Are rescuers too picky?
Please print this so the rescues can understand why people are not saving their wonderful birds. I have owned lovebirds for several years and we love them. We decided we were ready for a larger parrot and had no set requirements as to what breed. I then contacted several adoption and sanctuary organizations. I had no luck. The ones that were close never bothered to reply. I spoke with one and but it was out of state and you had to attend several classes. For someone who already has birds there should be a bit more slack.

I also found very negative people running the rescues who, in my opinion, did not want to adopt out their birds. It appeared nobody could meet their qualifications. I can understand a wait time to make sure this is not some spontaneous thing, wanting to adopt a bird. As for the home visits, why should I allow a perfect stranger in my home to say whether or not I am qualified to be a bird owner? Because of these things I turned to breeders and want ads. I would have preferred adopting a neglected bird who needed love and a home but I wasn't going to beg to get one. Had the rescues been more cooperative, a sad bird that is in a crowded home where the rescuers can't possibly give it the attention it needs would have had a caring and loving home with informed and understanding owners.

--Kim Trusty, Waterford, Mich.

Free flight: pro and con
I was fascinated by your recent article (see Free birds, May-June 2003) as our parrotlet, Pipn', is free flying but limited to the house. If he were to get out, we are afraid he would be too small to locate, being only five inches long. I wouldn't for one minute clip his wings, though, and that little monster can turn corners on a dime.

At first, Pipn' and his brother, Squeak, were clipped and our third parrotlet, BB, flew free. (The brothers would try to catch BB and attack him.) Then we lost BB to a heart murmur and Squeak to an aneurysm, so all we had was Pipn'. Out the feathers grew. Pipn' knows exactly where the windowsills are for safety, has baskets all over the house, and when company comes, he goes into "his" room. Parrotlets are very skittish, especially Pipn', and, we watch out for him every minute. When we leave the house, he goes into his room again but still out of a cage so he can come and go and not feel penned in.

When we clipped BB it was almost his undoing. He loved to sit in the windowsill across from his cage. One day a cat jumped up to try to catch him through the glass and BB in a terrible fright fell to the floor. It was simply awful. He walked around in circles, didn't seem to know where he was so, of course, we rushed him to the vet's. It was then we decided he was going to always be a free flighted little birdie. We have never been sorry.

--Gae Thiel, Novato, Calif.

--Jan Robb

We all feel slightly guilty about keeping caged birds. We have all read the stories of the bird owners who travel to the rainforest and, after seeing wild parrots in their natural environment, declare they should never be caged. Or the animal rights activists' propaganda - better extinct than a pet, etc. Even though we may disagree with it, it is still troubling.

Secondly, most of us are aware of the feral parrot populations turning up in many parts of the USA. We now know that some parrots can survive in the wild on their own, eluding predators and making homes for themselves in alien environments. Even though it's nothing as beautiful as their native environment and certainly not the fate we want for our precious pets, it gives me hope to see such a strong survival instinct in these creatures. Especially with the threat to wild parrots in their native habitats being so great.

However, the unfortunate reality is that most wild parrot populations are dwindling. I believe the loss of habitat is eventually going to eliminate all but the most adaptable species of wild parrots. We may be able to carve out a few isolated sanctuaries just as Jane Goodall has done for the chimps, but these will be limited and some species won't be able to adapt. Unless a great shift in consciousness occurs (I pray for this daily and not just for the parrots), the parrot population of the future is going to exist mainly in zoos and people's homes. Maybe parrots are depending on their caretakers not just to love and care for them, but to help insure their very survival on this planet.

With time, parrots will become more domesticated and less wild, just as dogs and cats. Maybe future generations of parrot people will be able to take their parrots out for walks just like the family dog. Maybe many of us hope the free-flighted birds of today are harbingers of a more liberated life for the companion parrots of tomorrow. Such a wonderful creature deserves every opportunity at a happy, healthy life.

--Ellen Coltrane

--Linda Williams