One Picture is Worth One Thousand Criminal Indictments!

Eleven oil rig workers killed. A way of life and an entire culture put at risk. An entire ecosystem despoiled. It's time to enact the corporate death penalty for BP America! The United States government needs to place the corporation into receivership and assume management of its assets.

For ourselves, we plan to boycott BP America and all its subsidiaries, including:

Aral
ARCO
Travel Centre
BP Connect
BP Express
BP Shop
BP 2go
Castrol
Wild Bean Cafe
Air BP and BP Shipping

If anyone knows of any other BP subsidiaries, please let us know so we can add them to the list.

Yet Another Talented Parrot

We are familiar with literate African grey parrots and macaws that can talk up a storm, or even carry a tune, such as our own Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne. There are many fine videos on YouTube featuring talking African greys and dancing Cockatoos. But few of them can hold a candle to a recent vocal discovery.

A longtime friend of ours is the proud parront of a male Eclectus parrot named Sam I Am (or Sammy for short). So we've known Sammy for years. Recently, Sammy's parront had to undergo hip replacement surgery, so we ended up taking Sammy into our flock for a nearly six week stay. We knew Sammy could talk. We were astounded to discover Sammy's musical talent. Apparently Sammy likes to listen to jazz music, and is particularly fond of horns.

It is a singular thrill to discover an unparalleled singing sensation. All the more sensational when that talent is a parrot! It is with great pleasure that we present Sam I Am's YouTube debut:

We are additionally happy that Sam I Am's YouTube debut is also our latest YouTube video to reach 1,000 views! American Idol here we come.

The Wild Parrots of Seattle

A Pair of Mitred Conures in Golden Gardens Park, Photographed January 10, 2010

We have lived in the Ballard neighborhood of North Seattle since 1999. We knew about the wild parrots in Seward Park (see below), but after moving to Ballard we starting hearing that there was a flock of wild parrots in this neighborhood. Unfortunately the only locations we could ever get were really vague, and not very useful as a starting point in trying to locate the parrots. After about ten years of hearing about these parrots we were starting to think they were just an urban myth.

But recently, our local neighborhood newspaper, The Ballard News-Tribune, published a photo of the parrots, taken January 10, 2010, at Golden Gardens Park:

http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/2010/01/11/features/green-my-ballard-wild-parrots-sunset-hill?sms_ss=twitter

The parrots look to be Mitred conures, same as the conures of Seward Park across the city on Lake Washington. We would guess that the Sunset Hill parrots are an independent flock because of the distance to Seward Park on Lake Washington, but we suppose it wouldn't be impossible for the parrots to forage that distance.

After the photo was published in the Ballard newspaper, we started hearing from people who live in the vicinity of Golden Gardens who have seen the parrots, and who were able to provide an actual location to see the parrots. According to this information, the best location to see the parrots is the top of the gully above Golden Gardens Park, west of 29th Avenue NW near NW 85th Street:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Seattle&state=WA&address=29th+Ave+NW+%26+NW+85th+St&zipcode=98117&country=US&latitude=47.69058&longitude=-122.39429&geocode=INTERSECTION

From the aerial map, it looks like Edgewest Drive NW may be the best access to the area. But at least it gives us a place to start looking.

This is earlier information from May of 2009 posted about the wild parrots of Seward Park:

The Columbia Citizens neighborhood blog has recently posted updates on the wild conures of Seattle's Seward Park, in the neighborhood of 49th Avenue and Hudson Street. Photos of the parrots taken May 19 and May 20 can be seen on the blog post by going to the following link:

http://columbiacitizens.net/forum/t-154856

According to one local resident: In years past, maybe ten or twelve years ago, we counted fourteen parrots at one time. More recently the numbers seem to be dwindling…these days we see three or four maybe in our neck of the woods—43rd Avenue and Ferdinand Street. I was told they've been around for a long time and originated with a bird (or two) flying out of someone's open window.

Northwest Parrots Fund

Miguel & Nino are a bonded pair of macaws

that found a permanent home at Zazu's House

Parrot Sanctuary when their owner

experienced a medical emergency.

We are thrilled to announce the establishment of Northwest Parrots Fund, a nonprofit charity registered in the State of Washington, and recognized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity by the Internal Revenue Service.

We have been involved with parrot rescue and rehoming for several years Once we got our first parrot in 1999, people started giving us parrots because they could no longer care for them. We have fostered and rehomed just about every kind of parrot from budgie to macaw. Several that we couldn't find good new homes for we ended up adopting ourselves, so we now have a flock of seven parrots, including four macaws, two African greys, and a Goffin's cockatoo.

There is a pet parrot overpopulation problem, and the problem is just going to get worse. With estimates of twenty to forty million parrots in American homes, parrots rank behind only dogs and cats in popularity as pets Yet while dogs and cats have been domesticated for thousands of years, parrots are only two or three generations removed from the wilderness, if even that. Because of the difficulty of caring for parrots, a true flock animal, unlike dogs or cats, current research suggests that parrots experience six or seven homes just within the first ten years of their lives! Parrots are essentially wild animals! Further complicating the situation, dogs and cats live fifteen or twenty years. Parrots can live a human lifespan. Pet parrots often outlive their owners. This problem will intensify as the Baby Boomer generation slides into retirement.

We decided to formalize our rescue efforts and work toward establishing a 501(c)3 parrot rescue and sanctuary. We've taken the first step of registering Northwest Parrots Fund as a nonprofit charity with the State of Washington, and are in the process of formalizing the 501(c)3 paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service. We have a founding board of five members including Betsy Lott of Mollywood, and Donna Burleigh of S & D Exotic Bird Rescue in Oregon. Recently, Christy Hensrude of Zazu's House Parrot Sanctuary in Woodinville, Washington graciously agreed to join the board.

We have also established a website where you can find more information about Northwest Parrots Fund, and read about its mission in detail, as well as donate to the effort if you so choose:

https://sites.google.com/site/northwestparrotsfund/

Please visit our website and let us know what you think about our effort.

Nino, the Blue & Gold Macaw, and Miguel, the Scarlet Macaw

Our Greenwing Macaw and Diva Parrot Roxanne's Newest Music Video: Roxanne

Our Greenwing macaw and Diva parrot Roxanne can sing two songs, recognizably well. The first is You Are My Sunshine, Gene Autry's 1940 hit song. The second is Roxanne's namesake song, Roxanne, by The Police. We earlier produced a YouTube video of Roxanne singing You Are My Sunshine, accompanied by the late great Gene Autry. We have now managed to record Roxanne singing Roxanne, so we paired her vocals with The Police. We present: Roxanne, singing Roxanne:

For your added musical enjoyment, we also present Roxanne's original music video, You Are My Sunshine, featuring the late great Gene Autry:

A Modest Proposal Regarding Rehoming Fees for Parrots

Anyone who has checked out Craigslist lately, let alone the classified ads in your local paper, has noticed the ridiculously high sales costs masquerading as rehoming fees. Sometimes in the four digits! Or a new twist: The parrot is free, but the parrot's cage has to be purchased. Usually the justification for the high fees is that the parrot's owner wants to ensure that the parrot ends up in a responsible home, i.e., one that can afford the ridiculously high rehoming fee. More likely the parrot owner is simply trying to recoup the original cost of the parrot.

We have a suggestion for parrot owners wishing to rehome their parrots, for whatever reason, if they truly are concerned about the future welfare of their parrot. Go ahead and ask for a reasonable rehoming fee. But donate the fee to an avian veterinarian in the area where the parrot is relocated as a deposit for future veterinary assistance. If a parrot owner is truly concerned about the future welfare of their parrot, then they will want to ensure that the parrot has access to the veterinary assistance it will inevitably need. We believe this may be a simple way to help stop the cycle of frequently rehoming pet parrots, parrots that, according to studies reported by Mira Tweti in her new book Of Parrots and People, face relocating to new homes six or seven times just during the first ten years of their lives.

Training Your Parrot to Play With Cheap Toys: Paper Rolls

Our latest Training Your Parrot YouTube video features our Diva Parrot and Greenwing macaw Roxanne demonstrating a parrot playing with paper rolls, aka cash register tape. This YouTube video features outtakes from Roxanne's Parrot Soliloquy YouTube videos, so you'll hear the sound of the laundry room dryer in the background:

Just a word of caution: There are many kinds of paper rolls available. If you do use cash register tape, be sure to use Non-Thermal paper.

For viewers convenience, we are adding our earlier Training Your Parrot to Play With Cheap Toys YouTube videos following, starting with cardboard boxes:

As well as paper bags:

And our first and still most popular Training Your Parrot to Play With Cheap Toys YouTube video, featuring our Timneh African grey parrot Tillie playing with bottle caps:

Enjoy! We're always happy to hear about any suggestions for cheap parrot toys for future YouTube videos.