Why fly when you can have a human schlep you around in a carrier? – Photo by George Sommers
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Forget visiting or even viewing videos or photos of birds up for adoption through The Oasis Sanctuary of Arizona until further notice. The 1966 Animal Welfare Act was amended in 2020 to include birds. Fundraising via events, tours and even online forums is considered “exhibiting” and is forbidden without a Class C license under new guidelines – even for a nonprofit shelter. The licensing process is lengthy and described by the sanctuary as “formidable”. They’ve already been forced to cancel a May onsite event and has to put on hold all tours; visits and event. This impacts fundraising. .And that’s not all – they are prohibited from sharing photos and videos of their birds through social media, letters etc. Instead, any images shared will be – guess what – AI generated. To contact Oasis, email Lori_Bell@cox.net or call (602) 819-6140. .
WHO YA GONNA CALL: Feather picking:: ugly and heart breaking and often resulting from naturally sociable parrots being kept alone. But video chats could be the answer. Researchers from. Northeastern University, MIT and University of Glasgow trained 18 parrots and their humans to use touchscreen tablets and smartphones. The birds were taught to associate video calls with a bell, eventually ringing it on their own to connect with other birds. The birds were shown on screen photographs of different birds in the study. The parrot clicks with its tongue on its preferred chatting chum. Once presented, the parrots would hop towards the screen, let out loud squawks, and bob their heads. Some phone friends would “sing” in unison and some learned new skills, like foraging from observing others. In almost all cases, the caretakers claim the calls improved their birds’ well-being. Jennifer Cunha’s cockatoo Ellie and an African grey named Cookie, continue to call feathered friends nearly a year later. Unlike other creatures tested, parrots are particularly well suited for the video chats due to their high cognitive ability, impressive vision and flexible tongues. Parrots in the study appeared less interested in pre-recorded video calls of other birds. “We’re not saying you can make them [the parrots] as happy as they would be in the wild,” Northeastern assistant professor Rébecca Kleinberger said. “We’re trying to serve those who are already [in captivity].” – From https://www.popsci.com/environment/parrots-facebook-messenger/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3wZ1qXyeAzulMj7wdikSALxZ_VkzkFOIP2dv2
New arrivals at MAARS. – From Facebook
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE A REFUGEE necessarily, even if you were rescued from the defunct Mayaguez Zoo in Puerto Rico. Thirteen canary wing parakeets found a new home 32,000 miles away at Midwest Avian Adoption & Rescue Services, Inc. (MAARS) in St. Paul, MN. Six of them were born in the zoo’s detention center where animals awaiting rescue were moved. According to a MAARS FB post, “These juvenile canary-winged parakeets have a mob mentality. These little monsters almost seem to think and move as a single, coordinated unit! They’re so curious, fearlessly investigating everything, including the photographers!” Puerto Rico’s only zoo, the Mayaguez, closed to the public on 1/28/24 after over the course of a decade, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited it two dozen times for substandard conditions and animal mistreatment. The last straw was the widespread devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
PARROTRIVIA: The “Big Bang”‘s Raj and Sheldon share an office but in an escalating feud, Raj brings a blue and white parakeet in to prank bird phobic Sheldon.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Normally, I hate to talk about fall events when summer is still several weeks away, but Seattle Parrot Expo in September will feature a full day workshop with Cassie Malina of Awesome Animal Solutions along with “an awesome Featured Speaker cast.” But wait, there’s more. The focus of Parrots of The World Aviary this year is South America including mascot bird, the green wing macaw.
DISEASE SHUTS DOWN SHELTER’: In December ’23, two parrots were surrendered to the Center for Avian Adoption, Rescue, and Education – Parrot Shelter in North Dakota. The female seemed fine but the male’s feathers looked rough. The male had been treated for a fungal infection by a veterinarian and the owner believed the female was overpreening the male, according to the surrender form. Shelter staff separated the pair and they had the male’s blood tested. Turns out that on that eve of Christmas Eve they were unknowingly delivered an unwelcome surprise – the male was diagnosed with Avian Circovirus Disease (ACVD), a contagious and potentially fatal parrot disease, also known as Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), After consulting with a veterinarian, CAARE made the difficult decision to shut down indefinitely and the parrots quarantined. There will be no visitors other than a volunteer cleaning crew, and no incoming nor outgoing parrots. Testing will be undertaken on the resident parrots along with extensive facility cleaning, followed by use of F10 SV disinfectant known to kill the virus. Once testing, cleaning and disinfecting has been accomplished multiple times, environmental testing will be undertaken in order to determine which areas of the shelter may have been affected by the virus, if any. They will also check on any parrots who may have been on-site during the timeline, and the board will be reaching out directly to those whose parrots may have been exposed. Testing will be offered to those parrots. The CAARE avian warehouse store was closed Wednesday, May 8th and Saturday, May 11th, in order to conduct testing, cleaning and disinfecting. Pending testing results, they hope to re-open the store while the shelter remains closed to the public. It is strongly suggested that anyone purchasing a parrot from breeders or stores in the immediate area proceed with caution.
GOING FOR THE GOLD: Bird clubs have come and gone, but some; including Northeast Avicultural Society and South Bay Bird Society are hitting their 50th anniversary this year. This is no coincidence. The granddaddy of bird clubs, America Federation of Aviculture began in 1974 in response to the panic driven and needless mass euthanization of domestic birds because of an outbreak of Newcastle disease. — “We had 31 people join together in the reminiscing about some of the club’s previous events, past presidents and more. Everyone went all out on bringing outstanding food dishes to share at our pot luck dinner!!! Our cake was a beautiful design with parrots on it. It was great to see so many people who love birds all come together and be able to visit with one another,” says Gala Burkholder, South Bay Bird Society Communications Director of their anniversary event..
NOT EGGS-ACTLY: “Fresh Fertile Parrot eggs babies parrots available, contact me if interested.” If you DID contact them, you just might have been swindled. One prominent aviculturist fumes, “WHOA…NO ONE SELLS PARROT EGGS!! This outfit is clearly a scammer outfit…NO ONE…because parrot eggs are quite fragile…not like poultry eggs. What fool would sell an egg for a few hundred dollars when you could raise the baby parrot and sell it for thousands of dollars??? Nope. No one!!!!”
FROM THE POPE: Adoption fee free parakeets were available last Sunday at Pope Memorial Humane Society NH in Dover to celebrate their new hours, PMHS-CV also waived the adoption fee for rabbits and guinea pigs last Sunday. Contrary to popular belief, shelters are not all dogs and cats. Their just announced new hours are Sunday and Wed.-Fri. from 12-4 p.m. and Saturday from 12-6 p.m. Learn more about their adoptable animals at popememorialcvhhs.org/adopt/
HOT DATES: 5/10: Avian Vet Insider: 5/11: Rolling Meadows Bird Fair & Sale Rolling Meadows, IL — 5/17: The Grey Way: Moving – Applying Behavior Techniques to Prepare Your Birds with Lisa Bono, CPBC 3 p.m. EDT – Lafeber Zoom webinar – POSTPONED — A Look Back at the Phoenix Landing Wellness Retreat, Part 2 with Lisa Bono, CPBC 3 p.m. EDT Lafeber Zoom webinar — 5/18-19: Southeast Exotic Bird Fair Lawrenceville, GA — 5/18:Beaks: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly with Bianca , DVM, ABVP (Avian) 1 p.m. EDT Phoenix Landing Zoom webinar — 5/25: MASS. CaGE BIRD ASSOCIATION 49th ANNUAL SHOW AND MART: 9-5; Charlton Grange Hall, 10 Main St., Charlton, MA.