Belize Bird Rescue parrots & birds 2004

Bonnie, Clyde & Jones June 2004 Our first attempt at a parrot-tree	In June 2004 we had been in Belize less than 6 months. Bonnie & Clyde arrived at our farm in a bucket; a pair of bald, miserable babies calling for their parents. Knowing very little about the culture of nest-robbing, we believed the boy who told us that he had 'rescued' them from a felled tree. In actual fact there were many felled trees around at this time as the electricity supply for our entire road had just been put in, so we like to believe it was true. Although it probably wasn't.
Bonnie & Clyde with Jones (see below)	Regardless of how it happened, we were now responsible for these two baby red loreds. We dutifully fed and watered the little guys and fell completely in love with them. We have never liked to see animals and birds in cages, so it seemed perfectly logical to us to allow these wild flying creatures to fly and be wild. The transition from chick to healthy, well-fed adult with excellent flight skills was remarkable. More remarkable still was the way they used us as a food source when it suited them, flying free throughout the day and returning to eat, drink and sleep. When they finally left us for the last time, we realised that we had done something wonderful for these birds; we had given them a second chance. We also realised that there are thousands of birds like them in Belize, who deserve their second chance to live free.
Fatbelly Jones taking a grown-up nap and as a very fat-bellied chick.	(Fatbelly) Jones was the alleged victim of the same programme of tree-felling: again, a plausible scenario given the circumstances. She came to us as a tiny, ugly Aztec Parakeet chick with very few feathers and appetite to rival a horse. Once she learned to fly, Jonesy would come and go at will. Sometimes she would stay out for a few nights, but she would always return for a top-up of good food and a snooze on the curtain rail, or simply to rest her legs, as she loved to do. She stayed with us until early 2007 when one day she failed to return home after her excursions into the bush. We will never really know what happened to her - one of the drawbacks of what we do. She is sorely missed. Bonnie after a bath

Stevie December 2004	Stevie, another red lored was delivered to our door by a local resident who felt he didn't have time for him and, with surprising intuitiveness, admitted that maybe the bird was "sad". As with most of our charges Stevie had been clipped across the entire wing, making any form of controlled landing impossible. He loved the outdoors but would cluck like a laying chicken when he was distressed (he would also rock his head back from side to side, a la Stevie Wonder - hence the name...sorry Mr. W) Stevie was determined to master flight and became airborne with the minimum of feathers within a very short time. As a result, he developed extremely strong chest muscles and was noticeably larger and more robust than others of his species. He was never hand-tame throughout his stay with us, and yet became our longest return visitor - he returned once again this year - showing off his family and enjoying the delights of a fine restaurant.
March 2005	After a little friendly persuasion, a family in our village gave us their four birds for rehabilitation. Psycho, Andrew, Alice and Mungo had been with them for 2 years. Alice and Andrew, both white-fronted had rather bizarrely been separated and housed in tiny adjoining cages with Psycho and Mungo respectively. Over the two years Psycho had constantly pulled out Alice's tail and wing feathers and Andrew had systematically terrorized Mungo, a docile Red Lored. Simply separating the birds and allowing them the freedom of choosing who to or who not to roost with, plus good diet, toys to occupy the mind and of course space, brought out the parrot in these frustrated little creatures.
Psycho	Psycho was a very wild Aztec Parakeet who left home the second he was allowed out of the cage. I don't think he had any problems at all becoming wild - he was already furious!
Alice	Alice was next to recover. She had an amazing personality and remarkable intelligence. She flew without tail feathers within a couple of months of us getting her, and left home around August. Even nowadays we still sometimes get 'buzzed' by a tailless white fronted. We're pretty sure it's Alice.
Andrew	After coming and going Andrew finally left for good about a month after Alice; he was a much more serious creature than she ever was and always remained wary of humans (which is not a bad thing!). We did not particularly miss hearing him wail like a hungry baby from nearby trees: that was just to wierd for words.
Mungo	Mungo's whereabouts are a little more of a mystery. He, like the others, had clipped wings which grew out rapidly, and one day he just took off and didn't ever return. He too was never hand tame, and was a very quiet bird. Maybe one of life's thinkers, who one day thought he would just leave home…
Midge Donated December 05	Midge (Midget) was adorable. He was a young bird, the previous year's nestling, donated by a resident from Roaring Creek. True to our now familiar pattern of behaviour, he went from phsycotic to a lamb within a week. Beginning another now familiar pattern, he was happiest when welded to Nikki's shoulder most of the day, which created a world of jealousy with Jonsey when ever she came home. He played Scrabble (badly), loved crayons and books (as chew-toys rather than creative tools) and when he finally grew back his wing feathers - he flew, and flew and flew...