RETURNED Blue & Gold Macaw in Toronto

Tiffany the macaw has been located, safe and sound thanks to the amount of media attention her recent alleged kidnapping attracted, police say.

Det.-Const. Paul Jackson said Tiffany the macaw was returned to her owner without incident.

“It was peaceful, there was no altercation,” Jackson said. “The end result was that the bird was well cared for and the owner was quite happy to get the bird back. It all came to a happy ending.”

The 16-year-old bird, which is worth roughly $5,000, was first reported missing from her home in the Ferris Rd. and Squires Ave. area Wednesday night by her owner, April Crowley, two days after the bird had flown away.

“She was on my shoulder and I was in the backyard and the dog ran by and I guess she just got excited and just flew off,” said Crowley.

Crowley said a neighbour told her he had seen the exotic bird in a front-yard tree of a house on nearby Ferris Rd.

When she went to the house on Wednesday, a man told her he had called his friend to take the bird away.

“He got his friend on the phone and that’s when the guy on the phone said, ‘You have to prove that the bird is yours and you have to prove that you’re not negligent,’” Crowley said.

“At that point, I said, ‘I’m going to have to call the police’ and that’s when the guy at the house got really annoyed and told me to get off the property.”

Crowley went home and called the police.

Jonathan Asif, 11, lives a few doors down from where the confrontation took place. He had noticed the bird on the property on Monday.

A man at the house told the boy he had tried calling animal control but they didn’t pick it up.

“He told us he called his friend over and then we waited a while. His friend came and then he got the bird down and then he took it home,” Asif said.

“His friend said, ‘We’re going to give him food and water’ and that’s all.”

The 11-year-old’s father lent the men a ladder to reach the bird.

Jackson said the case has concluded with no charges laid.

Toronto Police said they would like to thank the public for their assistance in recovering the pet.

Our Interview with CHEX News – July 19,2019

Our Interview with CHEX News

Warning Kijiji Ads – Horror Stories

I have been hearing horror stories about kijiji for a number of years now.  Are these ads familiar?  “I will take in your parrot for free”  “I am a parrot rescue and will take in your bird” “I have alot of love to give to your parrot” etc.

What they really mean is “I will resell your bird for more money”,  “I don’t believe I should have to pay for something and should get it for free so I can neglect it” and “I am looking for a cheap way to make money”.

I have heard numerous horror stories and feel its time to speak out about kijiji ads and those advertising.

Story One

A woman posted an ad to sell her senegal parrot.  She had several inquiries and one in particular who wanted the bird for a very reduced fee.  The lady then found the picture of her own parrot for sale on a different kijiji ad by this same individual that was reselling her bird for a much higher fee and didn’t even have the bird yet!  Luckily she found this persons ad before she gave him the bird.

Story Two

A woman posted a 25 yr old eclectus parrot for an adoption fee of $400 and sold the bird through kijiji.  The very next day the same bird was posted for $1500 and miraculously de-aged to only 15 yrs old!

Story Three

I will post the exerpts from this exchange.  The names have been changed.  Please note ZZZZZZZZ posts regularly on kijiji that she will take in your free parrots.

 Hi Nancy,
 
 This is XXXXX, my husband and I called you two days ago about adopting a Blue and Gold Macaw. I had spoke with you about ZZZZZZZ. Well my husband and I out of curiousity went over to ZZZZZZZZ’s house just to see what was going on there. We believed everything you had told us but we couldn’t believe what we walked into. It was a war zone. GGGGGG the blue and gold Macaw is in alot more distress then we expected and what ZZZZZZ had said. She was completely bald only feathers on her head, wings and tail. She seemed very scared at first shaking alot but calmed down once we started to talk to her nicely. ZZZZZZZ couldn’t even touch her besides on the tail, couldn’t even give her a walnut or get her down off her cage. No bond AT ALL that we could see. After a few mins of warming up GGGGGi was swinging side to side bobbing and shaking her foot as well as she said Hi to us. She seemed like she really wanted to come down and play but too nervous. ZZZZZZZZ’s house was a disaster. GGGGGGGG’s cage was so dirty I told her that if we were to get her I didn’t want the cage. It had piles and piles of old poop on it. I didn’t see any fresh food or water in there but again I didn’t fully check. I didn’t want to touch the cage. She had 3 goffen cockatoos I think in the living room too. One looked like he was starting to pluck some. She had a bird room with a couple in there as well a mess. I couldn’t believe my eyes that she would let us come over to her house in this condition. My husband felt terrible forGGGGGG and said he would give her 600 and take her right there just to get her out but her husband said no. Asked her if she had proof of the DNA testing she said well her friend did but lost it. Asked if she had been to a vet or had proof of that, no and no proof again. We left and GGGGGGG screamed while we went out the door. We have thought about her alot since then and I feel so terrible for her. WIsh there was something I could do. 

 
I emailed ZZZZZZ after and told her that she is asking a ridiculous price for a parrot in her condition, she had no proof of vetting so no proof she wasn’t sick. I said we could offer her a good home and take care of her but she wasn’t intersted in that like you said, only the money. I know it is for the best and I know GGGGGG needs a ton of work, I hope she get the help she needs soon or I don’t know what will happen to her.
 
She got really offended by my email back and has changed her ad on Kijiji now. She is a sick lady!!
 
heres the ad in case you want to see. The pictures are old for sure because the parrot doesn’t have ANY of that fluff and GGGGGGGG never mentioned it before we got there.
 
http://windsor.kijiji.ca/c-pets-birds-for-sale-Blue-and-Gold-Macaw-W0QQAdIdZ214007817
 
She said she could sell her for 1500-2000 LOL

(here is the content of the ad incase the ad itself comes down.)

located in windsor.

Story 4

Someone who regularly posts they will take in free birds, was given a bird that was sick and needed medical attention.  Because of their inexperience with birds, they did not see any of the signs that this bird was sick.  It was something that could have been easily dealt with had they any knowledge of parrots.  The parrot died due to their inability to see that something was wrong. 
These are only a few of the stories I have in more recent days heard about kijiji and craiglist ads. Geez I could go on and on as there are just way too many!  Just hearing one more today has prompted me to put out this warning.   It is so important that people investigate who they are actually dealing with.  A true parrot rescue, will NEVER advertise that they take in free birds!  They have built a reputation via word of mouth and through affiliations and do not need to advertise they will take in birds.  It is pretty safe to say that no one posting on kijiji claiming to be a rescue, really is…..

The majority of those on kijiji and craigslist are predators that are looking for easy ways to make a fast buck or people who don’t want to pay for a parrot but want to have one.  They are also looking to take your pet and put it into a breeding situation so they can make money.  They do not care for the birds or their well being.  Only on the dollar figure.

Please please be careful posting ads on any of the free classified sites!

Does My Bird Need to Breed?

Some believe their bird is unhappy and would be happier if it had a mate and were allowed to breed.  Some people get a mate for their bird and try this on their own, while others give/sell their parrots to breeders believing the bird will be happier if he had a mate and was allowed to breed.  We get many birds at the rescue as the result of these types of pairings.  I think it’s important to understand the dynamics of breeding and what happens when pet birds are placed in breeding programs.

Understanding the dynamics of bird breeding

Birds used in breeding programs are typically wild caught or parent raised.  They are  kept wild and do not make good pets.  They usually fear human contact or prefer little human contact and have all the natural instincts they would posess in the wild.

They are usually used in breeding as they have the natural instinct, drive and are  taught by the parents  the dynamics of breeding including how to nurture their young and how to look after each other during brooding.

Pet birds on the other hand are usually removed from their parents before their eyes are open and imprinted on human handlers.  They have not been taught how to raise young or how to feed their mate during breeding season and do not have the same natural drives and instincts. 

 This does not mean that some don’t get hormonal urges, but these are usually seasonal and typically milder in nature that their breeding cousins and can be controlled somewhat with a few behaviour modifications. 

What we have found is most pet birds, when placed into a breeding program are not very successful breeders.  They don’t understand the dynamics, have a higher rate of killing their mates or being killed or having their beaks ripped off  or other injuries(this is fairly common even with normal breeders but much higher in pet/breeding). 

Breeding is extremely stressful on even healthy birds but it is also the time when many birds shed dormant but deadly viruses which may have been remained dormant their entire lives.  There is a much higher rate of illnesses found in breeding aviaries compared to a pet home.  Much of this is brought on my the stress associated with breeding.

Pet birds usually don’t understand the physical aspects of breeding, courtship and typically don’t produce viable eggs .  They also have a much higher rate of killing their own babies as they don’t understand the parenting aspect as they were not taught if they are able to produce viable eggs.  They have been known to eat their young.

But, what typically does happen with birds in general is when they find a mate, they tend to mate for life and will protect the mate so they revert back to a more wild nature to an extent where they don’t want to be handled by people any longer, they only want their mate and will protect the mate by attacking anyone that they fear will harm their relationship.   Their homonal instincts are now much stronger.  The breeders encourage this by not handling them at all, not talking to them and no toys so they learn that the only thing left for them is to breed.  Breeders understand that in order to successfully breed, they need to regain most of their wild tendancies back.   They leave them strictly with a mate and breeding box for a number of years.  They typically end up plucking themselves bald and/or get plucked by their mate from all the stress.

The majority of breeders once they realize that this particular bird will not successfully breed, which usually occurs after several years of unsuccessful attempts to produce viable eggs,   usually try to sell them to someone again as a pet. Usually for a reduced price as they are now damaged goods and typically they sell them to someone without the knowledge or ability to care for it properly.  These people think they are getting a deal with the cheaper price.  Usually it is someone without the skills or this particular knowledge, so are setting them up for failure.  In some cases they go off to another unsuspecting breeder.   They no longer want the burden or expenses for housing, feeding and space so they can make room for other breeders.  

What is left of the bird?  He no longer wants human interaction as it once did  as it has now become fearful of humans and touch.  It is usually badly plucked with little hope of regaining its feathers due to all the stress of trying to breed and now gets hormonal with more frequency.  It is no longer a pet or breeder if he survived the ordeal at all.

These birds are now very messed up.  They are much harder to manage and typically end up in rescues.  If they are lucky they will get an experienced behaviourist that may be able to help them to adjust to life with humans again.  Otherwise they end up in a cage somewhere where they live a fearful life not wanting interaction, unloved and very stressed.

Presently we have 6 such birds at the rescue and we are finding our own frustration in trying to reintegrate them into a place that would be best suited to them.  We do work towards behaviour modifications to help them re-adjust back to life with people.  We just hope some peeople will read this and realize the long term results of wanting their parrot to breed.

A new reference letter

I HAVE MET THE BIRD WHISPERER!

It was a huge decision to have some of our birds re-homed but life changes, work and other commitments meant it was no longer possible to give four birds the attention they needed and deserved. They all need a lot of attention and especially Teaka as he was quite literally a ‘one man bird’.

 Teaka is a Sever Macaw who has a great sense of humour and could be a real fun bird but he had bonded very closely with Mike and was quite aggressive towards anyone else. This meant that only Mike was able to feed and handle him.

Cherry is a Red Lory. A great little bird, very friendly towards everyone and loves to play all day with toys or anything he can get his beak into! Lory’s are nectar eaters and Cherry had always been hand fed so this had created a huge commitment to hand feed him twice a day and also a lot of mess in the kitchen while he was being fed!

 ‘Little Guy’ is a Cockatiel. Not strictly our bird as someone had found him outside and knowing Mike had birds bought him to the house to be taken care of.

 We found out about  parrotadoptontario.com  and emailed Nancy and made arrangements to go and visit the bird sanctuary and see what they do before we made a decision about the birds futures.

We arrived at Nancy and Brett’s house and were welcomed into their and the birds home! One thing we noticed right away was the calmness even though there were birds in the house! Every bird, without exception, even the ones Nancy told us were new to their home, looked happy and were calm and showed no signs of stress or nervousness. Indeed two of them quickly made it clear they could better check us out if they were on our shoulders!

 After a good visit we went home and discussed it all and made the choice for the birds to go to Nancy and Brett for rehabilitation.

 I am still amazed at the outcome!

 Nancy, Brett and their daughter arrived at the house and Brett went direct to the bird’s room and let Tika out! I had though this would result in complete chaos and anarchy but……… nothing! Tika came out of his house and calmly walked to the perch across the windows where Brett spent a few minutes talking to him and Tika was calm! Absolute silence and no stress. I have heard of the Horse Whisperer and here was the Bird Whisperer! Brett asked if Tika was used to being on someone’s shoulders and I said that he had been on Mike just that morning, he just said ‘Tika up’ and there was Tika on his shoulder, no biting, no screeching and calm. We bought the carrier into the room and Tika went towards it to check it out and Brett just said ‘Tika in’ and in he went. This was truly amazing! Even a couple of weeks after the evening I still find this so hard to believe and know that this kind of experience is only possible because Nancy and Brett are so experienced and the birds sense who is going to be kind and who presents no threat to them.

 Nancy and Brett’s daughter had, while all this was going on just made friends with Cherry who was also just put into a carrier without any fuss or stress,

 Within half an hour the birds had gone to their new home without any fuss, stress or problem.

Buzz (our African Grey) has stayed with us and even though Nancy warned he may do a little stress feather plucking with the change in the household and without his friends, he only had a couple of tentative pulls at his chest. He was in the room the whole time the other guys were moved and I think the calmness of Tika and Cherry leaving meant that his stress too was kept to a minimum.

 We cannot thank Nancy and Brett enough for their advice, calmness and professionalism in this difficult life change for the birds and for us and for anyone who is facing a similar choice we would have no hesitation in sending them to Nancy and Brett for help and advice.

Mike & Allie