Cape and Senegal needing homes

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I found this today on the (pretty nearly dead) Cape Parrot Forum and thought I would repost it here.

I am very reluctantly looking for a new home for an 8-year old female cape. We are moving and unfortunately can't take her with us. She is NOT a breeder and never will be - E.B. Cravens says it best in a post he made on the World Parrot Trust's web site "Ask the Expert" page:
As to cape parrots and other birds. We have had many capes here since first getting into the species in 1994. To a bird, they do not like other parrots (sometimes even their own kind if not raised correctly). Capes are one of the most jealous psittacines we have discovered, right up there with hawkheads and some large lories. Our cape young babies get along okay with others in the house, and if raised into an environment where other birds already are living. Capes are one of the few full sized parrots we have encountered that will go after budgerigars in their cage!
I am looking for a special home for her, as she is actually a good pet bird. However, she is very loud, prefers middle-aged men and chews anything (even oak furniture) that her beak will fit around. Serious inquiries only please, as I have a mediocre home lined up for her, if I can't find anything better. I'm in the Northeast and won't ship. She comes with a very large cage.
I also have a male Senegal, who is probably about 10 years old. He has some behavioral challenges and is free to the right home. Again, he comes with his own large cage.

[zazanomore]

These always make me sad

[Munchy]

Every year you see so many horses, dogs and cats needing homes, I am surprised it happens for birds.
They are so easy to take along when you have to move. I guess stuff happens. It is sad, I wish I could take them all.

[a.susz]

Every year you see so many horses, dogs and cats needing homes, I am surprised it happens for birds.
They are so easy to take along when you have to move. I guess stuff happens. It is sad, I wish I could take them all.

I drove from Virginia to Arizona with my senegal. he did so great, i think it was a great thing since i am the only he lets pet, i can only imagine the stress and problems it would have caused him.... not to crash the search for a home. I do hope she finds the right place for her birds.

[Natacha]

Every year you see so many horses, dogs and cats needing homes, I am surprised it happens for birds.
They are so easy to take along when you have to move. I guess stuff happens. It is sad, I wish I could take them all.

A lot of people get parrots not realizing how much of a commitment and how much work they really are...they initially think they are "easy" (how hard can it be to take care of a bird? put it in a cage and feed seed - line of thought) and when reality sets in...the bird is the one to pay.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I do have some sympathy with people who have to rehome because they are moving. With the job market as it is, many of my colleagues need to take jobs overseas and if they had birds, that means they probably COULDN'T take a bird. There are times when the good of the many (the human family members) does outweigh the good of the few or the one.

Casual re-homing is bad news and we see plenty of that with all kinds of animals. That's indefensible. As is buying an animal because it makes a good decoration. But I think it is often unfair to tar everyone with the same brush... there are legitimate reasons for rehoming. And with something as long-lived as a parrot, the chances of any parrot owner, present company included, running into one of those is fairly high. Should not someone get a little credit for making an effort to find a GOOD home, rather than just posting on cragslist? How different is it from trying to find a good home for a foster, or a handraised baby?

At any rate, I re-posted this because the birds involved are species that are popular among members of this board, and they are on the East Coast where many of you reside... I was hoping to perhaps do a little matchmaking, not to start yet another round of tsk-tsking.

[Munchy]

If you are talking to me I am not tsk tsking. As a new bird owner I am surprised that so many birds would need new homes. I am not making personal or social commentary about the owners of these birds trying to find homes, just that I feel badly for every animal that finds itself needing a new home.
And that doesn't say that the new home might not be a better place.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I wasn't pointing a finger at anyone, there have just been a lot of threads posting Craigslist ads or bemoaning other rehome situations, and I just wanted to point out that that's not where I was going by posting this particular ad. We might have been interested in the Cape were she not so far away -- prefers middle-aged men would be a breath of fresh air (although Bill would not appreciate my calling him middle aged...

[pchela]

I do have some sympathy with people who have to rehome because they are moving. With the job market as it is, many of my colleagues need to take jobs overseas and if they had birds, that means they probably COULDN'T take a bird. There are times when the good of the many (the human family members) does outweigh the good of the few or the one.

Casual re-homing is bad news and we see plenty of that with all kinds of animals. That's indefensible. As is buying an animal because it makes a good decoration. But I think it is often unfair to tar everyone with the same brush... there are legitimate reasons for rehoming. And with something as long-lived as a parrot, the chances of any parrot owner, present company included, running into one of those is fairly high. Should not someone get a little credit for making an effort to find a GOOD home, rather than just posting on cragslist? How different is it from trying to find a good home for a foster, or a handraised baby?

At any rate, I re-posted this because the birds involved are species that are popular among members of this board, and they are on the East Coast where many of you reside... I was hoping to perhaps do a little matchmaking, not to start yet another round of tsk-tsking.

Very well said Entranced.

As for the Cape, perhaps one of our members will see it and be able to take her. I know I've heard lots of our members say they really want a Cape or that a Cape is their dream bird so... you never know.

[Natacha]

My comment wasn't directly posted at this situation - I was just commenting that it is not surprising to see soooo many birds looking for new homes and a lot of the time, this could be avoided if the owners had done proper research.

In any case, I do agree that there are some situations where rehoming is the only option and sometimes the best option in the end for the bird. Again, not speaking directly to this situation, but I'd rather see a bird get a second change in a good family than remain in a home where it is no longer really wanted and confined to it's cage and given almost none to no attention. And in cases where the owners no longer can physically take care of their parrots and admit this to themselves and do try everything they can to find good homes for these birds, well good on them.

Unfortunately, there will always be the people who find crummy excuses just to get rid of their birds and while it's probably best for the parrots to get out of this situation, it's sad that they had to be in it in the first place.