Belize Bird Rescue Parrots and Birds 2008

	2008 Case Histories (reverse order)
Kalie, Bonnie & Kleintjie Donated November 08	Bonnie, Kalie, Kleintjie (The Three Stooges) came to us via our friends, Dr L, a retired vet, and his wife, who are fellow rescuers and devoted foster-parents of several mistreated creatures. These three babies were near death's door when first delivered to the L's earlier this year, thanks to the incompetence of those who removed them from the nest in the first place. But they flourished under Dr L's expert attention and these birds are now strong and healthy with good flight skills, so there was no reason why these three should not go into the release programme (except for the fact that the L's were heartbroken, of course). The three of them will all be released together as they grew up as siblings (even though they probably are not) and are a very close little family. We estimate their initial release date sometime in the New Year.
Pinky & Perky Donated October 08	These two parakeet siblings came to us from a family in Cotton Tree. The birds were taken from the nest earlier this year and had been caged almost constantly since then. The feathers on one wing of each bird had been cut to the nub so that any form of controlled landing was impossible. We started the birds on a complex arrangement of sticks and twigs for exercise and agility training, with toys and leaves to keep them occupied. Then it was a question of feeding them and waiting for new feathers to grow. As of December 2008 they still did not have enough wing to land gracefully. We have these little ones in the house and they have learned that leaping off the cage onto the sofa doesn't hurt. They perform this Kamikaze trick daily. We think maybe they need more toys!
Blue Rescued October 08	We were alerted to Blue's plight by a young rescuer living near the Western Border. She had heard of 3 baby birds that were unwanted by the family that were in possession of them. When we arrived at the home, there was only one bird left - Blue's siblings had died. Judging by the state of Blue, his cage and the food he was being given, they probably starved to death. Unfortunately, although we were led to belive that the family wished to give up the bird, this turned out not to be the case. It took all of Jerry's persuasive powers to convince the owners that Blue wasn't worth their trouble, was likely to die anyway, and he was far better off with us. It was a close call but we eventually scuttled out with a parrot wrapped in Jerry's shirt, before anyone could change their mind. We took Blue off his diet of dry white corn-husks (yum) and put him on our trusted parrot baby-food; a blend of lightly boiled soft yellow corn, papaya and all-nutrition dried parrot food soaked until soft. He rapidly got the hang of a variety of foods, and within a few weeks we let him loose in the aviary. He loved the daytime but as dusk approached he would cling to the side of the wire looking very nervous. For a week or so we brought him in at night to ensure a peaceful sleep and a good feed in the morning, but eventually he became quite happy in the trees thank you very much. As of the end of 2008 he is finally showing signs of wanting to fly - one step closer to release.
Tuki-Tuki Rescued August 08	Tuki fell from a neighbours' craboo tree, unable to fly and very weak and was plucked from the jaws of a dog by our neighbours' son, who brought him straight to us. Tuki was frantic about something, and would not stay still for a second. On close inspection, we discovered he was infested with lice and his beak had become so badly encrusted that his nostrils were completely blocked. We dropped Ivermectin on his neck, and rubbed a weak solution of it on his beak. He became calmer almost overnight, but he still wouldn't eat properly and was pitifully thin. In desperation we made him some 'baby food'. He loved it, thank goodness and started to put on weight. Persistent bathing of his beak eventually removed the encrustations and his nostrils began to reappear. Over a period of months he slowly regained flight ability. Despite being a totally wild bird, he enjoyed a good human-scratch, but was obviously desperate to rejoin his flock. Tuki was successfully released on November 16th 2008.
Chili Rescued July 08	Chilli was one of 2008's year's nestlings. He was with a family on San Pedro who were persuaded to give him up to the facility. We were asked to send over a transport cage and Chilli was delivered by air to Belize City. We brought him back to the Centre and he followed the prescribed pattern of almost all of our inmates by spending the next 3 days eating. He was fully fledged when we got him, but his wings were clipped and he had never actually flown. We kept him in the playroom for a while to give us time to gain confidence in each other. He has become incredibly affectionate to one of us(!), and is strong, healthy bird who will no doubt be a good candidate for eventual release. As of December 2008, Chili is still very fond of Nikki but spends a lot of time of the daytime flitting around the orchard. He will not go in the aviary (he says he's far too grown up for that) but still comes in at night to sleep.
Four Rescues, July 08 Spike	We had been watching these birds for about a year. There were two cages, 24 inches tall, by 18 inches wide, with two red lored parrots in one cage, and two white-fronted plus a red lored (Spike) in the other. We'd been to see the owner on several occasions, taking with us food, toys, literature, suitable perches etc. We'd dressed the inadequate, undersized, filthy cages as best we could, and tried desperately to make this young man understand that his captives had brains and feelings and he was, to all intents and purposes, torturing them. But his attitude and the bird's overall condition never changed - in fact if anything, it worsened. One day, we realised that the young lad who 'cared' about these birds had left for the US, leaving his 'babies' in the care of his parents, who actually couldn't have cared less about the birds as anything more than possessions if they tried. One of the white-fronted had already died and Spike was in a bad way. It was time to call the Forestry Department. The Forestry Officer who saw the birds was truly horrified, and confiscated them immediately. Spike, Mick and Hooligan 1 & 2 were sent to Belize Bird Rescue to be rehabilitated. Hoorah!
Mick	Not so fast with the celebration, as it turned out. The Powers That Be, for whatever reason (I will leave to you reach your own conclusions) decided that this was a "golden opportunity for education" and that the birds were to be handed back - except for Spike who was too ugly, apparently... Fortunately Mick escaped from the aviary whilst we were trying to force him back into his tiny, filthy cage with no perches, no greenery and a life with one tiny bowl of food and water a day. Smart bird. The Hooligans (we couldn't bring ourselves to name them) were not so lucky, and the same Forestry Officer who one month earlier had confiscated them, was forced to return them to their life of torture, vowing to check on their progress weekly.
Hooligan 1 & 2 Returned to abusers 8th August 08	Four months later, these close siblings are housed in separate cages with no perches. The cages are sat on a table in the garden so that the birds are just out of reach of one another: their punishment for daring to want a better life? Or maybe our punishment (as we have to pass these birds regularly and witness their misery) for daring to mess with people who have 'friends'. The Forestry Department has not once visited to assess their condition. And what did we learn from this episode? A lot.
Squeaky Rescued June 08	Squeaky the Parakeet was probably our easiest rescue ever. He was almost fledged but not quite strong enough to make it by himself. Our gardeners found him low down in some bushes, unable to fly. We gave him endless amounts of food with the maximum variety of wild food that useless ground-dwelling humans are capable of collecting. After two weeks of fine dining and safe shelter he was buzzing everyone in the house and squeaking crazily every time parakeets flew over. Once his flight became dead-on accurate, we opened the door and off he went, yelling thanks - or abuse - it's difficult to tell really. Either way, job done.
Titch Rescued April 08	Titch was given to the Centre by a family in Camelote Village. She was living under the bed in their house and the three children thought that maybe she was a little tired of the dog 'molesting' her and she 'screamed a lot' and 'bit everyone'... hmm. Her wings had been severely clipped and she had a dropped shoulder, which is usually an injury sustained when the babies are pulled from the nest. Understandably, she was unhappy around humans. After several months in the playroom she became a little less neurotic around us, and her physical and mental health slowly improved. She went into the aviary in July and quickly learned to navigate the branches. In November she started flying properly around the aviary and has formed a love-hate relationship with the only available boy - Mick. She still hates people.
Timba & Chichi Donated March 08	Seeing the success we were having with Mr P, our friend decided to enter all of her birds into the programme. It was a hard thing for her to do; parrots are easy creatures to love and 12 years is a long time. But she knew full well it was the best thing for the birds. So the day came and Timba, (also known as Demon Bird, apparently) travelled back to the Centre alongside the cage bearing Chichi, a white-fronted. They had not met before as Chichi had always been kept in a different house. However, despite being different species, it appeared to be love at first sight. Oops. 30 minutes of cooing, calmness and hand-holding through the bars - and then Timba and Mr P were reunited... It was at this point that we realised how much they really hated each other. Mr P, who was sitting calmly on top of his cage, took one look at Timba and launched himself across the room. Unfortunately Nikki was between the two birds and got the brunt of their anger. Break out the bandages. Plan B: Timba and Chichi would have to be caged outside for a little while longer until the aviary was finished, which after 12 years in solitary was no hardship, especially now that they had each other (oops again). Late July and the two of them entered the aviary, set up camp in the prime corner and have not shown any signs of wanting to leave since. Mr P flies around outside and Timba seems to be happy with this arrangement. Both Timba and Chichi fly well now and even enjoy the company of some of the other inmates. Who said you can't teach an old bird new tricks?
Mr P (Sugar) Donated February 08	Mr P came to us bearing the name Sugar. Jerry was unhappy with this name (in much the same way as he doesn't like pink) and even more so when it became clear that Sugar was a boy. In a flash of brilliant inspiration, he became Mr Parrot, or Mr P for short. Mr. P was donated to the centre by a friend. He had been with her for 12 years and had developed a habit of overgrooming. She thought he may be better off with us as there was clearly something wrong in his life. It turned out that his cage was across the room from Timba, another red lored, and the two of them absolutely hated each other. Whereas in the wild they would either fight it out or run away, in this instance they could do neither. So they stared daggers at each other all day whilst Mr P pulled at his feathers and Timba did somersaults on his perch until someone came close enough so he could bite them (usually our friend!) Mr P stopped the over-grooming the moment he arived at the centre. He grew in some healthy flight feathers and developed a serious crush on Nikki. He was flying well before construction of the aviary was complete and once he discovered the great outdoors, the crush turned into indifference (except when he damaged his foot and got stung by a bee - then he was back home in a flash!). As of the end of 2008 he is free in the orchard, has several red-lored friends and often disappears for days, literally over the hills and far away. A perfect release.