Parrots: All Things Zygodactyl

Introducing the ezine all about parrots, and mostly just parrots.

Parrots: All Things Zygodactyl

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zy·go·dac·tyl

 adjective \ˌzī-gə-ˈdak-t^əl\

Definition of ZYGODACTYL

: having the toes arranged two in front and two behind —used of a bird

Origin of ZYGODACTYL

International Scientific Vocabulary zyg- + Greek daktylos toe

First Known Use: 1831

Parrots: All Things Zygodactyl is all things parrots. Well okay, woodpeckers and roadrunners too. And some owls are zygodactyl as well. But mostly we just cover the world of parrots. And what a world it is.

There is more to the world of parrots than that little Budgie stuck in its cage in someone's apartment. There are heroes and villains in the world of parrots. There is drama and romance. There are ex-parrots. Parrots encompass every continent except Antarctica. Parrots make up the largest and most diverse group of avians, and parrots are the oldest of the avians. Not only did parrots live with the dinosaurs. Parrots are living dinosaurs! Join us for the adventure as we cover the world of parrots.

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The Downside of Being a Parrot Person

When we saw the kid walking up the sidewalk with a parrot cage in his hand we immediately knew he was headed for our door. No other possible destination. We didn't even wait for the doorbell.

Argentino and Rainbow needed a new home. They couldn't stay in their current home because the people just didn't have time for them any more. Sigh! How many times have we heard that before. That wasn't a question.

They sent the kid over with the Budgies because the parents were probably too embarrassed to deliver the  birds. The kid admitted that the folks even thought about setting the birds free. Yeah, right. Free to do what, exactly? That is a question. At least they came to their senses and remembered the parrot people around the corner. Hard not to know we're here. You can hear the macaws a block away when the windows are open. And we're frequent visitors to the neighborhood park, so the kids know us even if the parents don't. Our Diva parrot and Greenwing macaw Roxanne just loves hanging out at the park with the kids and swinging on the kiddie swings. Needless to say, we're convinced Argentino and Rainbow would have been set loose (we won't say free) if we had not agreed to take the birds.

Rainbow (left) and Argentino

With the ceaseless chatter of a pair of Budgie parrots added to the squawking of our macaws, greys, and one lone cockatoo, we contacted the circle of parrot people our parrot rescue, Northwest Parrots Fund, works with. We quickly found someone to adopt our temporary house guests.

Our road to establishing a parrot rescue group was surprisingly short, and not a route we ever expected to travel when we got our first parrot, Roxanne. Roxanne, named after the Sting song.

You don't have to put on the red light

Those days are over

You don't have to sell your body to the night

We only ever intended to get the one parrot. We got Roxanne back in the last century from a Microsoftie who got divorced, quit his job with Microsoft, and was moving to California with a new girlfriend. The girlfriend gave him an ultimatum. Her or the parrot. In our opinion, he made the wrong choice, but we got Roxanne.

It didn't take long for the neighbors to brand us as the parrot people. Roxanne was so easy going we figured this parrot thing was a piece of cake. So when we heard about a Blue and Gold macaw named Bubba that a retired couple were going to unload on a parrot breeder, we bought the parrot to save her from a life stuck in a barn.

Now we had two parrots. For several years we operated Seattle's original Parrot Cafe. One weekend a lady dropped off a male Blue and Gold macaw named Aboo. She just needed us to watch the bird for the weekend. Okay. What did we look like? An animal shelter? We were a coffee shop for chrissakes, but we said okay anyway. Surprise, surprise! She never came back. The weekend turned into a week. Then a month. We learned from others that Aboo was considered unmanageable and unhandleable. Well, years later Aboo is still with us. Quite manageable and handleable!

We started getting calls from people asking what they could do with the parrots they could no longer care for. We told them definitely not to bring the parrots to the cafe. But we needed to help them find new homes for their birds. We started building a network of parrot people willing to foster or adopt parrots. We helped some people find new homes for their parrots. We even fostered a few parrots while we searched for new homes. We became a de facto parrot rescue. It was only a matter of time before we formalized our work and established a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity, Northwest Parrots Fund, registered as a charity with the State of Washington. The rest of the story, as they say, is the rest of the story. Some other time maybe.

Thankfully, Rainbow and Argentino are settled into their new home with a terrific parrot person who already had two Budgie parrots. Rainbow and Argentino are males. The other two Budgies are females. This should get interesting.

What Do You Do With a One-Footed Pigeon?

A Moral Conundrum. Or is that redundant?

Definition of CONUNDRUM

1

: a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun

2

a : a question or problem having only a conjectural answer

b : an intricate and difficult problem

Just what do you do with a one-footed pigeon? What can you do? What need you do? Anything? Or simply leave things be? Chalk it up to nature?

This one-footed pigeon has become a regular in our North Seattle back yard, joining the flock of pigeons that usually hangs out around our yard. As you can see from the photo below, the pigeon's right foot is rolled up in a ball and not functional. The pigeon hops around on its good foot, occasionally using its wings for balance.

This pigeon's right foot is severely deformed and rolled into a ball

In all other respects the pigeon seems perfectly healthy and happy, as pigeons go. It will sit on its one good foot and preen itself, like a parrot does. The bird seems to have no problem following and participating with its flock. Other than its foot, it seems to be a perfectly normal wild critter.

We've been told we should try to catch the bird to have the foot examined. But we're not sure how useful capturing the bird would be. If the deformed foot is say, a birth defect, there may not be any fix for the problem. Our inclination is to leave the bird alone. There might be more harm trying to catch the bird than potential benefit to the bird.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.