Like music? You'll love Lindi Ortega! A singer/songwriter from Toronto, we are so excited to share with you that Lindi is organizing a benefit for the WPR.

As she puts it, she's "a crazy bird lady, storm chasen', red lipstick, red boot wearin', guitar slinging, singer songwriter gal". And we have to add: owner of a huge heart!

Just take a listen to her music, and if you're in the Toronto area, make sure you check it out!

Dying of Another Broken Heart (Live)



Lindi Ortega | MySpace Music Videos

From Lindi's bio on her website:

With one foot in the outsider troubadour camp best exemplified by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen, and another in the old school country integrity of Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, Lindi Ortega fuses both these influences with gifted observation on her first single, “Dying Of Another Broken Heart.” Linda Ortega’s knack for narrative imagery can be heard on “All My Friends,” a spirited acoustic number that finds her personifying numerous vices and vocalizing some poignant irony.

The compelling and reality-challenged “Black Fly” and the itinerant “Drifter” round out on appetite-whetting The Drifter E.P., a precursor to a full length Lindi Ortega CD due later this summer. The four songs offer a slice-of-life-honesty that is as organic as Lindi’s self-evolved talent. Since signing to Cherrytree, Lindi Ortega has played SXSW, performed in the U.K. and North America and opened for James Blunt, Ray Davies and Noah and The Whale.

www.LindiOrtega.ca
Photo by Norman Laco

If you love cockatoos, you have got to check out these new items. Andy Scheffler has created the cutest peek-a-boo cockatoo! It is available in white, black, pink and the so amazing hot pink, and you can find it on a large variety of t-shirts, mugs, aprons, mousepads and more.

You can take a look at all of Andy's sweet cockatoos here.

Our new artist is Christine Bennett.  She contacted us and offered to donate some of her wonderful images to help raise money for the parrots.  An accomplished painter, Christine has a colourful Scarlet Macaw and a very fun Party Parrot, which would be perfect for a birthday card!

Christine also has the sweetest photograph of her budgie, Mr. Jill.  She actually had to hide behind the couch to take this photo, but we're sure you will agree that it was worth the effort!

You can check out Christine's contributions here.

Our Artists' Nest can be found here.  In it, you will find mugs, t-shirts, buttons, journals and more for yourself or for gifts. All profits from the items go to help the parrots.

If you are interested in being an artist in our Nest, please send Cheryl an email.

Just in time for Valentine's Day

we're holding a fund-raising raffle with an emphasis on

Romance!

First Prize

A faboulous weekend at the Black Rock beach-house near Ucluelet, Vancouver Island.

Second Prize

A 3 liter, limited edition Merlot from Tincreek Wineries, in the Okanagan Valley.

Third Prize

Dinner for 4 at one of Nanaimo's favourite restaurants, Alexandra's Bistro.

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Tickets may be purchased at the following locations:

Saturday & Sunday Jan. 30, 31

Woodgrove Mall, Nanaimo

Also:

• World Parrot Refuge - 2116 Alberni Hwy, Coombs

• Woodgrove Animal Hospital - 6359C Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo

• Coombs Veterinary Hospital - 2450 Alberni Highway, Coombs

• Memorial Compounding Medicine Centre - 699 Memorial Ave., Qualicum Beach

More locations to be announced...

Wendy reports: The fantastic raffle organized by Vicki and Eric Ballard at West Coast Tropical Bird Studio in Vancouver was an amazing success. They raised an incredible $2,200 - all through their hard work at the store. These wonderful people not only donated all the items for prizes in the raffle, but also poured all their effort into encouraging people to buy the tickets and support the World Parrot Refuge.

Both Vicki and Eric always go the extra mile to ensure that all of their customers get the newest information on care and feeding of the birds they share their homes and lives with. They feel that if they can help people to keep their birds happy they will want to keep them forever.

We hope to get more photos from Vicki when the winners pick up their prizes. I went to the store on Dec 22, 2009, to make the draw - the mood was very exciting!

Vicki and Eric Ballard truly are our Heroes.

We're happy to bring you these special Christmas cards, courtesy of a very industrious lovebird, Luigi, and his human helper, Mary. Each card is unique, and if you look at a sample of a card reproduced below, you'll see why!

Luigi loves to shred paper - a lot! - and he was only too happy to lend his special skills to the production of these beautiful cards. There is also an original Luigi shredding inside each card! Each card costs $5 (plus postage), and what's even better, Luigi and Mary are donating 50% of the profits to the Refuge. What a great way to send your friends and loved ones a Christmas greeting that's out of the ordinary, and help the parrots of the World Parrot Refuge at the same time.

If you would like to order some cards, please email Wendy Huntbatch, specifying the amount you would like to order, as well as your mailing address. At this time we can calculate postage costs, and you can pay by credit card - on the phone or using our secure online CanadaHelps or PayPal providers.

Luigi would like to say thank you, but his beak is kind of busy at the moment!

Please click on the thumbnails below to learn how you can help some special birds have a home for life through our "Virtual Adoption" program!

Birds who are now partly sponsored, thank you!

Birds who are now fully sponsored, thank you!

"The World Parrot Refuge is a true sanctuary where parrots live out their lives in a loving, spacious and happy environment under the guidance of extraordinarily caring people. The many visitors destined to pass through the refuge will come to understand that parrots are not toys or trophies, but beings with needs and emotions as real as our own."

– Rosemary Low (author of more than 30 books on parrots)

"This is, in a word, a great place and these miraculous creatures deserve no less, but few places can deliver it this well. It is, indeed, 'world class'."

– Stewart Metz (author and Director of the Indonesian Parrot Project), after his visit at the Grand Opening of the Refuge on August 13, 2005.