What Comes Into Rescue?
Rescue birds come in many shapes and sizes. Also they come with baggage! Screaming, biting and we see a lot of feather plucking. Most are very neglected and abused. The “Rescue Members” are just that. Birds that are adopted and members of “Rainbow Feather Bird Club”. Any birds you might find on our web site are NOT for adoption. We have added the “Rescue Members”, as a success portion of our site. We our trying to find more pictures of the more abused birds, so you can see and feel the heart break, we find. People are not the most caring creatures. If they can treat people abusively animals are nothing to them.
Let me walk you through a rescue. A call comes in: example: “I have this bird and I can’t deal with it any more!” Response: “What type of bird?” “I don’t know, it’s green, and LOUD”! Another example: “ Come get this bird before I open the door!” Sound like caring people to you? NO!
So calls go out to see who can foster. Then as soon as possible a pick up it made. The “green bird” can be anything from a Lovebird to a Military Macaw. These people haven’t done their homework to even find out what kind of bird they have! What do we find mostly? A rusted cage, if they even have a cage, no toys and junk seed. Do we get these thing along with the bird? Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Mostly we don’t.
We have even received birds in paper bags from the owners! No cage, no food , no toys. Very seldom is the bird friendly. The foster parents make an appointment with a vet.
What ever treatment needed is provided. Could be, medication, IV treatments, injection or baby hand feeding. The foster parent must be experience to foster the bird, if it has special medical needs. The club pays for all the vet bills. We are a non- profit Section 501,3,c. The monies we get are from donations. We do educational programs, Bird Fair.
Some of the “club” members offer their cages and supply toys. Our “Rescue” is a group effort. Calls can come on holidays and “poof”, off we go! Calls can come at midnight to help someone set up after they have driven 4hours to pick up a bird.
It doesn’t shock me anymore like it use to. I have seen birds that have mutilated themselves so bad, they had nothing covering their breast bone. Beautiful birds in garage sales, usually given away. They didn’t want them any more. I have found fecese piled right up to the birds feet sitting on a perch! We have found abandon birds left in houses! And the list goes on…….
After the bird is vet checked, it is put into quarantine. It is left in quarantine for at least 30 days if not longer. Most birds are put on a pelleted diet and fresh fruits and veggies. Converting from seeds to pellets can be and experience! And this takes someone with the knowledge to know what to watch for. We don’t want any bird to starve to death either!
Toys are provided mostly by the foster parents, along with love, patience and caring.
Rescue birds have ISSUES! Biting! Oh-my have I been bitten! I don’t push a bird. I try very hard not to stress them. The vet clips wings and nails for us during the visit, so all birds are clipped. After a few weeks I try, the “Step-UP” command. CHOMP! I wait a few days then try again. Well, to make a long story short, I get bit a lot and bleed more then I would like to say.
The “plucker” is usually a visual issue more then physical. Plucking can be caused from: seed diet, lose of their mate ( bird or human), boredom, or an emotional disorder.
Yes, birdies do take Prozac! The emotional reasons are the hardest to help. With all the love in the world and all the toys and attention, sometimes they …just pluck! Plucking can be a habit, like nail biting, hair twirling, or any other human habit. Many remedies are on the market for plucking. Some work, some don’t. More baths help, along with plenty of toys. You can find many books that can help you if you’re bird plucks. Check at your local library.
Screaming! Oh- boy this is a goody! Biting you can walk away from. Or simply don’t put your hand in there! Plucking, we look away, but screaming! Sometimes you just have to leave the house! Amazons, Cockatoos, Macaws and Conure, just to name a few, can be heard up to 6 houses away. With the windows closed! Screaming is an attention getter. If you run every time they scream they learn…yes learn this is how they can get you to come to their needs! Screaming, like plucking can be from boredom also. The “cute” little fluff ball that you spent every waking minute with, now at 2 screams none stops. Theses are just a few examples of the issues we see. Not all reasons are listed only a few.
I can use my Blue/Gold Macaw as an example. I rescued him about 14 yrs. ago. When I got him, he not only screamed he bite! (You can read Sidney’s bio in Rescue Members)
Screaming in the morning and at night is normal bird behavior. But screaming none stop for hours is not. Sidney wasn’t use to toys, attention or a good diet. For entertainment he ate dining-room walls. NOT AT MY HOUSE! He’s come a very long way. But it has also taken time, patience, and walking out of the house. Does he still scream? Yes, when he doesn’t get his way. When the neighbor has clothes hanging on HER line! Birds scream for a reason. If your bird is a screamer, look around. Try to see things as the bird sees them. As big as Sidney is, he is terrified of bugs! Flies! Moths! Spiders oh-my! Sidney has many fears. He shakes terribly.
This brings me to another thing we see in the birds that come in “fear”, or “phobias”.
Birds that have been abused usually have phobias, mostly of hands. This is the reason they bite. This can be confused with aggression. Phobic birds need special care and understanding. Reading, talking with our vets help us to understand what we are dealing with.
Aggression! WOW! Now this one I am still reading new books on how to deal with it.
This takes patience which sometimes I don’t have. So, one those days, I don’t work with them. One of the birds I have now bird has been with me over a year. He has been abused, neglected and left in a vacant home. His owner had passed, and the person that was suppose to take care of him would forget. Leaving us ,with a nearly dead bird. Gavage feeding was needed, and this bird is over 20 yr of age! Medication! Bites! LOL! Getting a bird to take medication a lone is a challenge. Bites! Blood and more bites. 2-3 weeks of this was needed in order to get him back on track. Over a year later he still is afraid of hands. BITES! LUNGES! He has his out time, but won’t “step-up”, loves his new diet! He has learned to play with toys. Loves Elmo toys the best. Doesn’t say too much, but when he does it’s really, really scary! He has a very eerie voice. It will take a long time before he’s ready of adoption, but when he is he’ll be a great bird.
If you’re thinking of rescuing a bird, please do your homework! Read, check out web-sites, learn as much as you can. We don’t want another bird come into rescue due to lack of understanding the species. Each species has different traits, so read , learn and educate yourself before thinking about having any animal. Thanks!
Kathy
SO YOU TOOK IN A BIRD, AN AMAZON PARROT, YOU SAY YOU GOT IT FREE, WAS IT?
1. NEEDS BIGGER CAGE $450
2. VET CHECK-UP $150
3.NEEDSTOYS $50
4. FOOD AND TREATS $30
5. CARRIER FOR TRANSPORTING BIRD $20
6. LARGE PLAY STAND $200
YOUR FREE BIRD HAS COST YOU $900