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. 

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….

As we expand our KPC Community beyond Poolesville, Sedona, Australia, and Mongolia, we invite you to participate in this process by commenting on our blog. As a first entry, we thought it would be a fitting tribute to share memories and stories of His Holiness Penor Rinpoche and how he has impacted our lives.