Hello from Baltimore Md.

Hello,

We are starting a new chapter in our lives waiting for our baby Blue and Gold. It will be a few months but that gives us a chance to clean out the old cage and room, get the new one set up and make a fresh home for our new baby.
When we receive more information we will post updates and photos.

In case you are wondering, we lost our Severe Macaw recently. He was with us for 29 years and almost 30. We will never forget PJ.

It is too quiet after our loss and being experienced bird owners we decided to bring another feathered friend into our lives.

Thanks
Kelly and Karl

Welcome! Glad you found us!
I'll look forward to following your new adventure.
My bird is 33... I can only imagine what you went through in losing your Severe.
I wish you an equally long and wonderful journey with your new Macaw!

Welcome to the forums, Kelly and Karl. My deepest condolences for your loss of PJ. May your forthcoming Blue and Gold ease the pain and help transition to a joyous bird home once again.

Welcome and be welcomed,folks. Tell us about the new addition, and tell us of PJ, I'm sure you have some good stories.

Kelly and I would like to thank everyone for the warm welcome and the condolences on the loss of PJ, our Severe. We miss him a lot and will never forget all his comical gestures, phrases, facial expressions, love, and affection.

That said, we are also looking forward to our new adventure and hope to have many years of fun and love and affection with our new friend.
Just so everyone knows, we did pursue the adoption route first but were met with issues withe the rescue centers and most all of the Craig's list ads appeared to be scams. Hyacynth Macaw for $500, yeah right !
One rescue center wanted volunteer time. I understand that and would be more than willing to help out but since it was over a 2 hr drive each way, that would be very difficult to do 3 or more times a week.
The other center in PA was very standoffish when I called several times wanting to visit and see if one of their friends wanted a new home. Very strange behavior on the phone, not sure if they would have time, this weekend, tomorrow, next week, etc. I was shocked.
Anyway, that led up to a place on the Eastern shore in Delaware. We were very please with their knowledge, cleanliness, professionalism, and had the pleasure of handling several Macaws that day. We still looked through the on line ads but eventually decided to go with the place in Delaware. We placed a deposit on a B&G, expect to have our first encounter with our new baby next week and look forward to meeting him / her for the first time.

We will post some updates on our new friend's room and some cage issues in the Macaw section later.

Hope to have a sig and bio soon. Not sure what to do for an avatar. Using a photo of PJ in remembrance, or one of our new addition that we have not seen yet. We have time to work that out.

Thanks Kelly and Karl

I understand the viewpoint of the rescues...for one, they are working with birds who have already been through trauma, so they are very protective of them. Also, they are working with birds who have been through trauma, so they have a low opinion of human nature. Those same craigscammers are constantly trolling for rescue birds they can flip and re-sell. Plus, the parrots are valuable, and usually the rescue is out of someone's home...I know that I would be nervous having all kinds of strangers come in my home and see the valuable parrots and good places to break in.

We got a little break on Gus because Jeff had been watching the rescue's website for a while and he started sending them donations. By the time we got Gus, we had probably paid close to the adoption fee in donations so they gave us a discount on that, plus there had been emails going back and forth. They knew we were looking for a bird, we were giving them some money, and if you ever meet Jeff he's just the most trustworthy person on earth, everybody loves him including Gus. Sigh.

I hope people will be understanding about the difficulty a rescue operation faces in getting birds to a new home, in a way that's safe for bird and person. Perhaps they would be willing to meet in a neutral location some time? Or a large facility that has more public space than a private home would be less reserved.

So if you do still think of adopting, you might find a local place on Petfinder and be able to work with them a bit. My husband and I are no spring chickens, so we wanted an older bird so we'd have a chance to outlive him...even with providing for them in our wills, it's impossible to guarantee him a safe harbor when we are not able to keep him any longer.

I'm sorry for your loss. Congratulations on your new friend. Looking forward to seeing pictures. I never knew the kind of relationship it was possible to have with a parrot until I adopted George almost ten years ago. We are best friends. He lives with my mom and I and if George is on somebody's shoulder and the other person gives a hug, George will get in on the hug and press himself against the other person's neck. So adorable.

We drove to Delaware to see our new kid for the first time yesterday. He/she is only 2 months old. It felt great to spend time with him/her and bond a little for the first time. We hope to be back next weekend to have more bonding time and see how much he/she has grown.

We are having the DNA sex test done so we can pick a proper name and don't care if its male or female. We are just looking forward to providing a good loving home to our new family member.

Yes we took a lot pictures and video of our new B&G while we were there, but to follow proper "pecking" order we must first honor PJ and show a few pics of him. We will post pics of the new kid possibly later this week.


First, a pic from 1999 with him just hanging out.

The last two are recent pics with him just chilling out after having a his medicine, a snack, and on my shoulder taking a nap. He looked so good, it was hard to imagine that he was fighting a terminal disease. Our vet said there was no need to take any drastic measures since he was not in any pain and was still enjoying life. We really miss him, but it's time to enjoy the fond memories and move on to the new addition.

Next time, pics of our new B&G, I promise.

Thanks
Kelly an Karl

Looks like PA was an exceptional parrot!

PJ was beautiful, thank you for sharing! It seems incongruous that parrots can be ill yet show outward signs of vitality and vibrance.

Welcome and lovely pics of PJ, may he forever fly free. We are happy to share more of his life if you would like to and in no way does it detract from your long awaited new baby.

Shame about the rescue route and it certainly looks like you could have given such a deserving parrot a lovely, loving home.