I was not sure where to post this.. but I want to make this separate from the other post about these 400 birds taken from a single home in Georgia...
I went to go volunteer the other day for these birds, and as soon as I walked through the door my heart sank. Cage after dirty wretched cage these birds lined an entire warehouse/office building complex. Some in such small cages, it was hard to fit a food and water bowl in it.. the stench absolutely nauseating. They were halfway through moving the birds from the smaller cages to larger ones, but we were running out of cages. 50 or more amazon parrots, 100 or more Lorikeet parrots.. all malnourished, sad, and fearful. I was happy to see that the majority of them still had good feathering, but the ones who didn't were bare. No feathers. Their bodies shook and their mouths open in fear. Some knew we were trying to help, but some screamed for us to stay back. Even after being out of that horrible house where they had no food or water, some we still dying from the trauma, or because they didn't know that this was food for them.. that we were here to help. These birds have gone through more than I can imagine, I don't even know how long they had been in there for.
But they were happy now. They talked to us until they fell asleep, they all let us reach our hand into their small cage and grab their dirty waters to give them cleaner ones. They didn't try to fight, they didn't try to bite. None of the birds are tamed and most will probably have to go to sanctuaries where they will fly all day every day for the rest of their beautiful lives. There was one I remember, a cockatoo... I couldn't even tell what kind he was because he was so badly beaten up. His beak so overgrown I wondered how he ate, his claws so long they probably bent his feet at 45 degree angles when he walked.. but despite that, he would just talk to you. He would get up close to you in his 1 ft by 2 ft cage and he would say hello and laugh and mumble.. He probably had not been handled in years or more, his blue eyes sunken and big, but he knew we were there to help. I was worried with how sharp his beak was how I was going to get the food and water out.. but he just stayed there and let me take it right from in front of him.. no fuss, no screeching, nothing. He was older you could tell, I didn't know how long he has been with the guy but I figured it was a while. He was one of the only cockatoos there.
The lorikeets were given the powder for nectar while in his house, but never any water, and always seeds. I was surprised how they had all made it to live this long and finally get liberation. They hopped and sang all about and happily took water and nectar from the bowls as I put them in the cages, 5 or more in one cage at least. Some were babies, some older. They jumped on my arms and all around the cage and filled my lungs with laughter, I know they will get great homes. Some amazons were so scared of humans that when you walked by the cage any faster than a crawl, they would drop to the floor and scream and flail around.
The work is hard, we have to clean every cage every day, give them new waters 2-3 times a day, new food twice, but it is worth it. They go from 9 am to 9 pm, and sometimes are still not finished cleaning cages. We do it for them not for us, and I hope one day they will all have a family to call their own where they can be a very happy bird to them and can live out the rest of their very long lives.. Until then we will still need all of your help. Thank you all for being as understanding as you are.