A couple of rescue updates

D. Richard asked in the comments last week whatever happened to the mitred conure I mentioned back in 2008, here. She never did find a retirement hospice home, but we like to think she found some sort of happiness at the rescue. She was found dead in the bottom of her cage in March 2009. (I used male pronouns in the original post, but we got her DNA sexing back and she was female.) Her cage was near other aratinga conures and she learned to squawk back and forth with them and play with toys.

Since I'm doing updates, and the first one was rather sad, I have a couple of others. I had written here about a cockatoo with extreme aggression problems. Several very knowledgeable people had tried everything they could think of, but he kept sending people to the emergency room and was also very bird aggressive. He got his miracle -- a woman stopped by the rescue. She didn't currently have any birds, but was thinking about adopting someone. It was love at first sight between the two of them. They've been living together for almost two years now, and she still sends us updates about how wonderful things are. This was such a great outcome! In the right environment, without other birds, and with a person he chose, his aggression all but disappeared.

Finally, the severe macaw pictured here (down a bit -- not Rocky), a bird who had been at the rescue for over a year and who had completely stolen my heart, a bird with special needs who made me feel guilty for having so many able-bodied parrots that I couldn't take him in, one of the most personable and wonderful parrots I have ever known...found an amazing home!

He lives with a vet tech, so his special needs are not a concern. He has charmed his way into their hearts and is currently tame to both of his owners (rare among severe macaws who tend to be extreme one-person birds.) She sends me updates several times a month and I just couldn't be happier with the way things turned out for him. And now the woman who runs the rescue no longer has to live in fear I'm going to swap Rocky out for a severe macaw that loves me (I joke!)

However, I just found out yesterday that the rescue, already full of parrots waiting for homes and with a waiting list for surrenders, had to take in 18 birds from an emergency impound. A woman had died in her home, and it was several days before anyone found her. She had no close friends or relatives, so we took the birds in. Although the birds had been well-cared for at some point, they had not had adequate care for quite some time, as evident by their condition and environment. Among the birds? A grey and a special-needs severe macaw. It's going to be a tough day for me tomorrow when I make my weekly visit to the rescue.