As I sat down for the first time today and looked out of the window, I noticed that the flags were starting to rest too. The bright colourful rainbow fabric sails that flap so wildly during the day also needed to sleep. Sadly, resting will not help the flags to heal: the wind has shredded them this year. Maybe we should get some new ones. It seems to be such a short time since we bought them and proudly put them on display to show people where to find us. So much has happened since that week. In fact so much has happened since our last newsletter that I decided to try and pull it all together, so that others could glimpse the busy life we have here at the World Parrot Refuge.

Larry Neil, one of our special volunteers, erected all the steel piping and chain link fencing in the new Macaw House. He did an incredible job and stretched the fencing really tight. Even with cuts, bruises, and very sore hands he didn’t give up until it was finished. Thank you Larry from all of the humans here at the sanctuary. When the Macaws finally get in there, you will hear the cheers as far away as Victoria!

The newly constructed Macaw House, thanks to Larry Neil and Andy Breslin.

The next step is to get trees and branches for the compounds – especially arbutus. If anyone has some that they don’t want - we will be happy to put it to good use. We have a large number of Macaws all waiting to move into the new Macaw House - but we have to build forests first. We can use fallen trees of all kinds, except cedar. Parrots need to have family roosts to call their own. Each small flock that makes up the larger flock prefers their own special home in the forest.

Andy and Janet Breslin came from Surrey and spent a week here to make a difference to the birds. Andy put up all the lighting in both of the 25 foot wide by 100 foot long Macaw compounds. Janet made dozens of large toys for incoming and special needs residents. Together they turned the toys into parrot playgrounds in the compounds, and the birds were on them immediately. They enjoy having new toys so much, and it gives us such pleasure to watch them. This was the Breslin's vacation this year - working to help the parrots. What a great job - Thank You both from the bottom of our hearts!

Val and Doug Jones decided that they wanted to start building the outside flights for the birds. It takes a lot of steel pipe and a lot of chain link fencing for this major construction. As we all know, the price of anything made of steel has gone through the roof so the big problem facing us was the money - or lack of it. Not to be beaten, Val decided she would have a garage sale and raise the funds needed. Doug jumped in right away to help, as did Larry and Ann Neil from Courtney. They printed up posters telling of their idea and the date for the garage sale - and then posted them all around town. The phone calls started. Doug and Larry were suddenly run off their feet collecting wonderful items so generously donated by caring people. Val and Ann and some close friends helped to sort and price the endless stream of donated items. After two days of selling, just about everything found a new home. They reached a grand total of $2,600.48! Almost enough for the first outside flight. A generous donor who visited the sanctuary last week, sent $100 through the website to help with the cost of the flight. If things keep going like this, one section will be built this summer. Quality Foods supermarket donated the use of their tent, which helped enormously when it decided to rain. The hot dog sale really helped to boost the funds raised, thanks to the hard work of Val and Ann.

The new enclosure for the small parrots: cockatiels, budgies, and lovebirds.

If you would like to help to financially support this endeavour, please donate online (click on the CanadaHelps button in the top right corner of this page) and specify the fund ‘Capital Project: Give Them Wings and Outside Flights’.

Kelly Fisher and her great family have started collecting toys for the birds. They brought in boxes and boxes of well played with but now forgotten toys. Grant Corriveau has spent endless hours on the John Deere keeping the grass shorter than us. Al and Ria Humphrey volunteer for many hours a week giving special attention to birds that really need it. They also come in twice a week to do evening feeds and give special treats to all the birds. Ria has even started bringing in almond tarts for the staff and we are very happy about this.

Thank goodness for these wonderful people: we could not do it all without them! All of these volunteers are true friends of the sanctuary. Our deepest thanks hardly seem to scratch the surface to show how much we really appreciate them all.

We have noticed a decline in the number of tourists to the Island and to the sanctuary this summer. The high price of gas and the cost of the ferry trip have made a huge difference to many people. We rely on tourism to support our work to provide more than 700 parrots with a Home For Life. The parrots are still coming in steadily. At the beginning of July we received 20 parrots in 3 days. All but 2 were large parrots. Only one of these parrots is financially supported. The others were considered as a donation to the society. Most of them are in very poor condition and require a lot of medication and a lot of time spent on them. They are not as afraid now as they were in the beginning, and readily accept the food choices we offer. Some of the macaws still look at fruits and veggies as though they are alien beings. Most of them, however, have tried them and really enjoy them. Walnuts and almonds have certainly become their foods of choice at this time.

This article shows a few pictures of them. Some are serious feather-pluckers, and their sadness can be seen easily. Those that are fully feathered are actually in far worse shape.

Incoming "Breeding" Umbrellas.

The female Umbrella cockatoo appeared to have a club foot, and the toenails on her good foot were over 2 inches long and resembled Narwhal tusks. On closer examination we could see that her toenails on the crippled foot had grown together, and she could not move her toes at all. We carefully trimmed them to release her toes. Now she is using the back two toes to move around the cage. The male Umbrella cockatoo had a serious eye infection. His eye was so swollen that it was pointing backwards. Pus and bubbles came from the eye at the slightest touch. The hardest part for him and for us was taking him out 3 times a day to medicate the eye. Now he is very afraid of us - but his eye is fine. We will keep working on calming his fears as time goes on.

Incoming "Breeding" Macaw with Papilloma Virus.

The two badly plucked macaws were housed together. One has what appears to be a herpes virus presenting on her tongue. They are still caged for a month of observation and good feeding. However, we have separated them since it is exhausting to keep growing feathers when the partner immediately removes them. What else did they have to do? Sunflower seeds, dog food, and occasionally peanuts were hardly an exciting diet to look forward to. There were no toys for them. Breeder birds are expected to perform: not to waste time playing.

Incoming "Breeding" Macaw with Papilloma Virus.

This pair have papilloma virus. The male did not need close examination as the papilloma is quite visible. Our incredible vet will be working on him very soon. We need to get them feeling a lot better first. The old male Moluccan cockatoo has already had one full treatment of antibiotics. His new treatment starts tomorrow. We are hoping to heal him so that he can have a few happy years with us.

The biggest problem for us in this situation is money. We cannot possibly have all the investigative work done on these birds without money. The cost of keeping healthy birds in this sanctuary averages out at $500 per bird per year. The medical bills caused by years of oblivious neglect can be astronomical. Sadly, most people think that their birds are healthy because they do not have spots all over them, or sneeze and cough. Heart problems for one are rarely noticeable unless examined by a vet. These birds, and many other parrots that arrive at the Refuge, were caught in the wild many years ago. Most breeders do not want to disturb their birds for fear of disrupting the breeding. Many people are just too afraid to pick them up and take them to a vet as they fear being injured by those enormous and powerful beaks.

So far this year we have received 68 parrots at the sanctuary. Although a number of them are being supported by their previous owners, many are not. We do need your help. Any financial support is very welcome and will be used in the care and feeding of these previously owned parrots. If you can volunteer and help out in many essential areas it will also be of enormous help to the birds. Making toys, cutting grass, spray bathing birds, washing dishes, doing laundry, cracking nuts and preparing seed and nut trays are all jobs that need to be done daily.

If you can raise funds in any way - please talk to us. We are great parrot caregivers - but not very good at raising funds! We need the help of someone who knows how to get grants. If you or someone you know has this extra-special ability, please call Wendy at 250 951 1166.

We cannot return these parrots to their natural environment for many reasons. But we can bring a close to natural environment to them. If we all work together, we can give them a good life and hopefully they will understand that people really do care and understand that they are beautiful, intelligent living beings with whom we share this planet.

Currently we are caring for 3 parrots that were seized by the SPCA from a really bad situation. These birds have gained a lot of weight and have been treated by our avian veterinarian. They have received spray baths and loving gentle care. Now they are no longer afraid and will come for gentle stroking. One of the birds is already flying around. The previous owners have obtained legal counsel and are planning to go to court to ask for the return of these birds. If someone would like to start an online petition asking the judge not to return them to these people, maybe it will help.

We are receiving help from many places. If you can, please shop at these stores to show your gratitude for the way they help the parrots!
Save On Foods
Buckerfields
West Coast Tropical Bird Studio Inc. in Vancouver and online.
Eatmore Sprouts – available at all good food stores
Night Owl Bird Hospital in Vancouver.

We will soon be posting new pictures of parrots who need a virtual family. Please check the website to see how you can Virtually Adopt a parrot. Let’s try and get every parrot Virtually Adopted this year!

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! More stories coming soon!

Birds who are now partly sponsored, thank you!

Birds who are now fully sponsored, thank you!

"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.

"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)