Bird Life

Sparks are flying in our workshop. We are building a habitat for a feathered Houdini – a macaw with a beak like a pair of bolt cutters who is joining our avian family this week. Dakota has a big beak, a big voice and a big personality, and his owner wants a better life for him. As a blue and gold macaw, he is just one of around one million of this species living in captivity instead of living in South and Central American forests and on the island of Trinidad. How far from home he is in Zimbabwe, but we will do our best to give him a good life with all the specialized care that he needs. Exotic birds who find a home at Twala remain with us permanently as do any wild animals who cannot be released. Parrots and cockatoos and all their smaller cousins are so often passed from home to home, with little regard for their wellbeing. They grieve when an owner they love passes away, they experience fear and anxiety in new places, they feel everything that we do. Giving them a stable environment with routines they can trust, as well as fun and stimulation is as important to them as it is to us.