Rescue Visit

[MR. Mango]

Honestly I love all of them here’s my take . . .
eclectus- charmingly cute schoolboy vibes
opie- difficult old grandpa who ended up in jail . . . Again and is set in his ways vibes
Oggie- heartbroken but single and ready to mingle/ wants love vibes
All three are unique and it’s up to u plus this was more for comedic purposes

 

[Elysian]

Small,,,,Big,, whatever, let the bird pick you! But do think about the dog situation.. think long and hard. Just being real here..

I do know the dog even existing is not a perfect situation.

When my bf and I moved in together 8 years ago, my dog became HIS best friend. After my dog passed I didn't really want another one..

During all of my searching and researching for a bird, he has been SO supportive and committed to letting me get a parrot even if it ended up attacking him..
But I could see he did want another dog, badly. I put the bird thing on hold for awhile because of it

We have trained him not to even look at the budgies, and he is completely outside of the house when they come out to play. He is never loose unsupervised around the cage.
There are two closed doors between them at night in addition to him being crated.

I picked him out because of his low prey drive and guardian breed, but If there are ever any hints of him getting too interested in the cage area, I will move them back into their own room.. I just hate for them to be isolated from us during family time.

 

[Elysian]

Blue Fronted Amazon.

And the tail flair and eye pinning is a way to express excitement.

Senegals have huge personalities and ours is a riot, but he also has an aggressive/possessive streak. When they bite they are tenacious, they dig in and won't let go.

I figured the combination of eye pinning and tail fanning, along with him not knowing me at all, probably lends more toward aggressive excitement than happy excitement? But I'm interested to find out for sure.

I've also heard that amazons like to add extra hurt to their bites and give a twist
Though for some reason the amazon beak looks less frightening to me than the young goffins that tried to crush my finger once!

 

[Pepebirdie]

Good luck with everything! The eclectus and especially the Senegal are calling my name. I hope you find the perfect bird for your flock.

 

[Elysian]

Well instead of sleeping I find I've been thinking about Opie.
I guess that says something.

I think he might be a yellow shouldered amazon?

 

[redindiaink]

I figured the combination of eye pinning and tail fanning, along with him not knowing me at all, probably lends more toward aggressive excitement than happy excitement? But I'm interested to find out for sure.

I've also heard that amazons like to add extra hurt to their bites and give a twist
Though for some reason the amazon beak looks less frightening to me than the young goffins that tried to crush my finger once!

Amazons just chomp. Sometimes they'll chomp and hold on, but mostly it's a quick lunge > bite > retract.

I'd lean towards a neutral interpretation of what he felt especially since he let you touch him without biting (or lunging?). If he was attacking his toys, or throwing himself at the cage bars I might call it that, but I'm not a fan of labeling behaviour. My 'zons will eye pin and flare their tails over saying hello, being offered food, opening a cage door etc. They wear their thoughts out in the open.

yellow shouldered amazon?

Looks like it!

 

[Elysian]

Amazons just chomp. Sometimes they'll chomp and hold on, but mostly it's a quick lunge > bite > retract.

I'd lean towards a neutral interpretation of what he felt especially since he let you touch him without biting (or lunging?). If he was attacking his toys, or throwing himself at the cage bars I might call it that, but I'm not a fan of labeling behaviour. My 'zons will eye pin and flare their tails over saying hello, being offered food, opening a cage door etc. They wear their thoughts out in the open.



Looks like it!

Thank you! I just posted over in the amazon section but you answered it.
I'm calling them in the morning. I don't know what it is about him but I really want to go back and find out if he was into me or plotting murder!

 

[tka]

Amazons and Pionus are very alike in that they're pretty easy to read - they kind of wear their hearts on their sleeves. Eye pinning and tail flaring is just a sign of excitement. Leia pins her eyes when she's eating something tasty and flares her tail when she hears a loud noise from outside. On their own, they're not much to worry about. As @redindiaink said, if the bird is also beating up a toy and/or flinging itself at the bars and is puffed up and angry, then that's more clearly a bird that is unhappy about something.

To me Opie looks curious but calm. If he let you touch his foot and welcomed the touch, I'd say that that's a good sign!

 

[Tazlima]

There are no wrong answers to the question I posed; it was meant for you to be introspective about your own reasons. Think them through and see where they lead you.

That said, this is wrong...


Any dog, if so inclined, can kill any pet bird, faster than we can intercede. Whether they're swallowed whole, or their neck is snapped, the end result is the same.

This is yet another instance where size does not matter.

I saw a video a while back of a little bobcat who attacks a deer four or five times its size. I thought for sure the cat had bitten off more than it could chew (...erhm, so to speak) and was going to at least lose its prey and likely get injured in the process. Darned if it didn't just hold it's grip until, eventually, the deer went down.

It's so easy to underestimate predators based on size, especially when we only see their affectionate side, and forget that, for example, dachshunds were bred to take down badgers. Have you SEEN a badger? They're ferocious! I'm way bigger than a badger and I wouldn't want to tangle with one.

I also have dogs in the house, and I periodically have to remind myself that even a well-meaning lick could harm the birds.

 

[Elysian]

I also have dogs in the house, and I periodically have to remind myself that even a well-meaning lick could harm the birds.

Ahh, yeah - and the budgies have known him since he was a tiny puppy, so they are not afraid of him AT ALL. But now he is not tiny, and I have to make sure their lack of fear doesn't endanger them.

Thankfully we've only had two "moments" where he didn't mostly ignore them. Once when I was putting food in their dishes and he gave a little whine behind me and did a "sit pretty" trick. But I really couldn't tell if he was looking at the food or at the birds So I stopped feeding them with him in the room.
(he does love millet? wtf dog)
And there has been one time that he wandered close to the cage and stopped to look Citrine right in the eye. Just calmly looked at each other.. gotta remind myself that it's cute but not okay.
Now if he wanders anywhere near that area I say "Hey, don't look at them" and he redirects himself.

 

[scrape]

Time to leave my sad/vent thread behind.
I'm back from my first visit. You guys were right, an hour is NOT enough. I had no idea what to expect really. I hope they let me come back and do it right.

I did not bring home a bird.
Though it seemed like they were willing to let me walk out with one right then if I wanted to? I was surprised by that.

The three birds I was most drawn to were not listed on the website, so I have no idea what issues/preferences might be at play. I need to go back when there is more time for someone to get their charts out.

1. There was a male Eclectus that had *just* been dumped there today. Not available because they have to do his blood work, etc. No idea of age or why he was dumped. He seemed very sweet but could have been shell shocked.
I know Eclectus can be tricky to care for, but he was soo sweet-voiced and adorable!
View attachment 384060

2. A male Amazon called Opie. The person I talked to didn't have any detail on him at all.. he didn't talk or even make any noises when I was there. When I talked to him his eyes were pinning and his tail was flared, probably not happy? But he kept climbing closer to wherever I stood.
His eyes looked like flames. I loved them.
I did briefly touch his foot and he didn't seem to want to bite me?

View attachment 384061

3. This little senegal named Oggie. I don't want a bird this small! I want the size of a grey, medium amazon, or pionus..
But... he kept looking at me, and bobbing his head. Even my boyfriend kept circling back to look at him. He is 27 years old. He apparently was surrendered without consent by a woman's spouse, but then she never came back to claim him.
View attachment 384062
I spent way too much time looking into his eyes

There were also 4-5 talkative Quakers, a beautiful dove, two mustache parakeets, one cockatiel that also kept coming up me, and plenty more amazons.. particularly a female blue front that supposedly talks but looked sad and wouldn't face me, and a double yellow headed male that talked and laughed but had already been adopted and returned once and no one could tell me specifically why. If I end up bringing home a difficult male amazon it'd be the one with eyes like fire.

Ah! I love these types of threads! Decisions, decisions! I am so excited to see who you bring home!
I can't wait til I get to post my own thread like these!

 

[Elysian]

a red bellied parrot!

You know, I dug out my very original application and it said:
1. Is there a specific bird at the rescue that you are applying for? "No"
2. If no, what kind of bird are you looking for? "Ideally a Pionus or Red-Bellied Parrot"

 

[SumitaSinh]

What birds do u currently have and pics please!

Mr Mango, you are crazy like me... I want to see all birds of the world.

 

[JewellBird]

Best of luck on whichever one you choose to look into more! They are all such stunning parrots!

 

[Elysian]

I left a message this morning asking for more detail on Opie (the Amazon) and if I could schedule an appointment for a more proper visit.
Called this time, not emailed. If they still never get back to me - I'll be okay. They are swamped and probably think I wasted their time but at least I got to meet birds.

If they do get back to me - I didn't ask for his chart information while I was there because I didn't want to be too disruptive. Am I missing any important questions that I should ask?

1. Whether they have any idea of his age/verification of gender
3. If they know his history - number of homes, reason for being rehomed, does he have a gender preference
4. Depending on age, do they know if he is captive bred or wild caught
5. If he has any existing cholesterol issues, etc
6. If anyone at the rescue has been able to handle him

I'd like to ask about his vocalizations, just for knowledge sake, but I get the impression he hasn't been there long enough for anyone to notice that. I asked the girl who was doing cage care if she knew anything about him - she stopped us to show us her favorite Quaker - but she said she all she has done is change his water. Seemed a little intimidated by him.

 

[Sparkles!]

Don’t take this as me being harsh- because flat out, I’m not. Okay? This is me and you, having coffee. We’re having coffee and chatting.

Do. Not. ADOPT. You might be in over your head.

Girl, you need to foster! Take one of those 3 gorgeous birds and foster them. Open up your home but without that signing the dotted line it’s (relatively)permanent today thing.
Right now you are upside down and sideways. You’ve got a pretty hefty list of wants- and I’m not saying you can’t get there, but it’s a big list. Don’t eenie meanie miny mo, catch a birdy by the toe this one!
There are so many things I wish I could tell you or show you. But your best bet right now is to ask to foster-to-adopt a bird. You might get your “big bird” and find out your arms would rather not lift a fat Amazon all day. (My most lazy birds have been zons btw. Big? Yes. But not active.) That Sennie might run you ragged! They’re active, springy things. The gorgeous Ekkie? He would be my pick. They’re a medium bird, and an eclectus would have to work really hard to offend anyone. He’s not going to meet all that criteria on your list though.
Every bird comes with some work surrounding it. And sometimes it’s a “what you see is what you get” situation. Does it really matter if the rescue knows an exact age of a bird? Or if they’ve DNA sexed it? I would say no, but it’s you and not me.
So ask the rescue if you can foster one of those 3. Get it into your home and then re-evaluate that wish list. You may be surprised at what you care about at the end of the fostering period! You might find that it’s actually way too much work to deal with a pissy Amazon or easier to feed an Eclectus than what is portrayed.
You’ve got a huge amount of anxiety around this, and that’s okay. That’s why I am recommending you to foster first.

 

[Chomskypom]

@Sparkles! Holy cow, THANK YOU. This isn’t my thread, I won’t be ready to consider another bird for some time, but I really needed to hear that anyway. Thank you for this pearl of wisdom. I’ll be coming back to visit it periodically.

 

[Elysian]

Well I don't care about his age or gender except for the pre-emptive knowledge of what to expect with puberty, hormones, etc.
Those aren't a list of contingencies..

You’ve got a huge amount of anxiety around this, and that’s okay. That’s why I am recommending you to foster first.

Man, it's going to sound like I keep making excuses - I wish I could foster!!!
We have two rescues here.. thats it. The next closest one is 4 hours away and they won't adopt out this far, let alone foster.

- Local Rescue 1 (the one I finally visited) doesn't allow fostering, period. Ever. She had some kind of bad experience letting a bird be fostered once apparently ..
- Local Rescue 2 - In order to foster you have to apply for a "membership", pay a fee, be a member for a certain number of months, take a class, then apply to foster.
I filled out the membership application and paid the fee 9 months ago. And never heard back. The fee was taken (thats fine, I don't mind donating) but I heard nothing back on the membership application. Waited. Emailed. Waited. Physically mailed another copy. Waited. Called (no answer). Waited. Reached out on facebook monthly for multiple months (every time they posted about the importance of foster homes). Went ahead and sent in a regular adoption application. Still nothing


I don't know what to do honestly. I don't want to be a Karen and harass people who are breaking their backs saving birds. I don't want to be a naive adopter. I don't want to purchase a baby that will outlive me, especially not from the local store that I'm pretty sure is just a bird mill.

I've thought maybe the right bird will fall into my life somehow? So I wait awhile.. I've also given up on the idea of having another bird at all, multiple times. Keep going back to it..

Anyway, I don't think you're being harsh - and I'm not really upset, I just type too much.
I don't know why this is so difficult if I'm not doing something wrong.
I had to give up the goal of fostering a human child too, so maybe someone is trying to tell me something.

 

[sunnysmom]

Well I don't care about his age or gender except for the pre-emptive knowledge of what to expect with puberty, hormones, etc.
Those aren't a list of contingencies..



Man, it's going to sound like I keep making excuses - I wish I could foster!!!
We have two rescues here.. thats it. The next closest one is 4 hours away and they won't adopt out this far, let alone foster.

- Local Rescue 1 (the one I finally visited) doesn't allow fostering, period. Ever. She had some kind of bad experience letting a bird be fostered once apparently ..
- Local Rescue 2 - In order to foster you have to apply for a "membership", pay a fee, be a member for a certain number of months, take a class, then apply to foster.
I filled out the membership application and paid the fee 9 months ago. And never heard back. The fee was taken (thats fine, I don't mind donating) but I heard nothing back on the membership application. Waited. Emailed. Waited. Physically mailed another copy. Waited. Called (no answer). Waited. Reached out on facebook monthly for multiple months (every time they posted about the importance of foster homes). Went ahead and sent in a regular adoption application. Still nothing


I don't know what to do honestly. I don't want to be a Karen and harass people who are breaking their backs saving birds. I don't want to be a naive adopter. I don't want to purchase a baby that will outlive me, especially not from the local store that I'm pretty sure is just a bird mill.

I've thought maybe the right bird will fall into my life somehow? So I wait awhile.. I've also given up on the idea of having another bird at all, multiple times. Keep going back to it..

Anyway, I don't think you're being harsh - and I'm not really upset, I just type too much.
I don't know why this is so difficult if I'm not doing something wrong.
I had to give up the goal of fostering a human child too, so maybe someone is trying to tell me something.

I am sorry you didn't hear back from the second rescue. That's pretty irresponsible of them. If you were near me, the rescue I help with would be jumping up and down with excitement to have another foster person. But all rescues do things differently. We too require foster people to take classes before being able to foster. I think really that's the responsible thing to do. You just don't want to hand a bird over to someone that doesn't know what they're doing. We also offer a lot of support to our foster homes. It's too bad that's not an option for you. I fostered both Elvis and Scooter before adopting them. (Technically, Scooter was a foster fail. LOL.) But with Elvis, we fostered him with the intent to adopt if things went well. I would definitely say take your time and really think about what you want. Hopefully, the first rescue will let you go back and spend more time with the birds.

 

[Elysian]

Don’t take this as me being harsh- because flat out, I’m not. Okay? This is me and you, having coffee. We’re having coffee and chatting.

Also - that is why I come here. You're all kind but realistic.
I try to be realistic but I think I come across like I'm in denial or spinning out

I am sorry you didn't hear back from the second rescue. That's pretty irresponsible of them. If you were near me, the rescue I help with would be jumping up and down with excitement to have another foster person. But all rescues do things differently. We too require foster people to take classes before being able to foster. I think really that's the responsible thing to do. You just don't want to hand a bird over to someone that doesn't know what they're doing. We also offer a lot of support to our foster homes. It's too bad that's not an option for you. I fostered both Elvis and Scooter before adopting them. (Technically, Scooter was a foster fail. LOL.) But with Elvis, we fostered him with the intent to adopt if things went well. I would definitely say take your time and really think about what you want. Hopefully, the first rescue will let you go back and spend more time with the birds.

I was excited to take the class if they'd let me lol. It's so weird.. I don't live in a small town? Why is our rescue situation so... I don't even know a word for it.
And I keep thinking it must just be me because somehow birds ARE getting adopted.. and every other parrot rescue mentioned by the users here sounds awesome.. why would both of mine be this way.

I have to kind of stop posting here for months at a time because I'm jealous how easily everyone else finds parrots to interact with. I've only even been able to hold the ones that bird mill guy is cranking out, or when I show up within the first 10 minutes of a bird show before all the pet store reps buy them up.
(Besides budgies I mean)