02 Jan Joey’s Story
I found Birdline in May 2022 after searching for bird rescues online. We knew we wanted to open our heart and home to another rescued bird after our beloved Sun Conure Ollie sadly died. Ollie had had a traumatic start in life, but he had 10 happy years with us before he passed.
When I found Birdline, I looked at the website and read up on the birds who were ready for fostering. It’s important to check the criteria of each bird, to ensure you can accommodate their needs and any issues they may have. With a family of 3 adult sons and my husband, any birds who dislike males would not be suitable. I’m a childminder and therefore any birds who could not be homed with small children were also not suitable. I also have 2 dogs Bailey & Tia both 9 years old and a cockatiel Jake who is 24 and we had to ensure we could keep everyone safe and happy. With all the obstacles to navigate I was delighted to find Joey. He is a 13-year-old Cockatoo and we fit the criteria for fostering him. I started to research cockatoos to be sure we could give him the happy home he deserves and contacted Birdline to apply to foster him once I was sure we would be able to meet his needs.
Sadly, many rescue birds have had a variety of traumatic experiences and Joey was no exception – having spent 10 of his 13 years locked away in a small cage in a garage. This experience caused him to mutilate his feathers causing permanent damage and muscle wastage from being confined sadly means that he cannot fly. Joey struggled mentally as well as he was not used to being outside his tiny cage. It had taken 3 years of rehabilitation by dedicated Safehouses to get Joey ready for rehoming and his experiences mean that he will always have extra needs, both physically and mentally.
Joey’s large cage !
We were contacted regarding our application and answered some in depth questions about our situation and bird care knowledge, prior to arranging a home visit. This is a very important process to ensure that your potential bird is going to be safe and happy in your home and that you have the ability to care for their specific requirements. After we were told we had passed the homecheck, we arranged collection. The previous safehouse was brilliant throughout the process. They sent regular videos and photos of Joey so that we could see what things he likes to do, food preferences were discussed and a list of words or phrases that Joey likes were provided to ensure we could settle him as quickly as possible. Joey came with a very large cage, and we had to rearrange our furniture to accommodate it before collecting him. We also bought him a parrot travel cage for his journey to his new home.
Joey was understandably quiet and unsure of us for a few days, I would open his cage and sit on the floor as advised by his previous carer. A few days after we brought him home, he came over to me and allowed me to tickle his head. Joey loved meeting the little children who visit daily and loves to hear them laughing and playing so much that he joins in with their laughter. However, he was afraid of the males in the house. I allowed Joey to attach to me until he was ready to extend his love to the others. We brought Joey home in July 2022 and he took around 4 months to relax enough to develop relationships with the males here. My husband John was so very patient, even though he was feeling rejected by Joey, his patience paid off and now Joey squawks excitedly whenever he hears his van pulling up outside each day.
We adore Joey, he is smart, cheeky, funny and a brilliant character. However, cockatoos are much louder than many birds and he suffers with separation anxiety which means that when I am not at home he will squawk and scream for me. We are working to reassure him and hope that in time, this behaviour will lessen. In the meantime, we are planning to adapt our current conservatory into a full extension, so that Joey can have space away from the neighbouring wall in order to keep relations amicable and avoid any potential noise complaints!
Joey is happy here and loved by everyone. He gets hours of company as I’m home most of the day. He has lots of different people to love and interact with. It fills my heart with joy listening to him laughing and watching him dancing away to music. He deserves this life so much! These birds need people like us to make their world a better place to live and help them to recover from whatever trauma they have endured.