My FAMILY of
13 Parrots!

Since we've learned that people don't lay eggs we know that we're adopted. All of us were domestically-bred except for one and he came from Indonesia. Our family began with the first arrival in l985. Looking back over the past 20 years, Mom says living with us changed her life.

Truthfully, even with all the wonder and love it hasn't always been a bed of roses. Mom's learned a lot about parrots and our needs, and even more about herself over these past 20 years. For her thoughts, visit Living With Parrots.

The Family Began With Fagan and Olivia

As I mentioned, our family of parrots started coming together back 1985 when Mom (apologies to those of you who don't enjoy anthropomorphism) drove by a bird store. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself . . . let me explain.

Mom had two pet cockatiel buddies and several budgies as a kid. Because it was such a good experience she'd wondered what it would be like to have a larger bird. Actually that desire turned into the dream of getting a Moluccan cockatoo (sheesh . . . what can I say). How did the obsession with Moluccan's happen? Years ago, while visiting a store specializing in parrots she saw this supposedly "to-die-for-beautiful" Moluccan and was instantly fascinated.

Anyway, getting back to her driving by the bird store that ignited her passion for parrots: She saw the bird store, screeched on the brakes and careened into the parking lot. In she goes and what is the first thing she sees? You guessed it . . . a Moluccan cockatoo.

Now, this was back in l985 before importation of wild birds became illegal. As it turned out, the store owner also owned a quarantine station and traveled the world arranging to import wild caught birds. You guessed it again -- all the Moluccan's in the store were wild caught parrots. Sad but true, but I digress. Remember, this is Mom's first experience buying a bird for herself and definitely was before she really knew much about parrots. And she knew absolutely nothing about importing wild-caught birds and the reasons it eventually became illegal.

In defense of the store owner, who was operating a quality store, all the parrots offered for sale were well-cared for and healthy. They were also very young . . . we'll consider them babies because there as little doubt that most were under a year old. Mom couldn't wait to hold one and picked a very young Moluccan that was calm and easy for the store employee to remove from the cage. Mom took the baby and it snuggled right up and stayed glued to her -- in baby Cockatoo fashion. If you are a lover of parrots you can just imagine what that meant . . . it was love at first sight and first snuggle.

It was tempting to write a check and walk out with that cuddly bundle of feathers. But Mom thought she'd try to keep her head so left with a ton of books about parrots instead. Honestly, the next week was spent driving from one end of Southern California to the other looking at every Moluccan for sale that she could find. She'd made up her mind that she was going to buy a Moluccan but wanted to do some "homework" to learn more about them. She found lots of sweet domestic-raised Moluccan babies but couldn't get that first one out of her mind. He was the one! So it was back to the first store to see if he was still there. He was. She came home with the baby in a box and all the bird stuff she could cram into her car. That was the beginning. Read more about the ups and downs of living with the baby Moluccan we know and love . . . Fagan. If you'd like to learn about the mistakes Mom made raising Fagan and his triumph over them visit Fagan's Tale originally published in Sally Blanchard's Pet Bird Report in 1997.

Of course, you are way ahead of me again. She didn't separate them. Olivia came home with Fagan. So now she had a family of two parrots. Yes, Olivia probably was "in love" with Fagan -- breeding age Umbrella hens usually are in romancing-mode when male Cockatoos are present. Or so it seems. But, of course, Fagan was a baby and oblivious to all the romantic stuff.

Bailey, The Blue and Gold Macaw

Then a whole year went by until Mom went after bird supplies one day and found herself introduced to a baby Blue and Gold Macaw. Macaws are high on her "love list" so she just had to say "hello". The response was a baby Macaw sitting on her shoulder, rubbing his cheek against hers and saying "I love you". Well, how would you respond? For Mom the only choice was to rush home and convince her hubby how much they "needed" a macaw. Yikes! Now, this love affair stuff was getting serious. This baby made three parrots. More about Bailey.

Enough is enough, right? Maybe, but that wasn't the end! Nope, it sure wasn't.

Bill, An Umbrella Cockatoo

Whew! It didn't take Bill and Olivia long to discover each other. After a little quarantine to be assured Bill was healthy, they hit it off immediately and it wasn't long before we had our first bonded and breeding pair of parrots.

Four Baby Umbrella Cockatoos

Did I just mention breeding? Yep, that is what Mom found herself immersed in. Enough years had passed and experienced gained that Mom decided to let Bill and Olivia do what nature was calling them to do. They had 3 clutches of eggs for a total of 4 babies. First came Solly and Sassy, then Wilton and finally Berrymore. Sassy and Berrymore went to loving homes. So that left Solly and Wilton still at home. Funny how hard it is for some people to separate themselves from us especially after the bond of hand feeding, etc. Well, a few months passed without finding suitable homes for Solly and Wilton. Because of the growing attachment they became a permanent part of the family.

Harry and Isabel, The Jardine's Parrots

Because Mom was involved in breeding Umbrella Cockatoos at the time, she decided that her new Jardine Parrot needed a partner. So she made arrangements with the breeder who donated the Jardine's to buy a second one. Harry and Isabel had their first plane ride from North Carolina to California when they were 4 months old. If you'd like to read a 1995 article published in the Pet Bird Report about Harry and Isabel visit Two Jardine's Parrots

A Greenwing Macaw named Rosebud

Believe it or not, along the way Mom started a bird toy business. She had a pretty neat line called Parrot Affair . . . Playthings for Pampered Parrots. It was a lot of fun and she met some great people selling Parrot Affair's toys. But all good things come to an end and a move to Florida brought an end to the toy business. It was just too much to move everything across the country and start up again. I only mention the toy thing so you'll understand that she went to a lot of bird marts to sell toys. While at a bird mart in Northern California she saw some Greenwing Macaw babies still being handfed. Didn't I mention that she has a big place in her heart for Macaws. And, to be honest, Mom thinks Greenwing Macaw babies are the cutest parrots in the whole world, especially when all those pin feathers are sticking straight up on their heads. I have to admit they are kind of cute. Well, the "love bug" bit again and she mentioned the greenwing babies to her husband. The next thing she knew her kind husband bought one of the babies and gave it to her as a surprise. So beautiful Rosebud joined the flock.

Greenwing Macaw . . . Rodney

Mom says one of the really great things about being involved with parrots is the great people you meet. She sure has met a few. One of her favorite friends was breeding parrots during the 1990's in Northern California.

Because Bill and Olivia, our Umbrella Cockatoo parents, were happiest when raising babies Mom felt it was time for them to enjoy parenthood where they could live in a natural setting. So they went to live with Mom's breeder friend. They were given a large outside aviary with lots of shade trees and a big flight. Mom doesn't part well with creatures she loves so it was pretty hard. But knowing Bill and Olivia would be able to live their lives in a more natural way took a little of the pain away. In return, Mom's friend gave her a handsome male Greenwing Macaw youngster named Rodney. So while Bill and Olivia left for greener pastures Rodney and Rosebud met . . . and that helped to help fill the void Bill and Olivia left.

The Florida Birds

The stay in Florida lasted for 6 years before we all returned Southern California. During our stay in Florida a few more parrots joined the family. Perhaps to some it seems obsessive to have more at this point. Perhaps it was obsessive, but Mom was thinking about us at this point -- more than about herself.

Sadie, The Blue and Gold Macaw

Like with any interest the more you learn the more your perspective changes. And Mom's philosophy about keeping parrots was changing. She decided to find a companion of our own kind for each of us to live with. The intention wasn't for breeding, but rather for companionship. I'll let Mom tell you more about this if you are interested in hearing her thoughts. Anyway, that's the reason we bought baby Blue and Gold Macaw, Sadie, to live with our older macaw. Bailey. Bailey and Sadie became a bonded pair.

David Jeffrey . . . How I Joined The Family

Hey, I forgot to mention where I fit into this picture. Remember what I said about Mom never winning anything. She was always amazed at winning the bird raffle. Well, she won something else -- two round-trip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. Hmmm! Now how could she put that to good use. Oh yes! She could fly back out to California and visit her friend, the lady breeding parrots. And guess what? Her friend was hand-feeding 2 adorable Hyacinth chicks. Yep, one of those adorable guys was me. It's funny for me to talk about Hyacinths, but I understand that a lot of bird lovers dream about having a Hyacinth Macaw. Yep, another one of those dreams -- it was Mom's dream, too. It was a remote dream she never expected to come true. So she couldn't resist wanting to take me home . . . even though I was in pretty rough feather in those early days. I loved to roll around and play and my feathers sure were a mess. If you've ever seen a baby macaw after weaning you can appreciate what I mean. Anyway, Mom flew back home thinking she was insane to even consider spending so much money. I guess we cost a lot. Anyway, you know how it turned out . . . somehow she convinced herself that she could gather the money to pay for me. The other airline ticket she'd won brought her back out to California to pick me up. I was still small enough that I could fit under her seat on the plane. I was put in a box specially built to hold me. There was one thing good about all my roughhouse play -- all my tail feathers were broken. So my travel box was short enough to go under the passenger seat of the airplane. Although I was hatched in Northern California my first official home was in Florida. Learn more about David.

Duncan and Daisy, the Golden Conures

Since I got side-tracked there for a minute . . . let's get back to the breeding farm where Mom found Sadie. While she was there she took a tour of all the aviaries. Her breeder friend had recently visited this breeding farm and saw a baby Queen of Bavaria Conure (Golden Conure) and bought it. While driving back to California they got to know the little gal and just raved about her. Before they got back home they told Mom that a Golden Conure would make a perfect companion parrot for Mom's husband. So Mom couldn't resist taking a look at these parrots who are very endangered in the wild. With Mom's luck there was one weaned baby who hadn't been put out in the aviary with it's siblings. He was still in the nursery and was getting a lot of attention from the handfeeders. So he was really people-oriented and cute as a button. It was another one of those couldn't resist situations, so Duncan, the Golden Conure came home, along with Sadie, the Blue and Gold Macaw.

While learning about Golden Conures Mom discovered they are prone to feather picking. But, keeping them in pairs reduced that potential problem. So off she went in search of an unrelated Golden Conure baby. Shortly Daisy joined Duncan.

Well, we're almost at the end of how the flight crew part of our family grew.

A Beautiful African Grey named Alice Marie

Not too long before moving back to California a friend (who was a Avain Health Tech) asked Mom if she would be interested in adopting a four-year old African Grey. The Grey had come to the vet hospital with aspergillosis and was totally immune suppressed. She responded to treatment for the aspergillosis, but wasn't regaining her immunity. So Mom's Avian Tech friend had taken the little Grey to her own home to give her a stress-free environment to recover. After 4 months the Grey was back to perfect health and needed a new permanent home because her previous owner was seriously ill. After a lot of thought Mom said yes, she would take her. So our avian family reached lucky 13 when sweet Alice Marie came home.

That's All, Folks!

That' it. That is how our family of parrots came to together. I mentioned this all started in 1985. Mom will tell you what it's like to have all of us. But speaking for us, we're a pretty well-adjusted group. We all live together with the exception of Alice Marie, Harry and Isabel. Those African parrots are separated from the rest of us because we have moments were we just love to express our love of life by creating a lot of noise. Afterall, what do you expect . . . we're parrots! Mom thinks it's a bit much for the sensitive types . . . which certainly describes the Grey. As for the Jardines -- they aren't so sensitive, not in a Grey-way, but they are gifted talkers. To be honest, Mom likes birds to talk rather than scream so she doesn't think its a good idea to give the Jardine's "noise" to imitate. Rightly so.

Where We Live

The rest of us live in a room adapted for us the size of a 3-car garage. We have special lighting that duplicates sunlight, windows and playgyms and, of course, our cages. All in all, it isn't a bad environment even if it isn't the same as wild parrots enjoy. But we do spend some time outside on a sheltered deck to enjoy the trees and flowers and fresh air. Fagan really loves flowers . . . well, he likes to prune them. He is drawn to Begonia blossoms like bees to honey. We can't stay outside all the time, of course, but when the weather is warm we head to the deck for awhile. Its a great place to have a bath and dry in the warm sun. Life is pretty good.

Well, thanks for reading about how our family of parrots came together. If you'd like to learn a little more about us from Mom's perspective read what she has to say by visiting Living With Parrots.

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