Roman Bird and The Happy Life

Being an Executive Director of a bird rescue is a daunting task. Sometimes there is so much to do that I just juggle everything and a few things fall to the ground. I keep my eye on the goal: happy birds and happy homes. One of the great pleasures that I have is the opportunity to blog. This is my fun time when I can chat about the little things that make being the person in charge of 11 birds at the Sanctuary (and the many birds in our care in foster homes) with pleasure and no worries.

This guy is Roman. He came to us with functional autism and deep psychosis because he been moved from one location to another,  put in a different cage and not given the same kind of care that he was used to. He might appear to be aggressive in the picture above but he's not. He is simply checking out the phone taking his picture. When he first came here he wouldn't even come out of his cage. I had to disassemble the cage that he was staying in to move him into the larger cage we bought for him.

Roman is such a pleasure. When he came here all he would do was shake and runaway. Now he says I love you, jumps up on my arm, and sits with me snuggling. He plays with lots of toys and sometimes prefers being petted to treats.

Most cockatoos come running directly to me; they trust me for some reason I don't fully understand. He wasn't like that. When he cries for me to come to him or refuses a treat just so he can be held it sends warm shivers down my spine. There is nothing in the world like seeing a bird come back to enjoying life.

With 11 birds vying for my attention I somehow manage to give them what they need. Sometimes they keep me running like a waitress on a busy friday night. That's okay. There's nothing I'd rather do.

I'm looking forward to the Renaissance Faire in Escondido soon. Chloe loves it more than anything and we both have good friends there. But that's another story...