Buddy

This is Buddy.

This is what we know about him:

Buddy was originally with a person who owned over 30 birds, in one home. We don’t know what happened to him in his past that caused him to be so fearful, or to have to adapt his behavior to survive - but that is exactly what he has done.

Buddy will show you crazy eyes, bite his wing, pretend to attack you, and shriek at the top of his lungs, all in an effort to get you - the person he doesn’t know, to run away in fear and leave him alone.

BUT…

Alone is the last thing he wants to be. It took a little bit for me to understand what it was Buddy was up to with all that blustering and crazy behavior.

The truth is, Buddy is dying for a human to love him. One day, I just went in and stood in front of him and played the “Boop” game with him. Boop is where I touch his beak, and say boop, through the bars of his habitat. The point of the game is to turn that beak into a toy - something fun we can do together instead of a weapon.

In about 5 minutes flat, Buddy went from being this psychopath of a bird who would go out of his way to intimidate, attack and scare, into this inquisitive, interested little character, who was now interested in getting to know me a little better. Within 20 minutes, he was asking me for head scratches, and saying “Up up?” putting his foot in the air, asking for me to pick him up.

So began the understanding of the ruse that is Buddy’s survival strategies. Scare people to the best of your ability, and the right ones will stick around and try to get to know him better.

Since that day, Buddy has enjoyed a brilliant relationship with my middle son, Sam, and the rest of our male volunteers. I’m still the only female he really is into - but all of us can handle him for the most part.

The issue of his behavior is that most adopters won’t give him the time of day because he literally looks like the bird equivalent of Hannibal Lecter when he’s trying to bluster his way through getting the strangers to go away.

Age: We believe he is 15-20 ish.

Sex: Male (presumed, no eggs ever.)

Prefers: Males or Females? Males - although the right female might be able to persuade him.

Other Bird Aggressive? We haven’t put him in the position to interact with other birds.

Cage Aggressive? He can be - but it’s pretty manageable.

Adoption Fee: $1000

Cage Available: We do have some macaw sized cages available beginning at $300-1000.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
This bird is not for a novice or person who is afraid of birds - he will try to intimidate you, and your whole job is to earn his trust and work through it when he is acting like that.

***Information that is universal to every bird:

1) Birds are typically not family animals. They usually choose a favorite and at best you can expect them to tolerate everyone else.

2) Birds are not great with kids, dogs, other birds, and are not cuddly with everyone, nor can they really be trained to be. Birds are flock animals, who are social creatures that need to be in a communal area where they can see the rest of the family, or you may eperience serious vocalization and behavior problems. We’ve never met a bird who is great with kids, but we have met kids who are respectful of birds.

3) Birds bite. But, you shouldn’t “take the bite”. If you’re getting bit, you haven’t earned the trust of the bird, and are pushing the bird past his/her limits. You must figure out what the bird needs, and make what you’re asking of the bird more attractive than what they are already doing.

4) Birds are not “dominance” based creatures. Your only option for birds is to earn their trust. If they are, say…on top of a cage and don’t want to come down, that is where they feel safest, not a dominance thing. They are not trying to exert dominance, they just don’t want to come down. Your job as a parrot owner is to figure out what you can do to help them trust you, and whatever you are asking to be more attractive than what they are already doing.

5) NEVER send money over the internet for adoption with any individual or organization for the adoption of an animal you have not met in person. That is almost always a scam.