Larry is another one of our volunteer group. Lately he's been assembling the frames for the new Macaw flight cages:

Getting there...

Dixie is popular with the Parrots, as you can see. She's one of many volunteers who help keep the refuge going. Currently, she's planning to develop the outdoor grounds into an organic garden that would become part of the World Parrot Refuge "experience." As well it would be a source for some of our bird's nutritional needs. (Seven hundred parrots go through a lot of food - more on that soon).

Dixie is looking for a volunteer master gardener who would like to help her with this project ... any takers out there?

Refuge volunteer, Alex, presents two more of his hand-crafted bird toys to WPR founder, Wendy Huntbatch:

A work group from a church in Nanaimo came down to contribute a few hours help this past Sunday afternoon. As well as getting a good start on an outdoor flight cage for the smaller birds, they made toys, cleaned, and helped with the evening feeding. And of course they received a warm welcome from Esther and the other birds!

Framing the outdoor cage...

Girls with Power Tools - making toys.

Handfeeding the Special Needs birds...

Esther's special welcome!

If your church, school, service club or other group would like to help us, we would be very happy to welcome you too! Please email or phone ahead so we can arrange the details with you.

Thanks!

It's September and some of our bird-keepers are returning to the school books. One such employee recently dropped in to say "bye for now" to her feathered friends.

Carley saying 'see ya later' to her new friends.

If you'd like to work for the World Parrot Refuge, please check out the job information on this website. We need energetic, reliable, hard-working people who would enjoy this unique job experience.

Last night, when I was doing some general site updates, I found myself reading some of the stories of our featured parrots. My heart filled with a mix of joy and sadness, but I found myself smiling and a feeling of contentment washed over me. That's what volunteering for the World Parrot Refuge is all about.

I don't smile as much as I should, which is a shame because I'm told I have a beautiful smile, a great laugh, and a great sense of humour (albeit a little dark). I live with several physical and mental challenges, most notably chronic pain, autoimmune disease, and depression. I have done so for 17 years. I get frustrated sometimes because these things don't show on the surface, and I've learned well to hide them. Many people, some of them educated professionals, have told me "to snap out of it". A few people enquire into my past and some of the abuse and trauma I've suffered over the years, then cast a knowing eye at me and say "resolve that hurt and you will be healed". A few others, beloved friends and heart family just stay in the moment with me and say, "I understand".

I guess I connect with the parrots of the World Parrot Refuge because they know exactly where I am. They don't have to know the specifics, the cause and effect, they simply "are" in the moment. In any moment, they can be warm and loving, or they can strike out in fear with the burdens of past hurts. People misunderstand parrots, thinking they are mere pets or lower animals. The term "bird brain" is associated with a being of lower intelligence. How unfair that is, when they are so much like us, with all our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and our hurts. You only have to walk through the Special Needs Unit to see a snapshot of us as we really are: sometimes playful and mischievous, striking out in hurt, singing raucously, crying with pain, then flying as though our heart will break open with contentment.

I can't spend as much time with the parrots as I would like. I tire easily, and standing on the floor of the refuge causes me much pain after any great length of time. Sometimes my lungs hurt from my autoimmune disease, or my head and body is in the grips of immense pain. When I can make it to be among them, I marvel at how much alike we are, and when I am priviledged enough to have one snuggle close to me, ready to share its love and its being with me, I feel my heart glow with a great contentment.

Sometimes I berate myself that I can't do more... I push myself and I fall short. I strive, then realize I have to try again another day. I sometimes have to do what I can, even if it doesn't seem enough. I realize now that this is what the parrots teach us. To do our best to be ourselves, to be where we are, to reach out when we can, to replace as much of that hurt as we can with the love, care and attention we have inside of us - even if it's just to stand near and say, "I understand".

What I love about working for the parrots is the feeling that arrives sometimes, like it did last night. I'm doing the best I can do. I love, I am loved, I have hurts and pains, but sometimes that contentment fills me and I soar above, like I did so many years ago before the traumas and pains. I think that's what the parrots must feel like sometimes. That thought makes me smile again.

Jane Waterman
Volunteer Webmaster

The World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, BC, Canada, is home to over 600 previously owned pet parrots.

They end up here for many reasons, but all of them relate to the fact that parrots do not adapt well to captivity.

The best these amazing birds can now hope for is a secure home like the World Parrot Refuge where they are encouraged to regain some small semblance of what they are meant to be.

This music video is dedicated to the birds and to those who care for them. I hope it conveys some sense of the magnitude of the problem, as well as the dedication and compassion of those seeking to be part of the solution.

Brad Wilson and his dad, Bill have been coming to the refuge on Friday afternoons recently to share some mutual time with a couple of parrots who appreciate the extra attention.

Volunteers who would like to spend time with the birds are always welcome, although at this time we have limited space. This should improve once the Macaw flight rooms are completed.

While Bill gives Kelly some much appreciated "rib tickles".

The World Parrot Refuge, like all charitable organizations, is always in need of volunteer help. We have a core group of dedicated people that give many hours of their lives to help the parrots of the Refuge enjoy a better life. Some of our volunteers can only help out on occasion, some donate their time every week, and others amazingly give of themselves almost every day of the year! Without the commitment of all of these people we could not provide the amount of loving care that our residents need. Our volunteers are the soul of our organization!

In that spirit, we would like to recognize their efforts and extend special thanks to:

Al and Ria Humphrey
Val and Doug Jones
Viv and Jackie Bochek
Bob Helfrick and Marj Wicks
Anne and Larry Neil
Jim and Jill Karn
Brenda and JP
Liz Petersen
Arlene Pitt
Emily Busby
Jennifer and Micaela Cameron
Julian, Alex and Leanne Grant
Dorothy, who washes our dishes
Georgina, who makes lots of toys

We look forward to seeing you all this year and hope to make some new volunteer friends too! If you have some time and a place in your heart for the amazing parrots of the World Parrot Refuge, please visit our volunteer page to find out how you can become a part of caring for the magnificent birds of our Refuge family.

When the Refuge was based in Abbotsford we always hoped for volunteers, but were far away from town and a bus route, so the chance of people coming out to work with the parrots was slim to none.

We were exceptionally lucky to have Janet and Andy Breslin and Wim Vanderbom, who never missed a day in all the years that we were in Abbotsford. They have also made visits since we have moved to Coombs, but it is rather a long way to come!

As soon as we opened the new facility in Coombs, we met people who were so thrilled with what they encountered here that they asked to volunteer in many different ways: working with the birds, cuddling the birds in the Judy Langille Wellness Centre, making toys for the birds, working to beautify the new gardens outside, or taking people on tours of the facility they love.

The first couple to offer their help were Carol and Gerard, who purchased an annual pass and then offered to be our volunteer co-ordinators. What a fantastic job they are doing! Every week we get a schedule of who is coming in and when and in which department. The volunteer program is running so smoothly.

We have a long list of current volunteers. Thank you very much, to all our special volunteers - your work is appreciated more than you'll ever know.

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)