Terminology: What is a 'rescue'?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

But do you younger folks have a will designating care for your parrots? I know we all think we are immortal when we are young, but you could be hit by the proverbial bus, die in a traffic accident, get cancer... I don't think any pet owner can completely eliminate the risk of predeceasing the animal.

[pchela]

That's an excellent point Entranced. I guess I always assume that my husband will care for them but I suppose we could die together in an accident or something. My daughter is 15 now so maybe someday she'll take them. If we live until we're supposed to, the birds should be with us until they die but you're right, we never know what might happen. I wonder if some of the young people at our parrot club would be interested in exchanging parrot care responsibilities in the event of an untimely death.

[a.susz]

But do you younger folks have a will designating care for your parrots? I know we all think we are immortal when we are young, but you could be hit by the proverbial bus, die in a traffic accident, get cancer... I don't think any pet owner can completely eliminate the risk of predeceasing the animal.

this is a very good point, and like pchela, i would probably leave them in the care of my significant other. If he passes with me, im not really sure what i would do with them since no one else in my family really cares for birds like we do... I think about this every time I sell or rehome a bird, will the people buying have a backup plan as well?

[Rue]

I have to weigh in as a person who recently rehomed two parrots...

...A rehome is a parrot who is moving from one home to another for a variety of reasons. A rescue is a bird who is in danger of living in poor health or dying because of lack of care, or a bird who nobody else will take because he would require rehabilitation in order to become a good pet. I would also put birds with disabilities or deformities in the rescue catagory.

Good answer!

Now I'm just curious: If the people you rehomed your birds to, said they 'rescued' them (using the wrong terminology)...would you find it offensive?

[Natacha]

Now I'm just curious: If the people you rehomed your birds to, said they 'rescued' them (using the wrong terminology)...would you find it offensive?

Haha I'd love to see them try
Rescued from being spoiled rotten surely.

Seriously though, if for whatever reason I find myself in need to rehome my birds (and I'm still alive of course), the person/people taking them on will have to sign a contract. In case they can no longer take care of them, they return them to me or to a designated person who will either take them in or take charge of finding them a new home.
Chances are to the "right" home I wouldn't ask for money in return. But they will have to sign a contract saying that the birds will not be resold in return either.
I'd hardly call it a "rescue" taking birds out of such a situation.

But luckily I'm not at that point.

[Natacha]

We are old enough to have to worry a bit about a parrot outliving us. I'm not really sure what the best thing to do about that is. But even young people can die too, so I think none of us are completely free from risk! And I've heard some stories of people with health issues or financial issues that were unexpected.

I agree, I guess with the last couple of opinions given. Getting tired of a bird is one thing, but really NEEDING to find a new home is another and it can happen even with the best of intentions.

Horse owners have this worry, too, but not to the same extent.

If I die alone, then my boyfriend will either take care of them or find new homes for them (I don't think he'd keep all of them unfortunately, but I understand why that is).

If my boyfriend and I both die in an accident, at this point in my life my mom would make sure my birds are being taken care of, be it temporary in her care until she can find good homes for them. Once I won't be able to rely on her, I'll make other arrangements. It is very unlikely that all three (my mom, my boyfriend or myself) would pass at the same time so...I don't have a plan other than that yet.

[MandyG]

Seriously though, if for whatever reason I find myself in need to rehome my birds (and I'm still alive of course), the person/people taking them on will have to sign a contract. In case they can no longer take care of them, they return them to me or to a designated person who will either take them in or take charge of finding them a new home.

That is something that was in the Bill of Sale for Pele. They didn't say that I must return him to them, but they did say that they had asked me to contact them if anything should happen and I wanted to get rid of him. Now it's not legally binding by any means, but if for any reason this doesn't work out they would be the first people I would talk to about it.

I know we all think we are immortal when we are young, but you could be hit by the proverbial bus, die in a traffic accident, get cancer... I don't think any pet owner can completely eliminate the risk of predeceasing the animal.

Just to prove that point, on our way out of Winnipeg after we picked up Pele we drove passed a bar that was surrounded in police tape and that lane of the road was closed. Found out the next day that the vehicle that was sitting there had hit and killed somebody that was walking across the road. It's scary how fast things can happen.

[pchela]

I have to weigh in as a person who recently rehomed two parrots...

...A rehome is a parrot who is moving from one home to another for a variety of reasons. A rescue is a bird who is in danger of living in poor health or dying because of lack of care, or a bird who nobody else will take because he would require rehabilitation in order to become a good pet. I would also put birds with disabilities or deformities in the rescue catagory.

Good answer!

Now I'm just curious: If the people you rehomed your birds to, said they 'rescued' them (using the wrong terminology)...would you find it offensive?

Indeed I would find that offensive. They were well taken care of, well socialized and in excellent health. They in no way needed rescuing!

Now, here's a question. Nicodemus, my Red Belly, was given to me because he developed a habit of biting the crap out of his owner. If he didn't come to me, he was headed for a rescue facility. How would we classify that? I generally tell people that he was given to me or I rehomed him but he sort of fits the description I gave for a rescue. Hmmm...

[Kim S]

I know I am setting myself up for some serious a-whooping here. But I want to share my story. I never told any bird-people before, I am still too ashamed of it. But it might add something to the discussion here.

About six years ago, my bf and I moved in together. We had a cage with two budgies and had an aviary in mind. I had always wanted a parrot. So did my bf. We came into contact with a budgie and cockatiel breeder (where we would later on purchase our aviary and most of our birds). She had a Goffin. Now I never liked cockatoos, but my bf was in love.
We discussed it and we decided to look into getting a parrot. I had experience with budgies, but nothing more. My bf had lovebirds growing up, but that was a long time ago. So a little research was in order. We bought all the books we could find. We visited different pet shops. We went to the library and got every book they had about parrots. And finally, I joined a Dutch forum on parrots.

After a couple of months reading up on it we decided to get an African grey. I always loved greys, and after reading the Alex studies I was even more enthusiastic. I had already decided I did not want a bird from a pet store, but from a home breeder. We found one three hours driving away (keep in mind, in Holland that’s a looong looong way).
We went to visit when the birds were a couple of weeks old. They were absolutely beautiful. Parent raised till they were five weeks old and handfed after that. I fell in love with the oldest one.
We could pick him up when he was 12 weeks old. He was tested on different diseases and was sexed as a male. We called him Zulu.

I loved him. He was my bird. My bf preferred a cockatoo, but he knew I would be home the most so I would be the one interacting with the bird. I started training him. He could do a flight recall within a few weeks after learning how to fly.
But that was all I was able to teach him. I bought a puzzle board. Not knowing how to teach him, or how much time it takes. I didn’t have a step by step training guide Michael has made. All I knew is that I wanted to train him and play with him. But how?

Zulu didn’t learn to fly easily, and it didn’t take long for disaster to strike. Unfortunately he was such a klutz, he always fell down on his wings, and breaking off the flight feathers, messing up his coordination even more. This got so out of hand, a vet had to pull all his broken flight feathers, they were all broken and irritating him to an extent he was pulling them out himself.
After that, things just got out of hand. He started to nip at first. Not my bf but me! His primary caretaker. We didn’t know what to do. We asked for help on the forum, but never got a real answer we could work with.

We stuck with it for six months. Six months in which the nipping became biting and the biting became attacking me from across the room. Zulu didn’t get out of his cage anymore, I wasn’t safe anywhere. We tried all the tricks in the book (the ones we knew of anyway) but nothing would work. I couldn’t find anybody who knew how to help us, no behavioral expert or nothing. Maybe we just didn’t know where to look.
But at one point it was just too much. We decided to rehome him. We found a lovely family with a stay at home mom. They always had animals and were looking for a new addition.

There is not a day that goes by without thinking what I could have done to prevent this. I miss him every day, and since getting Kika it just gets worse. I get reminded every day of what I did, or didn’t do.
Maybe I was too young, to inexperienced. Maybe I just didn’t have the means to deal with a parrot, no one to help me out when things went wrong, like this forum. Maybe if I knew how to properly train him things wouldn’t have gotten out of hand. I’ll never know

[Azure Hanyo]

Kim- you're a brave soul for admitting that. I think there are cases where a bird just does NOT like someone, and Zulu honestly just seemed to have a dislike for you, who knows? Greys are so tempermental and way too intelligent for their own good, and if they dislike someone for whatever reason it will show in a big way. It isn't anything you did, it is just the nature of the beast! 6 months is a long while to put up with getting the crap bitten out of you without any sign or mere hint of things getting better, only snowballing into something much worse.

It is a shame for sure you didn't have more experience with parrots in general before getting a Grey. They are a huge undertaking and very picky about who they accept as their person. My local exotic bird rescue has greys, and even the caretakers have trouble with some of them who just do NOT like them, but get along with other people just fine.

Now if someone says "If you would have worked with him, he would have warmed up to you eventually" do you honestly KNOW that for sure? Have you worked with every. single. Grey? Take, for example, the tale of the blood-thirsy psycho budgerigar...

When I was a kid probably 13 years old (I know my profile says my "ex-birds" are two, but I actually had a second budgie after my first one died) I had the most evil budgerigar known to man named Stevie. He would literally wait by his food dish and bite the crap out of me every bloody time I changed his food. He attacked chopsticks when I tried to teach him to step up. He would attack me when I offered him a treat. And when Stevie learned how to escape his cage, he would freaking dive-bomb me!!!! I had to get little locks to keep his cage secure. That bird was a psychopath!!!!!! I had him for two years and he kept up the same behaviors, no matter how much time I spent sitting next to his cage talking to him. I eventually gave up trying to handle him because he is the only budgie I knew and have ever known that could draw blood. It was a lost cause. Stevie died suddenly at a very young age, and why I have no clue but I have a suspicion he was not well bred. He was a mean, nasty, neurotic crazy bird. And I had gotten him as a baby, too!

Who knows. Maybe Zulu was a reincarnation of my psychotic budgerigar...

In all seriousness I do not blame you one bit.