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.

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!

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.

Holly Update

Even though our last Holly update was just earlier this month, we took a video of her that we wanted to share. Also, she is so adorable -- how hasn't she found a home yet?

When Holly sees people she likes, she hangs from the top of her cage -- it's her way of begging to come out.

When she comes out of her cage, she is so excited to come out that she throws herself at the arm -- there is nothing delicate about this action! She is so full of happiness and life that it always puts a smile on our faces.



We put a towel over our arm to have her step up. This is to help her grip when she comes flying out -- to prevent her from falling if she over- or under-shoots in her excitement. Sometimes she throws herself at the towel when it's even further away. She appears to have been a bit camera-shy here :)

Holly is still looking for a home. She'd love to be in place with a new family by the end of the year! Although she does have a disability in her dislocated hip, we were able to discontinue all pain killers once her health improved under our care. She currently requires no special care, though will need an observant owner and may possibly require pain killers at some point in the future.

Meet Bongo

Meet Bongo, an approximately 25 year old severe macaw. We suspect she's female, but don't have her DNA sexing back yet. For the past 15 years, she lived in the same home, along with Sweet Pea, who we'll introduce tomorrow.
Bongo is very tame and sweet. She used to go everywhere with her previous owner and was very social. However, once her owner had a human baby, she no longer had time for Bongo, who found her way to us. As such, she hasn't had much human interaction lately, but she did have her parrot friend, Sweet Pea, for companionship.
Bongo and Sweet Pea get along very well, though they don't physically interact much. We'd love to adopt them into the same home, though they will require separate cages.

Severe macaws can live 40+ years, so there's a lot of life and love left in Bongo. If you'd like to meet her, please stop by!

Holly Update

This week, we're going to feature birds that we can't understand why they are still with us. Instead of "Adopt-a-less-adoptable-pet-week," it's "Adopt-a-super-adoptable-but-under-appreciated-pet-week." I know, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But these are the Susan Luccis of CARE.

Many people think of rescue birds as damaged in some way, but we've learned time and time again that's not the case. Unfortunately, far too many people who are not equipped to own parrots purchase them, and then the birds suffer. True, there are some birds who, due to their innate personality or past experiences with humans, are difficult, and many of those birds find their way to rescue.

However, the majority of birds find their way to us because they outlived their owner, or their owner has a major life change and is unwilling or unable to include the bird in that change. Additionally, there are parrots owned by people who didn't do their research on what living what one of these intelligent creatures involves, so they are unprepared for the noise, mess, and cost of living with one.

Luckily, parrots are extremely resilient and the vast majority of them will quickly integrate into a new home.

We've talked a few times about Holly, an adult severe macaw. Here is the last time she was featured. Holly came from an animal hoarder, so we have no information on her. When she first came to us, we suspected that she was in her 30s, due to her condition. Holly, a few weeks after surrender:

However, she has made such amazing progress since being with us that we think we may have prematurely aged her. She might be a spritely teenager! Can you believe this is the same bird?

Holly is an incredible joy to be around. When she sees her favorite people, she starts swinging from the top of her cage and begging to come out. She leaps on their arm and is one happy lady.

She will always have a dislocated hip, but since being on a good diet at CARE, her arthritis has disappeared, so she is no longer on any kind of pain medication. Her dislocated hip does not impede her in any way -- she has a normal cage, with normal perches, and normal toys.

We don't understand why she's been here for nearly a year. She isn't aggressive at all, and is quite charming. She is relatively undemanding and just wants to spend time out of her cage with people.

In a home environment, where she'll receive more one-on-one attention, we suspect that she'll reveal many more delightful surprises. She is quite the treasure, and we hope that she will soon have a home of her own. We're just not sure why she doesn't have one already!

Meet Lou

Meet Lou, an approximately 20 year old male blue and gold macaw. He's featured on our adopt a less adoptable pet week because he is a very challenging bird. He is very picky about what people he likes, and if he doesn't like you, he tries to intimidate you and threatens to attack. Most people are unable to properly address such behavior issues in such a large bird. We need to make sure he'll be adopted into a home where he will be a loved member of the family, and not stuck in a back bedroom due to his aggression.
Lou's been with us almost a year now, and no one has seriously thought about adopting him. Like many birds, he chooses the people he likes. When he likes someone, he is incredibly sweet and friendly; when he doesn't like someone, he tries to intimidate them by showing how big and scary he is and by threatening to bite. However, while in his cage, he will sing and dance with those he doesn't want to be around, so there is hope that in a home, with understanding people and lots of patience, we may seem him warming up to more people.
Lou needs an experienced macaw owner to adopt him. We feel confident that he will blossom in the right home; the trick is finding that home for him.

Meet Kodak

I was going to post an update on Kodak, questioning how one of the most amazing birds we've ever met is still here, looking for a home, when I realized that I'd never introduced her on the blog! She did make an appearance almost a year ago, but with little detail about her.

So it's long overdue, but here's Kodak (and I'll be going through to see what other long-timers have been accidentally overlooked here, so watch for that over the upcoming weeks!):

She's a female blue-and-gold macaw in her early 20s. She's been living at the Center for over a year, and during that time, we've just fallen in love with her. We can't understand why she's still here, and we'd love to get her in to a home where she can bond with a family and have the stability she craves.

Kodak has a very gentle soul. She gets very excited when she sees her favorite people and wants to come out to spend time with them. She loves making kissing sounds. Kodak is extremely intelligent and will make a great companion.

She would be the perfect bird for someone who's always wanted a macaw and has educated themselves about macaws but hasn't had much experience with them as she is gentle and expressive. She's helped several of our volunteers get over their fears of large macaws and just has such a fantastic personality.

If she sounds like she's what you've been looking for, please stop by to meet her!

Holly Update

It's been a few months since our last Holly update. This charming, personable severe macaw is still looking for a home. She is incredibly sweet and we don't understand why she hadn't been snapped up yet!

As she's been with us, she has regained her strength and blossomed into quite a charmer. She wants nothing more than to hang out with her favorite people. Her feathering and demeanor have improved so much during these past few months; it's hard to believe she's the same bird!

At this point, Holly has improved enough so that she is no longer on pain medication! However, her new owner will need to work with an avian vet to determine when pain medication might be necessary due to her injury and the resulting arthritis.

We're hopeful that the perfect home will come along soon and Holly can live out the rest of her life as part of a loving family.

More Sebastian pictures

We introduced you to Sebastian here. Not that long ago, but in the ensuing weeks, we've been getting to know him. What a charmer!
He can be a bit cage-aggressive at times, though this is to be expected as he is not used to coming out of his cage. We are working with him on this and already making progress!

Sebastian can be strong-willed at times and would benefit from an experienced macaw home. He loves to dance and entertains us with his antics.

Alumni story: Tango & Ellie

It's been three months since our last update on Tango -- he's still doing extremely well! Look at him -- does it get any cuter than this?

Tango's owner was so pleased with how everything was going that they were considering adding another bird to their house.

What perfect timing as CARE had a parrot that desperately needed to go into a foster home -- a Congo African Grey, Ellie. While most parrots do very well at the Center, there are some that don't do as well. They have trouble adapting to the relative chaos after having lived in a private home. In those cases, we work to place the bird in a foster home.

Though a grey hadn't been what they were thinking about, Tango's owner agreed to foster Ellie, and things have gone even better than expected!

Here are the two of them, hanging out:
With the nicer weather, they have been going outside to get some natural sunlight. It's important to remember to always have your parrot properly restrained when they are outside -- in a cage, (like here), carrier, or harness. Even if their wings are clipped, they can be gone in an instant, never to be seen again.

Tango has a big attraction to greys. He doesn't physically interact with them, but he loves to talk to them and they perk up his spirits. When he was at the Center, whenever he'd see a grey, he'd get excited and start saying "hello!" Interestingly enough, he did this with every grey, and with no other species of parrot!

Ellie went to her foster home, and the magic happened. As Tango's owner wrote, "Tango likes Ellie. And Ellie likes me."

Sometimes when a new bird is added to the house, the old bird can act jealous of the interloper. In this case, Tango welcomed a new friend and both birds quickly adapted to the new routine.

A big thank you to Tango's owner for giving Tango and Ellie such fantastic lives. What a fabulous success story!

Meet Sebastian

Meet Sebastian, a charming greenwing macaw. We don't know very much about Sebastian's past. His former owners didn't know much about him, either. They told us they were surrendering a scarlet macaw, so imagine our surprise when we met him when he was a greenwing! He also was in a cage that was way too small (more appropriate for a grey), filthy, and with no toys. His beak was overgrown by an inch and he hadn't been out of his cage in years.

It was Sebastian's first lucky day when he got surrendered to the Center; it will be his second lucky day when he finds the right home!We know his previous owners had him about 7 years. That could make him 8, or it could make him 40. We suspect he's closer to the younger end of the spectrum.

We're still getting to know him, but what we've found so far is delightful.

Isn't he a gorgeous bird?

Holly Update

Holly is off of medical hold and looking for her forever home! Due to her dislocated hip, she will always perch differently than a normal severe macaw, as seen here:
You also have to be a bit more careful when walking around with her so she doesn't fall, but that's about the only adaptation she needs! She readily steps up out of her cage and loves attention. She follows her favorite people around the room while in her cage by climbing to the corner closest to them. She begs to come out and is very personable!

Stop by if you'd like to meet her!

Meet Jo

Meet Jo, an approximately 28 year old severe macaw. Jo was in very bad shape when she was surrendered to us. With proper care and a good diet, we're hoping to turn around some of the damage that was done to her in her previous home. It's too late for her eyes, however. Jo was fed a very poor diet the effects of which, over time, led to fatty lipid deposits in her eyes. There is no way to fix this, and her vet has described the impact to her as always looking through a dirty window. Jo is still settling in. Her release paperwork said that she preferred men, but she has not shown that preference at the Center. She is a little hesitant coming out of her cage, but she loves being out. She has not shown any aggression and has been very gentle with the volunteers. Severe macaws tend to be one-person birds, though we're not sure if this will be true of Jo -- she's still showing us her true personality. Please stop by if you'd like to meet her!

Meet Petri

Meet Petri, an approximately 13 year old blue and gold macaw. She is tame and handleable, but can be a bit unpredictable at times. It's important to watch her body language at all times and not let her too close to your face!She loved her female owner in her previous home, but didn't like the man.

Petri will thrive in the right environment -- a home with large bird experience that can help guide her to acceptable behavior. We're still getting to know her, but from the glint in her eye, I'm sure we'll be updating about her antics, unless she quickly finds a home!

Please stop by if you'd like to meet her.

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!

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!

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.

Meet Holly

Meet Holly, a severe macaw that was among the 18 birds discussed here.

Holly is considered special needs. She has pretty severe arthritis in her legs, for which she is currently receiving pain medication, as well as a dislocated hip. Our vet thinks that this hip was dislocated a long time ago; sadly there is nothing we can do for her now.

However, because parrots are extremely resilient, Holly has adapted well to her disability. She loves to hang from the top of her cage, and fell in love with a swinging perch we placed in her cage. When she perches on you, it seems more comfortable for her to also hold your hand. She does not grip as well as other parrots, so you have to walk slowly and be more careful when she's perched on you. She does not need any cage modifications at this time.

Holly is not quite ready for her forever home, as we need to work out her medication/arthritis issues with regards to necessity and dosing.

Of all of the birds rescued from that home, Holly appears to be the oldest -- probably around 30 or so. However, this is just a guess based on her condition.