Fla. Rescue Gives Birds New Roost

April 26, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. -- Jennifer Underwood got the call while working at the Temple Terrace Animal Hospital. A woman more than 3,000 miles away needed a place for the 30 birds her recently deceased father owned.

“I said, ‘omigosh. We got to help her,” Underwood recalled.

She scrambled, but couldn’t help the woman in Seattle quickly enough. She sold them to a pet store.

But then another call came -- this time, to pick up 65 birds. By then, the wheels were in motion and Underwood, and her new non-profit Tampa Bay Parrot Rescue could accommodate.

The organization became official less than a year ago, May 2007. Since then, it’s placed close to 200 birds in homes. Many of them are foster homes, like the one Katie Fisk of Tampa supplies.

Fisk worked with birds at the Lowry Park Zoo. She and her boyfriend already own two cockatiels. While they would like to bring in one more permanent feathered member of their family, limited space in their home prevents that.

“Instead of adopting one and helping one bird, why not foster as many as we can to give them a leg up to be adopted by other homes,” Fisk said.

Her “foster kid” is Crash -- a green monk parakeet, also known as a Quaker parrot. Crash got his name from the circumstance that led him to Tampa Bay Parrot Rescue -- he was hit by a car. His left wing is broken. He can move it slightly, but he can’t fully extend it -- meaning, he can’t fly.

“The biggest challenge is taking a bird used to being in the wild to being a pet. He has to learn how to be around people, not fear people,” Fisk said.

Anyone interested in adopting or fostering through Tampa Bay Parrot Rescue must complete an extensive application, and are subjected to a home inspection. Taking a bird into a home is a commitment that can last beyond an owner’s lifetime, since many birds outlive their owners. Underwood must also be convinced that potential owners realize what many former owners did not: that birds need one-on-one attention.

“Most of the birds we get in are pets,” Underwood said. “(Some are) having behavioral problems because they’re not getting the attention they’re craving, or going through sexual maturity or things like that.”

Crash has adjusted well. In the five months he’s been under Fisk’s care, bath time -- which consists of a large, shallow, circular plastic container filled with water in which he splashes around -- has become his favorite time.

He’s also picked up on verbal commands simply by watching Fisk interact with her two other birds. With a wiggle of Fisk’s finger, Crash waves his foot. As Fisk moves her finger in a circle, Crash turns. He can also bark, purr, and imitate a chicken. His reward: sunflower seeds.

While Underwood said the goal is to find a foster family that ends up adopting the bird they care for, Fisk knows the day will come when Crash will go to his new family.

“I know I’m going to be sad when he goes,” Fisk said. “I knew from the start it would be tough to let him go. But I can take pride in knowing he’s going to a good home and then I can help another bird.”

Underwood said Tampa Bay Parrot Rescue currently has a waiting list for fostering and adopting, so Crash may meet his new family sooner than he thinks.

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