Rehabilitation... is our Primary Goal
Parrot Rehabilitation Programme
- Wild parrots can live from 40-90 years and a pair may produce up to 72 offspring during their lifetime
- Captive parrots in Belize usually die within 5 years and produce no offspring
- Every year nest robbers cause the death of hundreds of chicks, damage nest sites and displace breeding populations
- Every bird returned to the wild augments future breeding populations
Can any parrot be rehabilitated? Honestly - we don't know. Some respond immediately to the call of the wild, others require a little more time. Some are engrained with 'humanisms', particularly vocalisation, others identify particularly with children. It is our experience that captive birds eventually revert to being wild, but time is the key.
We have not yet found an indigenous bird that has not responded to our programme.
Why not just 'let them out'? Almost all of the parrots come to us with varying degrees of agoraphobia. They are unlikely to have experienced life without bars, have never encountered trees or leaves, and simply looking up at an unbroken sky can be a new and amazing experience. The wings are usually badly clipped so they have no flight ability or experience. They have limited dexterity and climbing skills, and are clumsy with food that requires opening or manipulation. Almost every bird we encounter has been isolated for many months or years; psychological torture for such a tactile, gregarious creature.
A creature with no social skills, no feeding skills, no flight skills and no instincts for self-preservation cannot simply be let loose in the wild.
We have not yet found an indigenous bird that has not responded to our programme.
Why not just 'let them out'? Almost all of the parrots come to us with varying degrees of agoraphobia. They are unlikely to have experienced life without bars, have never encountered trees or leaves, and simply looking up at an unbroken sky can be a new and amazing experience. The wings are usually badly clipped so they have no flight ability or experience. They have limited dexterity and climbing skills, and are clumsy with food that requires opening or manipulation. Almost every bird we encounter has been isolated for many months or years; psychological torture for such a tactile, gregarious creature.
A creature with no social skills, no feeding skills, no flight skills and no instincts for self-preservation cannot simply be let loose in the wild.
Our method: from cage to sky...
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Step 1 - Liberation
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Step 2 - Repair
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Step 3 - The Great Outdoors
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The bird is removed from the confines of a closed
cage. The 'playroom' has various arrangements of sticks and
branches attached to open cages where they develop vital co-ordination
and climbing skills.
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The birds spend time growing back some of their wing feathers and getting to know how to deal with many different foods.
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Once we are confident that they can negotiate a real
tree, feed themselves and float gracefully to the floor in the event of
a fall, they are ready for the aviary. By this point, despite appalling
experiences of humans, the birds have learned to trust us. Note: this
doesn't mean they like us, but they know we won't harm them especially as we usually come bearing gifts of food.
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| Step 4 - Release | Step 5 - Rehabilitation |
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The trick here is to really know the birds. Is a
particular bird ready? Have they bonded with another and is this bird
also ready? Will they trust us enough to come back if they need to? Are
they strong enough ? Is it the right time of year to join a flock? So
many factors to consider...
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They stick around, they leave for a while, they come
back for food, they leave again, they even come back with friends... It
is then you know they are truly rehabilitated.
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