I have rehomed over a dozen birds in the last 10 or so years. I feel that because of Irene Pepperberg's work with Alex, several studies I have read and experienced bird lovers, that just taking a bird from one enviroment to the next is not enough to ensure the birds well being. ie:imagine if you would a large hand (larger a hand for some of us) lifted you out of perhaps the only home you ever known, took you away from the people you knew and deposited you in a new place with new people, and sometimes not even in the home you had. How traumatized would you be. So with all that in mind, I have experimented on what works well and what does not-what works with some birds but does not with others. I have also taken into consideration how many times the bird has been rehomed, because I feel that the # of times a bird has been rehomed has a lot to do with it demeanour(webster) and what kind of home you should place it in. I believe the more information you can give some one on a(I don't mean this in a cruel way) used bird/throwaway bird. The perspective new care giver can then decide if they're up to/has what it takes to care for said bird. I gladly welcome any thoughts and experiences any one has had in rehoming parrots. Tasha

I certainly agree that too many parrots in the need of a good home are shuffled around without any accompanying information about them. Too many people don't understand that these parrot need a lot of patience and anyone who wants them to be perfect immediately shouldn't be taking in a rescue parrot. It can take weeks and even months of patience to win the trust of a parrot especially if it has been in multiple homes.

I encourage anyone who has parrots to keep a journal that keeps tracks of what their parrot loves to eat, what they say if they talk, what their basic routine is, what kind of toys they love, their behavioral idiosyncrasies, what scares them, and so on. If such a thing accompanies a parrot to a new home it can really make a difference in how well the bird adjusts.

The journal is handy for bird sitters as well as rehoming. When I had my back surgery the two people who came in to help with my parrots while I was in the hospital found them priceless mines of info about each individual bird. I also saw how much easier it was to help my rehomed Amazons to settle in two and a half years ago when I inherited them because I had 'inside information' on their likes and dislikes -- they are as different from one another as night and day, with one being a totally hand fed baby and the other a wild caught juvenile youngster. It was much harder to settle my cock and then my hen Meyers, as I had absolutely no info on the cock and just a smidge on the hen. Trial and error can be such a trial!!! (pun intended).