The Priceless Parrot Preserve

by Hedy Litke

The Priceless Parrot Preserve, founded by Ed and Marietta Avery, is a bird sanctuary in New York dedicated exclusively to the permanent care of exotic birds.

Both Ed and Marietta have been involved with exotic birds for many years, Ed as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. They do not breed, sell or adopt out any bird that comes into their care, and they say that every bird taken in will live the rest of its life with dignity in the preserve.

Initially the Averys bore the cost of adopting and rescuing the birds themselves, but they have now formed a non-profit, 601-C3 organization funded by public donations.

Animal News Center: Tell us about yourself. How did you get interested in animal welfare, and in creating this parrot sanctuary?

Ed Avery: My wife, Marietta. We've had birds and pets all our lives. We were married a few years and I said "I'd like to have a 'Baretta' bird," and she said, "Ok, what kind of bird is that?" I said, "It's a cockatoo."

So she bought me one for Christmas and that started the whole thing.

I've been an animal wildlife rehabilitator. I'm licensed by the state of New York, and we started to get into the birds and found that there are so many out there who are being given away, mistreated, abused, not being taken proper care of, because the people who buy them have no clue how to take care of them.

After a while, when people are tired of them, they stick them in a room by themselves. The birds get to the point that they mutilate themselves. Or people just get rid of them. The birds get shoved from owner to owner to owner.

None of them know how to take care of exotic birds so they get bitten and either throw away the birds or give them away again, and then, after a while, we get them.

ANC: So how did you go from one cockatoo to a whole sanctuary?

EA: We had the cockatoo for a couple of years. I didn't know a lot about cockatoos, and it turned on me, and I couldn't figure out why. It started biting me and I figured it needed attention.

We finally found out by doing some research that they fledge from whoever they bonded to when they were immature. In other words, when they reach sexual maturity they will re-bond with someone else. Kind of like them leaving home.

So, the cockatoo re-bonded with my daughter. We still have him and he's a great bird, but he likes my daughter, and that's pretty much the only person he does like. She can do anything with him - turn him upside down, take him in the tub.

When we clip his wings she holds him and he'll hold out the wing for her to clip. He's a good bird.

ANC: Is it true that birds usually don't bond with everyone in the family; that they prefer one family member?

EA: We can all pick him up if we have to handle him, but we have to do it with a bit of caution. At this point we can read the bird so we can tell if he's going to be nice or not so nice. We have other cockatoos here.

ANC: After the first one, how did you start adding on more?

EA: Well, we got someone to keep him company - a green wing macaw - and they didn't like each other. My wife was at the pet shop one day and the pet shop owner was trying to sell a green wing macaw with no band on it. My wife walked over to see the bird and the bird was so nasty it was trying to come through the bars if anyone came near it.

The guy in the pet shop didn't care who it went to. He said the first $700 takes the bird. He had gotten the bird because someone had just thrown it through his front door and said they didn't care what he did with it - they just didn't want it back. The bird had been beaten with a stick.

So my wife called me at work. I went down, and being a wildlife rehabilitator I've worked with the DEC on occasion and know that you're not supposed to have any unbanded birds in a pet shop.

So I convinced him to give the bird to someone who would take proper care of him - like us.

We still have him, and he still hates men. My wife is the only one who can handle him.

I would never give him up - he sits on his cage and he interacts with me, and if he wants a treat he'll ask for a cracker.

He bonded with my other green wing macaw who is also male and they're best buddies now.

ANC: How long have you been involved with the bird sanctuary?

EA: About ten years ago we started on our own, and then we'd take the birds to fairs and such and I passed cards around to the regular customers at my heating business so the word began to get around and birds kept coming in and coming in.

We paid out of our pockets till it got to be a bit too much. We're now spending over $10,000 a year just on nuts.

We get help from some of the major companies which produce bird food - they give us some donations. Right now we have about 50 large birds and some small ones as well. Once the birds come through our door we don't adopt them out. We don't adopt, we don't breed and we don't sell.

All of the birds have their own cages except for the couple that are our pets. I had tried to have them all in one room, but by the time I got a 700 sq. foot addition for my house done it was too small - so now they are back in the house again.

ANC: So how many of them are free?

EA: The two green wings I can leave out day and night. They have their own cage, but I leave the door open and they can come and go as they please. They don't destroy anything. They just like to hang out together.

The one who was beaten used to chase me down the hallway and try to bite my feet, and while he was chasing me he used to laugh.

He used to really try and bite me and he's gotten into a habit where, when we had cages covered at night, he would get off his cage in the morning, go under the cage that was covered and hide there and wait for me to come uncover the cage. And then he would come out and hit the top of my foot with his beak and then run back under the cage and laugh.

ANC: Do you think that they have a sense of humor?

EA: Absolutely. They are so intelligent.

We have two blue throat macaws also. Now these birds are almost extinct - there are less than 100 left in the wild, so they will become extinct in the wild in our lifetime.

They are so intelligent that they will get out of their cages no matter what kind of lock I put on them - other than a key padlock - and then they'll go around to the other cages and open them and let the birds out. But only the ones that they like.

ANC: Do you have interactive toys to keep them busy?

EA: Oh yes, everyone has toys in the cages, and we let them out of the cages.

Once they are rehabilitated and friendly to us, we take them out to the fair and to boy- and girl-scout troop meetings and outreach programs in the schools, and wherever else we need to go to try to educate the public on their care and welfare and to try to keep the people who really shouldn't buy one of these birds from buying one.

We want to educate people so that they will not buy a bird just because it's pretty. So that they will realize that the bird has a life span equal to a human's, with an average of 80 to 100 years not being uncommon.

ANC: Now keeping that lifespan in mind have you made any provisions for your birds?

EA: That's why we formed a non-profit corporation, so even if we're not around, the birds will still be in one spot.

Our ultimate goal is to buy some property on Long Island and build a permanent structure so the birds can go there and spend the rest of their lives there.

ANC: So when people bring the birds to you do they donate money?

EA: Some do and some don't. We have people who are good owners and trust us and would rather we have the bird than someone else. They know we won't get rid of the bird once it comes through our doors.

We do have people sometimes who see the number of birds here, and they would like their birds to be pets where they won't be one among many, but the number one bird.

What we do then is put them in touch with somebody who is looking for that type of bird and we go check them out, check their homes out and make sure that they are good people. Most of them we know personally anyway. And then we'll put the two parties in touch and let them work something out.

I won't bring the bird through my doors and then adopt it out again.

ANC: How do you take precautions about bringing diseases in?

EA: All new birds are put into quarantine for a few days and taken to the vet to be checked, and have blood tests run to make sure they are ok.

ANC: So, name some of the birds that you have

EA: We have blue and gold macaws, scarlet macaws. green wing macaws, military macaws, severe macaws, hyacinth macaws, blue throat macaws, catalinas which are a cross between two types of macaws, and several different cockatoos.

We also have several wild-caught birds who were brought into the country before the laws were changed making that illegal.

As for small birds; we have cockatiels, some conures, including one who is in love with my daughter Tiffany who is 13. He lasted three weeks with his last owner. Tiffany just has a knack with these birds.

My other kids - Edward and Ashley, who are both 11 - are also involved with the birds.

We told them all, right from the start, that if they handled the birds they were going to get bit, but to not make a big deal out of it because it's just a fact of life when you have birds.

ANC: What are your plans for the future?

EA: Well, there are a couple of things I would like to get going. One is the property on Long Island; building a permanent preserve for the birds.

The other thing is to get some kind of a bus and fix it up so I can take more of the birds with me and we can go further than we do now. I'd like to do talk shows, educational programs, go to other bird clubs to explain what we've done and how we've done it.

When we first started out we had so much trouble getting information from people. It was like bird information was a big secret. Nobody wanted to tell us anything. But we believe we're all here for the birds, to help them. And by not sharing information, you're not helping them.

We don't have a problem giving people any information they need to know, we just hope that they do the right thing with it. We're no experts by any means. We just let people know what we think is the proper way to do things, and what experience we've gained, caring for our birds.

ANC: How many years of experience do you have?

EA: We've been into birds and animals all our lives. Both my wife and I had birds as children, so more than 20 years of experience all together.

ANC: Is there educational material on your site?

EA: We have just started the Web site. There are things I would like to add to it, like a chat room.

We put the birds' stories on there - the circumstances under which they were taken in and how they were mistreated - and I always put a little comment at the end that you shouldn't own a bird like this if you can't commit to it, because it is a long term commitment.

ANC: Anything else you want to mention?

EA: We do a lot of work with the Long Island Parrot Society, and we have a table at their monthly meetings.

We have a list on the Web site's donation page of things we can use to help keep us going. Not just money, but cages, paper towels, roll paper, etc.

ANC: Marietta? Anything to add?

Marietta Avery: I've been involved with birds all my life. I've always had a parrot. Our goal is to someday have a place for these exotics built with vet care right on the premises.

We're hoping that we can raise public awareness about the problem. Nobody seems to understand the epidemic of misery caused by the purchase of exotic birds. They see them as just being disposable.

There are a lot of resources to help cats and dogs, but nothing for birds. In terms of vet care, any time a bird gets ill it is going to cost thousands of dollars and without resources it's really very difficult.

Most people buy these birds and don't realize they're going to live 80 to 100 years, or at least 60 to 80 in captivity, so it gets to the point where they're thinking of euthanizing them, which to me is appalling.

We feel very strongly that people should not be breeding exotic birds. The upkeep of these birds is unbelievable. For instance, the Bronx Zoo doesn't even have these birds on display because of the amount of money it would cost for their upkeep.

We keep our birds from breeding by keeping them in their own cages, with the exception of a few that are bonded but the same sex. That is the only 100 percent sure method to keep them from breeding.

A lot of breeders will put the birds in a dark, quiet area, because they won't breed in the main area, because they'll feel that people are a threat to their babies.

If a bird feels that the babies are being threatened by humans, they will kill them. I've heard of breeders losing entire crops of babies this way.

I believe that kids are where the future lies. We need to educate them so they'll carry on. The children of today need to be aware of what tomorrow's issues are, otherwise there will be a horrendous exotic bird overpopulation.

Today's society is a throw away society. The other day we picked up a sulfur cockatoo that totally mutilated himself because of stress.

Unfortunately, up here we don't have very many veterinarians that specialize in birds. There are only a handful that are board certified. A lot of vets will say that they work on birds or exotics, but if they're not board certified it's not the same.

We know this, but people who don't know, don't realize this. We try to bring awareness of issues like this to different people.

We do shows to educate the public and of course we appreciate any donations that people are willing to give.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.