose her new family. She has definite likes and dislikes when it comes to people!  She is very social and will thrive in an environment with lots of activity.  She is very intelligent and quickly picks up on trick training. 

Here is a recent video where she showed off some of her tricks:

We are looking for a home that will continue working with her in order to stimulate her intelligence and keep her mind active.  She will be a great companion in the right home.  If you think that might be your home, please stop by to meet her!

Royal

We introduced you to Royal a few months ago, but since we've been discussing older birds recently, we thought we'd highlight her again.  Here is her introduction.

She's in her early 30s, though you wouldn't know it to look at her!  She received a clean bill of health from the vet, who was very impressed with her demeanor.

Royal is a bit hesitant to come out of her cage, but once she's out, she seeks affection.

She'd thrive in a home where things are low-key so she can acclimate at her own pace.  She will make a wonderful companion as she has a very gentle soul.

We'd love to have her in her new home by the end of the year!  If you'd like to meet her, please stop by!

Bongo

Like Snowball, at 25, Bongo isn't actually a senior parrot, as he very well could have decades yet to live.  However, since he's one of the older macaws that we currently have up for adoption, we're featuring him this month.

We first introduced you to Bongo last month.  As we've gotten to know him better, we're falling in love with him.  He will make a wonderful companion to the right person.  He is very in love with Sweet Pea, the amazon with whom he lived in his previous home.  However, Sweet Pea is quite indifferent toward Bongo.  While we'd love to find them a home together, they should do fine in separate homes.

Bongo really wants someone to bond with.  Severe macaws are known for their intense bonding and loyalty to one individual.  Hopefully we can find that person for him soon!

He loves being out of his cage, and as soon as you open his cage door, he puts his foot up to step up.  In the right home, we know he'll come out of his shell even more and find happiness.

Please stop by if you'd like to meet him!  We'd love for his last years to be his best.

Snowball

Snowball is an approximately 25 year old Eleanora Cockatoo.  He's been at CARE for about two years now -- maybe 2011 will end up being his lucky year!

Though 25 isn't really considered senior for a cockatoo, he's one of the oldest toos we currently have up for adoption.

He is a very sweet bird.  When he first steps out of his cage, he bites down really hard -- it appears as though he never learned proper beak pressure!  We just wrap a towel around our arm, so he bites down on that, and then he's fine.  He loves coming out of his cage and is just a bit too exuberant at first.

We adopted Snowball out about 9 years ago.  For the first four years, things were really great and Snowball was a loved member of the family.  However, the last three years he spent in that house, he was never allowed out of his cage, which is terrible for such a gregarious flock animal.  They realized they weren't giving him what he needed, so he was returned to us.  He's spent the last two years with us, and we're hoping to find him a new home soon where he can spend the rest of his life.

Despite what he's been through, this resilient parrot has lots of love to give.  If you've been thinking about adding a cockatoo to your home, Snowball may be the fellow for you!

RIP, Pepper

We're taking a break from talking about our senior pets to talk about one who recently died before reaching that senior age -- all due to poor care and bad nutrition in his previous home.  This is really inexcusable as there is so much correct information out there, that with a little bit of research, Pepper could still be a happy, living parrot.

We introduced you to Pepper, an approximately 16 year old red lory, back in August.  His previous owner fed him fruit loops (yes, the sugar-laden breakfast cereal) as his main diet, supplemented only with grapes.  Lories require a specialized diet, and neither sugary breakfast cereals nor grapes are proper food for them to eat.

We'd taken Pepper to the vet on several occasions and were working to get his liver working properly again.  We were able to do this, but he was obviously not feeling well -- sitting puffed up in his cage and not playing with toys or interacting with people.  We took him to the vet again yesterday.  His abdomen was quite distended, and the vet removed quite a bit of fluid from it.  Ultimately, given his poor physical condition, the tough decision was made to euthanize him and end his suffering.

We had a necropsy performed immediately, and it confirmed our suspicions: Pepper suffered from iron storage disease.  There is no way to combat this.  Only prevention, which would have happened had he been fed a proper diet.  He was so young and this should not have happened.

CARE gets many birds in who are suffering from malnutrition due to poor care in their previous homes.  Many times we are able to reverse the damage once we get them on a good diet.  Unfortunately for Pepper, his diet was so poor for so long that we were unable to save him.

RIP, Pepper.  You were loved and we miss you.

Scarlet

November is adopt a senior pet month, so we will be focusing on some of our older adoptables in the near future.

First up is Scarlet, who we believe is currently our oldest bird.  She's around 40.  Scarlet obviously suffered through some extremely poor care earlier in her life.

One concrete example is that her toenails started growing at odd angles -- most likely the result of not having perches.  She also has some minor medical issues and will require maintenance medication for the rest of her life.

Scarlet is very sweet and loves verbally interacting with people.  She would do well in a home that doesn't have a lot of expectations for her.  A home that will open her door and let her choose when to come out, for example.

We're not sure how much time Scarlet has left, and we'd really love to get her into a home where she can enjoy her last years as part of a loving family.  Please stop by if you have room in your home and heart for such a wonderful bird!

Reminder: Rummage Sale this Saturday, November 5

Just a reminder about the rummage sale and bake sale to be held this Saturday, November 5 at CARE from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.  We have tons of stuff that's been donated.  Some of them are parrot-related:

And others are not; just typical rummage items:

 As always, all money raised goes directly back into CARE, to help the birds.  We'd love for you to join us!