As mentioned in a previous post, Lily is doing very well. In this picture, you can see where her tumor used to be.

Lily has a very sweet disposition and is not afraid of people. She is currently in a cage with several female budgies, and she loves to interact with them. Like most budgies, she also loves playing with her toys!

Isn't she gorgeous?

Here is a video of Hector, a timneh african grey that recently found a fantastic home! Hector loves to dance, and you can hear him making sounds in the background like he's snapping his fingers.

Hector is doing amazingly well in his new home, and is yet another example of how delightful it can be to open your life and home to an older parrot!

Meet Lily, a budgie that recently found her way to us with a HUGE tumor, as you can see in the picture. Perhaps the saddest part of Lily's story is that she was a stray. We assume her former owners didn't want to deal with her unsightly tumor and let her go in the wild. But here's where Lily's luck changes!

Against long odds, she was found outside and made her way to CARE. On Monday April 16, 2007, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor. Surgery and anesthesia are extremely risky with birds, and that's even more true for tiny birds like Lily. However, she is a survivor and less than an hour after returning to the shelter, she was swinging on a swing in her cage!

Lily lost 10 grams during her tumor removal (normal American budgies tend to weigh about 30 grams), so we're talking a significant percentage of her body weight was wrapped up in the tumor. Her sutures will disintegrate on their own.

A big thank you goes out to Dr. Andrea Sobon at New Berlin Animal Hospital for her special care that will allow Lily to live a happy life and allow her to find her special forever home!

If you are interested in adopting Lily or any bird at CARE, please fill out a Bird Wanted Questionnaire.

At the Center, we love hearing and reading stories about parrots in the wild. This link will take you to a wonderful story about cockatoos in Australia. Make sure to click "next page" so you can read the whole story!

Here is a link to a story about a man and his bird, rescued from a tree. It doesn't have anything to do specifically with our shelter, but it seemed timely after our previous entry!

Every year we get quite a few calls from frantic bird owners whose bird got loose outside. In 2006, we had two calls on loose Moluccan cockatoos, and many more calls on smaller birds — some of whom were never found (one M2 was recaptured the next day -- the other spent almost a month outside before being recaptured). Even if your bird’s wings are clipped, she can still fly. It only takes the slightest breeze and burst of adrenaline, and your bird can be out of your sight faster than you can imagine.

You can check out this website to see listings of lost birds by state.

Please be very careful while transporting your bird. Make sure that her travel cage is secure. Use common sense and don’t take unnecessary risks.

If the worst happens, call us and we may be able to provide you with tips to recover your bird, but prevention is obviously the best solution!

Morning Blend appearance on NBC Channel 4 has been moved to Monday, April 2 (as noted in comments to Feb 22's entry -- thanks Mark!) Sorry for the delay in posting. Many things have been happening at the shelter and we hope to have some updates shortly :)