Help save injured and orphaned wild parrots

It is officially the best time of the year- release time!! Back on October 19th, we said "goodbye!" to 18 rehabilitated conures and watched them re-join the wild flock in La Mesa, San Diego County. During the week prior we tracked the flocks and chose a suitable release spot-- it really was amazing to see these wild, noisy animals thriving in the urban wild! One of their favorite spots to congregate was a medium sized Magnolia tree adjacent to a school yard. About 10 feet away sits a Strawberry Guava tree with tasty, ripe fruits growing all over it. The parrots would hang out in the lush, protective Magnolia, then hop over to the guava tree for a snack, then retreat back to the cover of the Magnolia. We have seen a flock about 40-50 individuals large hang out in those two trees for hours. Their "honk, honk" vocalizations and faint cackles blend in with the laughter and shouting from the nearby school yard. They seemed so comfortable there, about 50 feet from the parking lot; cars coming and going, pedestrians strolling across the street, dogs being walked down the sidewalk. All while the parrots hung out in a fairly low-to-the-ground tree, where it felt like you could just reach up and pluck one like an apple. Occasionally, a crow would dive bomb the tree and chase a few of the parrots around the block, but the small, agile birds are pretty good at evading them. After seeing them reliably hang out in this spot at consistent times during the days leading up to the release, we knew this was the perfect place for our rehabbed birds to go. On the day of the release, we brought out the crates and gave our birds a bit of time to contact call to the flock and survey their surroundings. But, once we opened the doors- ZIP! straight into the tree they went, joining the local flock immediately! There were a few birds that were a bit hesitant at first, but after a few minutes and seeing their friends hanging out in the tree, they gathered the courage to join them. It really was amazing to witness!

More recently, it was the Amazon parrots that were ready for release! 57 rehabilitated Amazons are now living a free life once again! We split this release up into three counties- San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles- over the course of 4 days (one day delayed due to unexpected weather conditions). This time we were able to invite our volunteers, friends and family to the local release in El Cajon, which is a special treat for everyone to see all their hard work and support pay off. It's always such an amazing feeling to see our birds join their wild friends again after a long separation! 

Finally, we wanted to share Watermelon (or "Mel")'s story! At the beginning of July, we received a call from a very concerned couple, Coleen & Greg, who found a wild parrot in the middle of an intersection in Garden Grove. It is assumed this parrot got hit by a car and they told a very dramatic story about stopping traffic to retrieve the parrot while her mate vocalized in a panic from the power line above. After a quick chat on the phone, they eagerly loaded themselves and the bird up in the car and headed down to our facility. A couple hours later, they showed up with the parrot who they lovingly named, “Watermelon” or “Mel” for short. During her time at our facility, Mel gained quite the fan base on social media and became somewhat of a cele-birdy! Fast forward to today- after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured radius/ulna and recovering from said surgery....she was RELEASED back in Orange County on November 16th!! To sweeten the story a bit more, Coleen and & Greg kept in contact with us throughout Mel's rehabilitation period and were able to join us for her release! A rehab success story- the BEST kind of story! 

We hope you all are doing well and thank you for your continued support of us and our mission. Happy Holidays to all that celebrate and best wishes for the upcoming new year!