We Wish We Could Blog More About Parrots. We Really Do!

We wish we could blog more, and more frequently, about parrots (as well as politics and coffee). We really do! Thing is, we have eight (count them: 8) actual parrots that we have to care for that demand our time and attention. As well as operating the parrot rescue Northwest Parrots Fund, and an online coffee shop The Parrot Cafe. That and the fact that we have to work for a living to support our parrots and parrot activities!

Mr. Cracker

A Ruby macaw (Greenwing/Scarlet mix) believed to be about forty years old, and a presumed male, Mr Cracker has been with us a year now. We rescued him when his owner of twenty-five years suddenly took terminally ill. After six months Mr. Cracker finally let me touch him. Now he begs for head scratches. He won't yet step up with me though. Mr. Cracker has taken to calling me Mark, his previous owner's name.

Tillie

Tillie is a confirmed female Timneh African grey parrot who is by far our smallest parrot and one of the sweetest parrots anyone will ever encounter. She came to us when her owner could no longer care for her. She loves flying laps around her bird room when she's not sitting on the window sill watching the wild birds out back. If I set her down anywhere, she automatically flies to my shoulder. Whenever I walk into her room, Tillie automatically reminds me: Hi Sweetie! It's Me! Just in case I get her confused with any other Timneh African grey parrot that might be around!

Kid Kadra

Kid Kadra is a confirmed male Goffin's cockatoo parrot who served as a service parrot for a fellow with serious medical issues. We rescued Kid Kadra when that person suddenly died. His death was not discovered for several days. When Kid Kadra came to us he was comatose for two weeks. As is the character of Goffin's cockatoos, Kid Kadra is a typical teenage juvenile delinquent. Except that he loves to bathe. He would take a shower every day if given the opportuniity.

Arua

Arua is a confirmed female Congo African grey parrot whose owner also suddenly and unexpectedly died. His death was not discovered for three days, until a worried girlfriend (who lived across the state) alerted family members to his disappearance. Arua is a big girl by African grey standards and one of the friendliest African greys anyone will ever find. She insists on being part of any conversation in the house, and is the resident linguist. Arua came to us speaking Polish as well as English. She speaks dog as well as cat, and any number of avian dialects.

Aboo

Aboo is our cowboy Blue and Gold macaw. Named for Aladdin's sidekick, the name fits. Unlike the other parrots, he would much rather not take a bath. A confirmed male, Aboo was literally dumped on our doorstep, considered to be unmanageable and unhandleable! Now I can literally hold him in the palm of my hand. Aboo has become a good friend to our Ruby macaw Mr. Cracker.

Princess Tara

Princess Tara is a confirmed female Hyacinth macaw, and as far as I can tell, probably the largest parrot in Seattle. She really is a princess! Her parents are a Duke and a Duchess. Princess Tara is one big girl! And she is a cuddle bunny and goofball, the classic ugly duckling who doesn't realize just how spectacularly beautiful she is. Princess Tara had been passed around to at least three different homes before she came to us, primarily because she knows she is big, and doesn't mind throwing her weight around. That, and the fact that when she starts her Hyacinth honking, she can blow your eardrums out!

Miss Bubba Boy

Miss Bubba Boy is a confirmed female Blue and Gold macaw that we rescued from a breeder who needed a male macaw for his breeding facility. Bubba's original owner was so sure that Bubba was a boy he never bothered to have her sexed. We did. We paid fifty bucks for a DNA test, but we kept her name anyway. She calls herself Bubba Boy! We could have saved the money! Within a month, Bubba laid her first clutch of eggs. She has laid two clutches of eggs since she's been with us. Bubba immediately bonded to my partner, and tried to attack me every opportunity she got for about two years. Eventually we reached a detente. Now Bubba even hucks for me. Plus she knows that no one appreciates looking at her wings as much as I do!

Roxanne

Our Diva parrot and Greenwing macaw Roxanne was named for The Police song. She even knows the lyrics! Roxanne also knows the lyrics to the Gene Autry song You Are My Sunshine. We recorded a duet with Roxanne and Gene Autry. The Gene Autry Museum in Los Angeles was so impressed, they sent us a nice note.


We acquired Roxanne when we answered an ad in the Sunday classifieds. Roxanne's owner got divorced. Got remarried. Was moving out of state. The new wife gave him an ultimatum: Her or the parrot. We don't think he made the right choice. The first time we met Roxanne, she immediately stepped up with both of us. Roxanne's owner was astounded. She had refused to step up with any of the other people that had answered his ad. He dropped her asking price in half, and we came home with our first parrot.


We only ever intended to get the one! The rest, as they say, is history.

Animal Trafficking in Mexico, Around the World, Endangers Parrots and Other Animals

Here is something to consider the next time someone says that parrot and wildlife smuggling is a thing of the past:

The Defenders of Wildlife in Mexico said, “It is estimated that between 65,000 to 78,000 parrots are caught illegally every year and from them, 77 percent die before they arrive in to the hands of a buyer. The mistreatment these animals suffer explains the high mortality rate.”

Animal Trafficking in Mexico, Around the World, Endangers Animals - Hispanically Speaking News

Sadly, we will see the extinction of many wild parrot populations within our lifetimes!

Living With Parrots: Parrot Blogs

All parrot care should be this easy! Our male Blue and Gold macaw Aboo was abandoned because he was considered unmanageable and unhandleable!

As Patricia Sund of Parrot Nation says: Parrots are "one hell of a lot of work." Whether you have one parrot or an aviary, where do you go to find useful and up to date information regarding positive parrot care and training? As a service to conscientious parrot owners, we are attempting to compile in one place links to the best parrot people currently writing and blogging about parrot care and training. If we have overlooked any parrot writers and bloggers you know of and follow, please let us know so we can add them as well. There is also a community of parrot writers who blog about parrot and wildlife conservation, many affiliated with The World Parrot Trust. We will leave these writers and bloggers for a later blog post.

We'll start with the generalists, and then move on to the specialists:

Living With Parrots

Patricia Sund with two of her Congo African Grey parrots

Since we already quoted her, we'll start with Patricia Sund's Parrot Nation. Patricia Sund's blog encompasses the world of aviculture, and especially the part of the world in which she lives with three African grey parrots in her Florida home.

Shadow, Katherine Rawson's Nanday Conure

Katherine Rawson is a writer and blogger who lives with a Nanday conure, Shadow. Shadow's blog is The Parrot's Point of View. Katherine has published the picture book, If You Were a Parrot.

Betty Jean Craige's female Congo African Grey Cosmo

Betty Jean Craige is a professor at the University of Georgia who lives with a gregarious Congo African Grey parrot named Cosmo, who has published her own book, Conversations With Cosmo.

Rosie Red Bottom: A Comedian With Feathers

From Georgia we travel 6,000 miles across the continent to Alaska where a parrot writer named Donna Hart Mann lives with her Congo African Grey parrot named Rosie Red Bottom and a Cockatiel named Percy. Donna documents her life with Rosie and Percy in her blog African Grey Parrot. Donna recently published a book about Rosie, Rosie Red Bottom: A Comedian With Feathers.

Bryan Xie's Black Capped Conure Kacy

Even farther afield, we travel to Singapore where Bryan Xie lives with his three parrots, Kacy the Black Capped Conure, Kermit the Senegal, and Kiki, an African lovebird. Bryan blogs about life with his companion parrots, including their care and training, on his blog Bryan's Angels.

Coco, a cage free Yellow Crowned Amazon parrot

Robin Cherkas lives in Ashville, North Carolina where she writes the blog Living With Parrots Cage Free, documenting her life with her cage free Yellow Crowned Amazon parrot Coco. As Robin tells me, while she's touched on virtually every topic imaginable regarding parrots and parrot care, her blog's primary focus is simply living with a cage free parrot, the symbiotic relationship between parrot and companion, teaching both the parrot and companion behavior/life skills that promote this harmonious relationship and parrot empowerment.

Rebecca O'Connor with one of her flock mates

In addition to being a parrot person, Rebecca O'Connor is a conservationist, falconer, and writer who lives in Sacramento with her flock including Ty, an African Grey parrot, Bali, a Red-Bellied Parrot, Loki, a Senegal, as well as two falcons and a Brittany. Rebecca writes about her flock on her blog, Heckled by Parrots. Rebecca has documented her career in falconry in her recent memoir Lift: A Memoir. We await a sequel about her life with parrots!

No doubt we have overlooked many parrot bloggers. Please forward their names to us so they can be added. From the generalists we will turn to the specialists. A future blog post will focus on parrot writers blogging about parrot care, training, nutrition, and flying. Stay tuned!

Common Myths About Parrots and Parrot Care

Thanks to fellow Canuck Bruce Byfield for debunking several common myths about parrots and parrot care.