Bird Bath

Christopher uses a misting system to give the flock a much-loved “bath.” This is a great tool to shower the flock with. Christopher says the rainforest parrots, the colorful birds, especially require showers. The Cockatoos, from the Australian continent, a dryer place, are usually not quite as exuberant during showers, but they still enjoy it.

Cockatoos require a lot more water, on them, though. They have quite a lot of dander, and it’s kind of waxy. Unless he continually sprays them, the water will just roll off. The flock will sometimes line up close to him as he sprays them, some hanging upside down, and spread and flap their wings so that the water will get to all their feathers. This gang really looks forward to and enjoys their bath days!

Birds:  Beethoven or Brahms?

Do birds like music? Sure they do! Should they listen to the same music Christopher does? Not!

“I wear ear plugs when I am inside doing this job, and I will listen to music,” says Christopher. He also will sometimes play classical music for the parrots. Christopher finds the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven a bit “bombastic.” He thinks the birds prefer Mozart and Handel, and maybe Vivaldi. Somewhat more soothing and calming music. Christopher says Beethoven’s music sometimes will get real quiet and kind of lull you, and then, BAM, he hits you.  That’s when the birds start calling out. Christopher wants something more on an even keel.

As for the kind of music Christopher prefers, “I guess that I would have to say by most people’s ears, it’s just horrible, ghastly stuff; really hard music. Stuff that most people don’t even want to hear.” Some groups he likes are Deftones, Faith No More; and Wu-Tang Clan. (Note to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: He does not subject the birds to that music.)

To be continued…

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

Boss Bird’s First Steps

“Knowing that parrots are intensely hierarchical, I asserted myself as their singular alpha,” says Christopher. Translation: He was now the “bird in charge.” He enforced that by being the only person who went in their cages, being the person who fed them, and being present and in charge when there were visitors to the aviary. He took up as many duties of alpha bird as he could conceive of. That went a long way toward easing the parrots’ anxiety. Feather plucking and fighting decreased. Christopher presented a stable and dependable routine, the birds did not have to deal with a steady stream of different people.

Feeding the Flock

Using a mix of nuts, seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, Christopher tries to tailor each bird’s diet to its particular preference; all 36 of them. He carefully watches what each bird leaves behind in their food bowls, to see what they are not eating. “I try to explore what they like,” he says.

The birds eat nuts that are still in the shell. Christopher tried t

hem on shelled nuts and they had zero interest. He is not sure whether that is because they like to play a little and to crack open the nut with their beaks, or whether there is a deep-seated instinct that says a nut in the shell is good; no bugs have gotten in it. His Macaws would eat just nuts all day if he let them. The problem is that a diet of all nuts is an incomplete diet. He moderates the amount of nuts they get, and makes sure they eat other things such as sunflower and safflower seeds, as well as the other nutritious things that come in their seed mix.

Some of the smaller birds would prefer to just eat one type of seed only out of the mix. So he does not load up their bowls with that mix, requiring them to eat other things. He monitors closely the fresh produce he offers them, making sure not to put out something that they have no interest in eating. In the past, some volunteers would bring string beans for the birds. He said they had no interest in string beans. However, snap peas in the pod are one of their favorites. Yummy!

Another item that the parrots love is hot peppers; the hotter the better! The capsicum oil that makes hot peppers hot, does not bother the birds’ dry mouth in the least. They eat them up like they were strawberries. Cantaloupe is another big favorite. A common theme is seeds. Parrots in the wild are drawn to fruit for the seeds. Seeds are a cache of nutrition for them.

While the birds are out in the flight cage playing, Christopher is inside preparing their food. “Being the alpha, I am the one taking them outside and bringing them back in; kind of like leading them from one place to the next.” Sometimes Christopher will hide nuts in the birds’ cages. They will then have to forage in the pieces of tree trunks resembling fallen trees he has placed at the bottom of the cage. This is somewhat like what they do in the wild. Parrots also like to chew things. He can put a piece of tree trunk in a Cockatoo’s cage, and within a week they will have stripped off all the outer bark leaving only the hardwood part.

After the birds have eaten, Christopher spends time going through the seed bowls and sorting out what was eaten and what was not. Christopher says, “Because their diet is not cheap, and being a non-profit organization operating during a recession, we have to maximize every single dollar.”  To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

Bored Birds

Although the volunteers continued to perform needed tasks, it became obvious that none of them were capable of working more closely with the birds. Christopher did work closely with the flock, taking them in and out of the flight cage, and also made toys for the birds to chew on and play with. These things stimulated the birds and kept them from becoming bored, a common plight with caged parrots. These activities also kept the aviary from becoming simply a “warehouse” for parrots, just keeping the bird alive. Warehousing was something no one wanted to happen.

But still Christopher noticed as he was taking the birds in for the night, that there was still some feather plucking and fighting going on. He felt like he might want to work with the flock full time. But there was one problem: How would he pay his bills?

Balloons or Beaks?

Many people are faced with a choice at some point in their life: Do I take a job that is rewarding, or do I get paid? Christopher had a very interesting job; he was part of the ground crew for a hot air balloon tour company in Sedona. “In Arizona there is plenty of good weather for flying balloons, and they are flown at dawn. So 300 days a year, I would get up before dawn and launch hot air balloons. And that’s a pretty good job in Arizona because the weather is so conducive to flying.”

The first two years at this job he was a regular member of the ground crew. (Please don’t say: I see your job is looking up!) The next four years he was one of the tour company’s crew chiefs. He learned every detail of hot air ballooning, including completely assembling and dissembling the balloons by himself. He went up for rides at least two dozen times, because some customers cancelled, and the balloon needed a certain amount of weight to fly properly. He served as a human sandbag; good work if you can get it.

Nearing the end of his ballooning career, he knew a lot about flying hot air balloons. He was able to pilot the balloon for a few minutes a couple of times. It was his plan to get trained and certified as a pilot. This would have been a good job to have. Passengers were coming from all around the country as well as around the world. Pilots were being well tipped by their usually well-heeled customers.

Christopher was looking at a career that would have at least kept him comfortable financially. But seeing how things were progressing at the aviary and seeing how much attention the flock needed, he had to abandon the balloons and become the alpha bird. He took the job as the main parrot caretaker. Along with the job came a small salary; a very small salary.

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

Hospital Run, Anyone?

Eventually, there was simply too much work for two people. So members of the Temple were asked to come and do some things, such as helping to clean the aviary. The volunteer staff grew, no one was yet drawing any salary. While Christopher was not officially the “head caretaker,” it was obvious that he had the greatest affinity for the birds. He was able to catch them, and handle and restrain them to do such tasks as clipping their wings and nails. Some of the volunteers would not be willing to get close to some of the birds, especially the larger ones. Those beaks could take your finger clean off!

 Christopher cautioned the volunteers to not get near the birds that they felt nervous about; the bird would pick up on that fear. One volunteer asked him if she should wear thick leather gloves when near the big birds. Christopher told her that because Macaws can bite with up to 600 lbs per square inch pressure, the gloves would only serve as a place to hold her severed finger. Christopher is nothing if not honest. That volunteer did not come back; but she can still count to ten using only her two hands. 

Another volunteer, one of the Temple monks who had a shaved head, had a bird attack his scalp. The resulting gash required medical attention. That volunteer did not come back either. Other volunteers bravely stepped in though, and the aviary continued.

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

And this story continues tomorrow…

Just Say Yes to Compassion (But Spread Newspaper On the Floor)

A few years later, Jetsunma got another bird, a Green-wing Macaw named Hakan, who Christopher described as a “majestic” bird. He and Hakan got along well. Meanwhile, Jetsunma was doing research on how to care for her birds, and had found out about the parrot trade problem. People get parrots as pets, and then later realize how difficult they are to take care of; how high maintenance and problematic they can be.

Jetsunma was soon learning of many parrots that needed new homes. She cannot say no to a being in need, and began taking parrots into her home. In no time, the bird family grew quickly. The family, both the two-legged and winged members, moved to a different house in sunny Sedona, Arizona. A two-car garage was renovated and became an aviary, a home for the now dozen or so birds in the flock. With more space to house birds, Jetsunma continued looking for abused and neglected parrots to take in.

At this point, Jetsunma and Christopher were the only caretakers. Christopher would take the birds out to the outdoor flight cage, bring them inside in the evening, and help clean up the aviary (Oh, yeah, by the way, did you know birds were messy?). His future as a bird caretaker was beginning to take shape.

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

 Join us tomorrow as the story continues….

Entering the Parrot Path

Kunzang Palyul Choling is also home of the Garuda Aviary, a sanctuary for abused and abandoned parrots.  This is a very special place with a caretaker that truly lives his Buddhist vows to care for sentient beings.  This is the first in a series of posts about Rigzin, known fondly as the Parrot Man.  

Christopher “Rigdzin” Zeoli was first introduced to the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of exotic birds when his mother, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, founder of a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, got a Moluccan Cockatoo parrot named Tashi. Christopher was about 20 years old at the time and did not realize that he had just entered the Parrot Path.

Poor Tashi Bird had a problem ─ a big problem ─ she pulled out her own feathers; something parrots do when under stress. Tashi didn’t pull out just any feathers, either. She was pulling out what is called “blood feathers.” Yikes! Blood feathers are shafts full of blood, and when they are broken, they can bleed profusely and endanger the bird. In order to help Tashi, Jetsunma would restrain the bird while Christopher, using a pair of needle nose pliers, would pull the rest of the feather shaft out so that the bleeding would stop.

Christopher recalls that stressful initiation into the Parrot Path: “Now Moluccan Cockatoos are not small, they can exert enough power with their beaks to really mangle your finger. Tashi was screaming and screaming and shrieking at the top of her lungs. As I was helping Jetsunma with this every few days, I was thinking, “Boy, parrots are not for me. I’m just not into this whole parrot thing.” And who could blame him?

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

The story continues tomorrow….