keep churning out baby parrots for the pet trade’ and ‘parrot breeders are only in it for the money.’ Each time I heard this opinion I was amazed, how had they come to this conclusion? Was their thinking so simplistic that they had forgotten the pet owner’s part in the process? Or, as I suspect, maybe it was more convenient and less painful to blame a group of faceless breeders than to look at the real reasons that so many parrots are moved from home to home. I am not a parrot breeder, so I was welcomed into the world of parrot rescue with open arms but I have never shared the ‘them and us’ attitude held by so many towards parrot breeders. I have many friends who are parrot breeders and I admire the time, effort and commitment they put into the welfare of their birds, many of them have years of experience and far greater knowledge of their birds than the average parrot owner. For these reasons I suggested that a few of these parrot breeder friends join the parrot refuge and help, although they were more than willing to give their time and to offer homes to some of the more problem birds, their motives were questioned from the start. To say they were treated with suspicion would be an understatement; in fact a saliva frothing, rabid dog would have been made more welcome. But as they proved, on many occasions, that their knowledge and experience meant that they could advise


30 BIRD SCENE


and deal with a range of birds with problem behaviour they were eventually, if somewhat reluctantly, accepted. The parrot breeders I refer to here became trustees of the charity and being of the same mind, we all agreed that the birds’ needs must come first. If a parrot came into the refuge that was desperate to breed/ too noisy to live in a family environment/ too stressed to live with humans and exhibiting problem behaviour that couldn’t be corrected, then we agreed that the bird should be allowed to live in an aviary with its own kind. This decision was met with opposition and seen as a ploy to breed with the rescue birds. It was patiently explained on a number of occasions that the birds would not be encouraged to breed and no nesting boxes or materials would be available in the aviaries. However, it still remained an issue with some of the members who would have preferred the birds to be placed in yet another unsuitable home, only to be moved again and again. There were many problems within the


refuge which we worked as a team to correct and for a while we managed to overcome the prejudice towards the parrot breeder trustees. We all worked tirelessly to find new members, to promote the charity and to find good homes for the birds that came into our care. I


found myself constantly defending my fellow trustees and justifying their


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