Visiting the Oasis Parrot Sanctuary

[Michael]

Visiting the Oasis Parrot Sanctuary

I visited the Oasis Sanctuary during my vacation in Arizona. Here is my recollection of this parrot paradise along with photos and video.

[ginger]

Oh, Michael, I wish I'd have known that you were going to be in my neck of the woods. I would love to have met you. I would have liked for you to meet my rescue flock. I'm sure you would've loved to see my 5 Senegals. Maybe next time.

I LOVE that place. I've been there a couple of times, and have stood in exactly the places you have in the video you took. It is a wonderful place for the parrots to get the care they need and deserve. They are wonderful people! Isn't Jean great?

Isn't that cute little Senegal sweet? I remember when I was told about it's mate passing away, and how sad the staff was for the loss. But, the hardest thing for them was watching that little Sennie pine away for the mate. So sad. It is a great thing that the bird lives there where it can be surrounded by other birds to help ease the pain of the loss. It is still part of the larger flock, even though it is housed individually. They all communicate together and know their flock friends.

I am very involved with bird rescue, and when unclaimed, found parrots come into our rescue, I deliver them to the Oasis Sactuary volunteers near me in Arizona. The Oasis is about a 2.5 hour drive from me, so it is very convenient to have those volunteers only 20 minutes away. I love the way that they treat the individual birds that come their way.

My Vet is the same one that takes care of the Oasis birds. He is also on their Board of Directors. I feel so confident in his abilities to care for my birds. I figure he's seen it all and is able to give the best care that is possible. His experience is overwhelming.

That is a great video that you posted. I'm so glad that you were able to take the time to visit them. It is an experience that you'll never forget and probably always cherish.

[zazanomore]

That was fantastic.

I might be a bit biased, but my favorite part was the budgie and cockatiel aviary. The sounds of their voices are so beautiful, and I find it so relaxing.

I'd love to visit there one day!

[pchela]

That's very close to where I lived for several years and went to high school. (Ft. Huachua/Sierra Vista) Of course, the sanctuary opened up the same year I moved away so I never got to see it, but it's good to hear that they are doing so well. How did you like the horizon in Az? I do miss being able to see those gorgeous sunsets!

[Mona]

Hi Michael:

Thanks for all of your great work. It was fun seeing Jean again, even though it was a movie.

Jean wrote me that she really enjoyed meeting you, Kat and your Dad. You really did a great job on the blog post. I also posted links to this on three different yahoogroups for people in our area who remember Jean.

Great article and thanks!

Mona

[jeangaut]

Thanks Michael, the video looks great and especially thank you for changing what I said verbally to the correct website address, The-oasis.org !!! Come back sometime!

[jeangaut]

Thought I'd add a few more things here...one is some good news, the Military Macaw in the hospital was named Murphy...Murph's biopsy has come back cancer-free, so the surgery he had on the lump under his tail was successful and all the cancer was removed! Good news, he is one of our caretaker Nancy's favorite parrots here.

The two 'vicious' Blue and Golds that were guarding the front of the Macaw Aviary are two bonded females named Tyra and Maxine. Tyra is fairly aggressive even without Maxine, though not to her former male owner, TJ...Maxine away from Tyra is much better with people. But when most of the South American parrots (macaws, conures, quakers, and amazons especially) pair up, they often only have eyes for each other and become a lot less people-friendly unless they are separated (not so much the case with African species!). Tyra and Maxine are territorial about that ledge near the door, so if they wind up there, yes, entering is suddenly a bit formidible!!

In the video, you can see Joe Dyson, our Director of Operations, toweling two of the macaws in the row cages. This was a pretty exciting day for a tour, to see this...they were being moved from their two bird cages to a new mini flight aviary in the rows. We tried four pairs of fairly aggressive macaws in that flight over the next few days, and found only two pairs who could get along together safely...so right now, that flight contains Zack (Blue and Gold), his partner Gabel (Hyacinth x Buffons hybrid), and Augie (Blue and Gold) and Rags (his Blue and Gold partner). Hopefully they continue to work out!!! The macaw you first see Joe towelling is Stanley, a Blue and Gold who is paired to a fairly aggressive Green Wing named Milo. They were a pair that did not work out, Zack seemed intent on trying to pick fights with Milo because he was interested in stealing Stanley, so both were put back in their original cages. We had numerous staff members watching them to make the decision to intervene and remove certain birds and try other birds. Quite the event! Since this video we also have put four Amazon pairs in the neighboring flight that was empty, and are monitoring them as well.

So I wanted to comment a bit further about "The Oasis cannot come up with an effective way for extracting the rodents without potentially harming the parrots" regarding mice around the sanctuary. I think it's important to realize we do try multiple methods all the time to work on this issue. It's just a challenge, and will continue to be one. Our area is a high density wildlife area, plus we have dogs and chickens roaming around that kill and eat the mice when they can. Poisoning them would be a poor option, because we would injure other animals. We do place live traps and catch and remove many many mice daily. And as I mentioned, the chickens and many other animals go after the mice as well. Our core focus has been finding ways to keep them out of the bird's food areas. In aviaries we have built food stands that the mice cannot access since they are mounted on metal poles. Cage wire is something mice have no trouble climbing, so bowls mounted on the sides of cages are problems...we are trying to eliminate feeding from wall bowls as we can. We have several other mouse control methods that we try from time to time...one is letting several of our best mousing chickens into areas such as the macaw area for the day. Let me just say it is not something we are taking lying down! Just it's a long haul to fight mouse populations given all the accessible dropped food. And we are not alone, many establishments with large populations of animals deal with this issue. All in all, I think we are doing the best we can at this point in time, but we hope to improve more and more.

[jeangaut]

Oh, and a few more names...the little Oasis Senegal hen is named Zuzu...and she is a very sweet bird, we are all in love with her here. She has been here many years, and has out lived several mates by now. The Congo Grey perched on Michael's hand in the photo is named Anela...which is Hawaiian for 'Angel'. He is kind of particular, but definitely liked you and Valentin! The great photo of the Scarlet and Military in the Macaw Aviary is of Rainbow (Scarlet) and Sammy (Military). The cockatoo peeking out of the King Aviary is Beau (Major Mitchells X Sulphur Crest hybrid).

[zazanomore]

I think you're doing amazing work

[Michael]

Thanks Jean for all the added comments. I wanted to mention the names of the Senegal and African Grey but they just completely slipped my mind. I had a lot more video content and commentary that I did not have a chance to include. There was so much to say just to cover the basics as it is. Anyway, thanks for all the extra information and feel free to stick around the parrot forum because we have some great people and discussions here.

Although we don't have many owners with Jardine's (I can only think of two or three off the top of my head), I think we may possibly have the largest concentration of Senegal/Poicepahlus owners. Be sure to vote in our Poicephalus Owner's Survey to let us know what kinds you have.

We have a couple helpful articles about Senegals but also relate to Poicephalus as a whole:

Senegal Parrot Information and FAQ
Senegal Parrot Biting and Aggression Issues

Mona has been a major help in compiling these articles. I always suggest these to people considering Senegal Parrots because it paints a more realistic picture rather than the sugar coated impression stores/breeders provide. Anyway, thanks for the additions to my article from the tour guide herself.

PS Everyone, see!? I told you she is a whiz with parrot names