Shelter Sitting Yesterday

Babysat the shelter once again last night. Gave Kelly a bath....definitely got the cold shoulder for a bit after that one...

Immediately after the bath


Bribing with treats...


Turned around to eat the treat...so the bribing didn't work very well



This morning I risked my fingers to give the hyacinth/harlequin cross macadamia nuts by hand.... actually took them very nicely through the bars! And this is the one that broke one of the bones in his old owners arm. He was giving me the big baby eyes though so I risked it

He's an odd looking big mac, but I still wanna play with him... any big mac CAN break an arm. That's why we bite pressure train them... otherwise, they play and they don't know their own strength!

That is one stunning bird! How much fun would that be? How is it you ended up with this job?

Goodness Mark don't say that ANY macaw can break an arm.. I'm trying to convince my boyfriend that a BTM is a good idea! LOL.
But yes bite pressure training is important!! Especially with something that has the bite pressure of a Hy..

I'm still jealous of your shelter-sitting job/volunteer work. I bet working with all the loud birds makes it easier to resist taking all of them home, right? (Or maybe it's the complete opposite! XD )

Uh o, looks as though you have made a green enemy. It's gonna take a lot more treats to patch up that relationship after "the bath"

The sad thing about that macaw is he is probably a really good bird who is probably so confused as to why he's been shunned. He doesn't have evil in his eyes (yes, some birds totally look mean, this one does not). Severe injury IS a risk of parrot ownership, and the larger the parrot, the more serious harm they can inflict. I've seen my parents birds crack chicken and even big turkey bones (they eat the marrow), so it's not a stretch to believe a much much larger bird could crack a human bone if frightened or angry. I really hope this poor guy finds a forever home where he really connects with a person and that person understands him.

He is the owners bird now! He likes Jeanne and knows better then to give her any kind of trouble Jeanne is a macaw person so most of her birds are macaws. The problem with being a macaw person is that all the macaws that come in the shelter tend to fall in love with her...

The picture of the hycanith is from when I was cleaning cages. He always comes down to talk to me and play with the dustpan brush when I run it across his cage in the front. He finds it amusing to grab it and start to drag it around

Well to get the babysitting gig you have to adopt a Folger...then they feel guilty....lol I think we all just clicked and she trusts me not to kill off all the birds while she is gone. (Though she does keep asking if Kelly is still in his cage when I leave...no idea why...) She also has baby tiels right now They are so adorable. 4 white ones and one dark grey. They were dropped off at the shelter not born at the shelter! Still hand feeding but starting to fly a little...the one tries to follow you when you step back a bit.

Victoria, bless you for your work at the shelter and for sharing the shelter birds with us. The photos are great. I love how Kelly took the bribe and turned his back to enjoy it.

The Hy is incredible. Happy to hear he has a home with Jeanne.

Love these shelter threads... the hyacinth cross is a handsome fellow, if a bit odd looking! Would love to do sonething like this, but the UK doesn't seem very well off for shelters generally - I've only come across a couple and nothing locally.