An abusive mate ripped off the upper beak of Angel, an umbrella cockatoo.

The bionic beak
When a beak does not grow back, some birds can accept a prosthesis. However, it's an expensive and rare procedure and does not always work.

Angel, an 11-year-old umbrella cockatoo, is one of the lucky ones. Like many a female cockatoo used for breeding, Angel found herself in a bad relationship. Her hormonal mate had taken to attacking her during breeding season. One day he ripped off her maxilla.

Angel's overwhelmed owners tried hand-feeding the badly disfigured bird, but after six years they turned her over to the Midwest Avian Adoption & Rescue Services, Inc. (MAARs), a shelter for birds located in Stillwater, Minn.

Before relinquishing her, Angel's owners had started the process of obtaining a new beak. A local veterinarian had implanted small barbells in what was left of Angel's maxilla to serve as an anchors for a future prosthesis.

MAARs cofounder, director and CEO Eileen McCarthy arranged with Dr. Kenneth Meyer, a Minneapolis prosthodontist, to finish the job. Working from photos of other umbrella cockatoos, Meyer molded a realistic-looking maxilla for Angel from a medical-grade, bio-acceptable acrylic. He attached it to Angel's face by wrapping wires around the ends of the barbells.

Since getting her new beak, Angel is a changed cockatoo, reports McCarthy. Once withdrawn and listless because she could not preen or defend herself against other birds, Angel now has become "quite a prima donna. She flirts with all the males...and uses her prosthesis to climb, manipulate objects and eat.

"She seems to accept it just as if it was a natural beak - although she will never be able to crack nuts or chew wood."

Angel shows off her new, full-beaked profile.

Angel became a media star – her dramatic story was featured last year on Animal Planet's Pet Story show. She also got a new permanent home. McCarthy adopted her.

Sissy gets mobile
Sissy, a Harlequin macaw (half greenwing and half blue-and-gold), got a rough start in life. The last egg of a clutch, she did not receive enough calcium from her mother and hatched with a deformed spine.

Sissy wasn't expected to live, but the breeder nursed her to health and kept her as a companion for his other female macaws. Later, Sissy's clumsiness caused her to fall and break her left wing, but her owner didn't notice because she perched crooked anyway.

When Marsha Christman took Sissy in two years ago, the macaw was wild and had a hard time getting around because of all her physical problems. "Along with taming her, my first plan of action was to get her mobile as possible.  She had been caged for seven years," said Christman.

Christman decided to let Sissy spend all her time on two large play stands, to which she attached food and water bowls, toys and natural branches.

"I set her up to have to stretch, climb and go all over the stands for different things."

Sissy began to flourish, becoming mobile in a few months, but kept falling off her stands because of her awkwardly bent wing. So Christman added a ladder and let Sissy's flight feathers grow out to help her balance.  She stopped falling. 

A deformed spine forces Sissy, a harlequin macaw, to walk with a hunched posture...

After a year, Christman provided Sissy with a new cage, in which she now eats and plays. She sleeps on top of the cage at night so she can stretch out better – "she basically has to lay down to sleep.  She can't sleep like a normal bird because of her spine."

Sissy can't walk well on flat surfaces, either, such as the floor – "she hunkers down because of her spine" – but she climbs well.

"She can almost run along the stands at times," says Christman. Sissy can't fly, but "pretends she does when she watches the birds outside. It's great exercise. I have to watch her weight because if she puts on too much, she can't get around well at all."

Because of Sissy, Christman became partial to handicapped birds and has since taken in several others, including Bubba, a red-fronted macaw with a deformed neck.

...but Sissy keeps her sense of humor. She likes sticking her head out of her food door and saying "Hellooo".

"Handicapped birds adjust very well to their handicaps. Amazing creatures."

Mrs. No-Wing finds a boyfriend
Partially or completely missing wings can make it difficult for a bird to balance properly, much less fly. But this handicap, too, can be overcome.

Amigos de las Aves, based in Alajuela, Costa Rica, is a conservation and research center dedicated to returning scarlet and great green macaws to the wild. Over the years, the captive breeding and release program also has accumulated its share of disabled permanent residents. The most dramatic case may be that of Mrs. No-Wing.

The injured scarlet macaw arrived at Amigos de las Aves a timid and frightened bird. When healthier macaws weren't picking on her, she kept a low profile in the compound's aviaries, afraid to eat. The reason: her right wing had multiple old breaks and hung by only a muscle or two.

"After hours of discussions and weighing up surgery against age and anesthetic risk, we decided that quality of life came first," said Marti Everett, aviary manager for Amigos de las Aves. So in a three-hour surgery, veterinarian Mauricio Jimenez removed the bird's troublesome wing.

Mrs. No-Wing went to live with Everett, who kept her in a small cage and administered antibiotics. "The bruising came out within the next couple of days - turning the most awful green color, which then gave way to purples and yellows!" remembers Everett.

After Mrs. No-Wing's useless right wing was removed, the scarlet macaw became more confident and found a mate.

Mrs. No-Wing healed quickly and soon was graduated from the cage to an aviary, then to the Everetts' enclosed patio, where she could climb trees and walk about as she pleased. Feathers had already begun to grow over the place where her wing had been.

Unfortunately, the macaw's balance wasn't good enough to navigate trees – she fell twice - so for her own safety Everett reluctantly moved Mrs. No-Wing back into a flight at the compound.

She feared Mrs. No-Wing would be bullied again, but this time the newly confident bird found an understanding boyfriend. Last year they were moved to a breeding aviary in hopes they would produce chicks for release some day.

Mrs. No-Wing seemed interest in the box, but no eggs yet, said Everett. "So we are keeping our fingers crossed for next year."

Overcoming birth defects
While most birds become disabled because of injuries, a few suffer birth defects, some severe. But these need not be a death sentence, either.

Some pet parrots are born with or develop legs that splay – instead of extending straight down from the body, they stick out to the side, forcing the birds to waddle unnaturally.

Usually the problem develops in chicks that aren't strong enough to hold themselves upright, so their legs grow to the side. If they don't receive therapy soon after hatching, these birds suffer a permanent splay, says Helen Fahlsing, who operates Charlie's Bird House, a bird rescue effort in Gatesville, Texas, that has received a number of parrots with the deformity.

Fahlsing, whose site along with a few scattered others offers instructions on how to reverse splay leg (see Splay leg), says if caught early enough, splay-leg birds can be helped. However, some, such as LuLu, a Hahn's macaw, will not respond to propping or binding the legs.

Fahlsing tried everything she could think of to help LuLu, including a series of leg wraps and bracing, hoping to realign at least one of her legs, but the treatment didn't stick, and LuLu had to learn to live with her disability.

LuLu, a Hahn's macaw, suffers from splay leg. (Photo courtesy of Charlie's Bird House.)

Now she lives in a specially designed cage equipped with ramps and platforms instead of perches and travels in a wicker basket "with hanging toys for grasping," Fahlsing writes on her site. "She is a little green Tarzan, swinging with one foot" from one hanging toy to the next.

Einstein comes home
The day Lisa Jeffris’ daughter brought home a sun conure from the pet shop where she worked, Jeffris knew she was in for a challenge.

"It was born with its head too big for its body and its eyes kind of bulged.  It became evident that not only was he deformed but he was also blind."

But Jeffris, who has always had a soft spot for disadvantaged creatures, did not think twice about making the bird a member of the family. She named him Einstein.

With his oversized head Einstein had trouble perching without falling, so Jeffris outfitted a 10-gallon aquarium with newspaper and a low training perch. At night, Einstein cuddled with a small teddy bear. Einstein loved to bathe in his water dish, provided on the bottom of the tank along with his food dish.

But Einstein was not adventurous. "You never, never rearranged the tank.  He learned where everything was and if anything was changed to a different spot he became disoriented," said Jeffris.

For all his disabilities Einstein was an affectionate bird who liked to be held close by Jeffris. "Einstein lived with us for over 10 years," she said. "He just passed away last year and he is dearly missed."

Disabled but lovable
Taking on the care of a "special needs" bird may seem daunting at first, but it's more than doable. It's a privilege, says Ortolano, owner of Buddy the blind African grey.

Moreover, seeing how well Buddy has adjusted is a source of continuing satisfaction - and surprise. "Even when I don't say anything, Buddy knows it's me when I walk in the room," says Ortolano. "He knows it's me by the vibration. If it's anyone else - he screams."

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