Potty Parrots Refuge,
Midland Game Fair.
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Rosemary Rachael Hart.
All the parrots have come from unsuitable homes or else their owners have passed away. Some stay in the refuge for life; others are rehomed. Appearing at the show raises funds to care for the birds (though it only cost 50p to come in and meet them!) and hopefully it educates possible parrot owners about just what a responsibility they have taken on if they buy a bird that's been likened to a toddler with wings.
The birds roam free inside a small marquee. Each has his or her own perch with food, but they prefer to climb into the roof, which gives them an escape if they need a break from people. In the past I bonded with a blue Indian Ringneck parrakeet, Bluebell, who would sit on me and let me stroke him, gently scratching the back of his neck, which is the way parrots prefer to be stroked. Bluebell, however has retired. This time I met Rhea the Blue and Yellow Macaw, Rio the Orange-winged Amazon, and Banjo the Double Yellow-headed Amazon, a species that's nearly extinct. If ignorant greedy people continue to set fire to the Amazon Rain Forest, what hope do any of these birds have in the wild?
Rhea and Rio obligingly came to see me, but didn't want to be stroked. They left fairly soon for other people, but not Banjo. On Sunday afternoon she climbed on to me. I gently offered her my free hand to see if she wanted her head stroked, but she moved restlessly and pulled her feathers in against her body. I got the message. I took my hand away and she puffed out her feathers, relaxed. Once we'd agreed that stroking was not on the menu, she settled on me, content to stay for as long as I wanted; I felt honoured by her trust.
I can imagine how a parrot feels about being stroked by enthusiastic children. Little hands descend firmly down their back and wings. To a bird that's a potential predator messing with its means of escape! I was surprised how well the birds tolerated it. If they want to be touched, I stroke them the way they preen each other.
Derrick and family, who run the rescue centre, have a hard time watching everyone who enters to make sure no-one unintentionally upsets the birds. On hearing the rescue stories, I wondered, as ever, why people don't find out about the pets they think of buying before committing themselves? One of the Eclectus parrots, who cost £850 plus more for a big cage, was rehomed after only four days because his owners couldn't stand his loud voice. Fancy owning a bird for a mere four days before deciding it's too noisy! I wonder if they'd also found out that Eclectus parrots don't live on seed? Couldn't they discover important points in advance?
Being intelligent and inquisitive, parrots investigate everything with powerful and often destructive beaks, and some species scream! Before underestimating them, just think – their intelligence is on a par with that of crows, and the crow family includes the second-most intelligent species on the planet. The worst cruelty comes when they are caged alone with nothing to do and no company because their owners are out all day. They start pulling out their feathers and showing other signs of mental disorders.
I once belonged to a little parrot – the most accurate way of describing the situation! While I was at work he came to
accept my mother as company, but when I came home, he started shouting before I turned into the drive, and there was no
doubt about who he'd bonded with. Whatever I did, he had to do as well, and tales of the Wackybird, so tame that he would
push himself between my half-closed fingers and thumb before lying on his back in the palm of my hand, and so much at home
that he would fly back to me out of a tree, make everyone smile!