Andy

Andy is a male Umbrella Cockatoo who began life in a large production breeding facility and was then sold at a local PETCO store. He was surrendered to MAARS in June 2002 when he was four years old because his guardian was moving, getting married, and had baby on the way and little time to spend with him. Andy had become loud and aggressive and arrived at MAARS a very angry bird. He screamed incessantly, thrashed against the bars of his cage, and launched aerial attacks on humans. Today he is one of the most gentle and loving of the many male Cockatoos that MAARS is home to each year. [More…]

Angel

Angel's story is sad, and unfortunately, not unusual. In 1997, the upper portion of her beak, or maxilla, was ripped off by an aggressive mate while in a breeding situation. She was surrendered to MAARS in 2002 when her care needs and medical expenses became too overwhelming for her previous caretakers. In 2003, Angel received a new prosthetic beak—and a starring role on an episode of Animal Planet's A Pet Story! [More…]

Budd

Budd, a Patagonian Conure, was surrendered to MAARS in June 2002 when his guardian of ten years, a career military man, was being frequently relocated out of state and overseas in the aftermath of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. Budd had spent many months with his guardian's mother prior to coming to MAARS and had relapsed into feather-picking behaviors during this time. [More…]

Buddy

Buddy is a Quaker Parrot who arrived at a large, well-funded Twin Cities humane society in July 2003 in a tiny, filthy cage. He had a bloody gash on his neck that was reported to be self-inflicted. Having no available resources to treat Buddy's condition, shelter employees requested that MAARS take him and provide the care he needed. We treated him with antibiotics and a topical medication to promote healing. Within a few days, Buddy was feeling much better and looking for love. [More…]

Calypso & Stubbie: Love Knows No Color

Calypso, is a quiet, determined, seven-year-old White-fronted Amazon who came to MAARS at the age of four years in May 2003 when his guardian became too ill to continue to care for him. Although Calypso had always been around other birds, as he matured, he began to seek a special friend or mate. For reasons we will never know, Calypso has never shown much interest in any of the other Amazons who have called The Landing home, and his first offers of friendship were not well-received by the Moluccan Cockatoos to whom he was drawn. [More…]

Candy

At one time, Candy, a Moluccan Cockatoo, flew free in the forests of Indonesia. She foraged for food, roosted in trees, bathed with rainwater, and called to her flock. Perhaps she had a mate and nurtured and raised their chicks. Or maybe she was merely a fledgling when she was ripped from her world and thrown into ours. [More…]

Coco

Coco is a Cherry-headed Conure who had been very bonded to her human female guardian before landing at MAARS. The Placement Committee wanted her to have a home where she would become part of a flock and learn to socialize with other birds, but that meant that she would need a very patient and experienced care-giver to teach her flock rules. [More…]

Cosmo

Cosmo is a young Blue and Gold Macaw who arrived at The Landing in June 2003 missing most of his feathers. He had been destroying his feathers by chewing through the shaft close to the skin since he was less than a year old. He had no tail, no flight feathers, and only a few feathers on his back, breast, abdomen, and legs. We have worked with many, many featherless birds and had little hope that Cosmo would ever recover from this behavior. [More…]

Evita & Miguel

Evita & Miguel are wild-caught Cuban Conures. They were transported to The Landing by a MAARS Volunteer in May 2002. When they arrived, both of them were in very poor feather — most likely the result of a nutritionally insufficient diet. They had also spent many years in small cages and were not physically strong. The decision was made to keep Evita & Miguel at The Landing until their health and strength improved. [More…]

Frank & Frances

Cockatiels Frank & Frances have been together for a very long time. They were rescued by MAARS from deplorable conditions in November 2000 along with their flock of almost fifty other Cockatiels. Due to chronic health concerns, Frank & Frances were placed on permanent sanctuary status at The Landing. Their days have been spent amongst friends, never far from each other's sides, socializing, preening, and chatting. [More…]

Henry: Small Comfort

Several local animal control and humane society shelters rely on MAARS to take in birds from their facilities when the birds' care requirements exceed what the shelter is capable of providing. A couple of weeks ago we were contacted about a feather-destructive Conure at an area shelter who was in need of our services. [More…]

Jake

Jake is a Cherry-headed Conure with a fuzzy grey breast and a huge personality in a little green body; he is full of sugar and spice and lots of strong opinions about who he does and does not like. Jake was placed with MAARS in when his guardian became pregnant; he became very protective and possessive of her and made it clear that her husband had become an unwelcome interloper. [More…]

Lurch & Patrick

Lurch, a Blue-crowned Conure, was captured in the wild and lived for twenty-five years in the same home with his lifelong companion. They did not receive the best of care, by any standards, yet their lives were made tolerable by the love and company of a special friend. When illness struck both of them, Lurch's companion died and Lurch — very sick himself — was taken to a shelter that asked MAARS to take him in. Everything Lurch had ever loved and known had been taken away from him. [More…]

Malachi: A Time to Heal

Malachi is a wild-caught male Moluccan Cockatoo who came to MAARS in 2003 after being left at the after-hours drop of a local shelter in a cage barely large enough for him to turn around…For at least the first year that Malachi lived at The Landing, he was wary of other birds, nervous around humans, and would rarely came out of his cage. Many of the Volunteer Staff spent time interacting with Malachi on his terms, which most often included scratching his head while he was protected within his cage. His vocal repertoire, at that time, consisted mostly of clear, unmistakable dog barks — he never yelled, strutted, or displayed like the other male Cockatoos. [More…]

Mom & Dad

Mom & Dad are a bonded pair of Peach-faced Lovebirds who arrived at The Landing in March 2002 after a rural Minnesota humane society placed an emergency phone call to MAARS. Mom & Dad had been adopted through the humane society and were returned with two chicks in their nestbox! Mom & Dad were doing a fine job of raising their chicks — and were fiercely protective of them — but the humane society was concerned that the chicks would not thrive without knowledgeable care. [More…]

Rio & Buckley

It was clear to everyone who knew them that Rio and Buckley had chosen to be "birds' birds" and rejected close relationships with humans; their wishes were accepted and respected without question. MAARS soon concluded that it would be in their best interest to live in an outdoor flock environment at a lifetime care/sanctuary facility. [More…]

Salsa

Salsa is a playful, talkative, and affectionate Blue-streaked Lory puchased from a breeder who did not live up to the expectations of his human flock. After a year-and-a-half in his home, MAARS received an e-mail stating that Salsa had to be out within the week. His guardians were putting their house on the market and feared that his noise and mess would lower the value and desirability of their property. They told MAARS that they were considering getting a "different kind" of bird. [More…]

Victoria

Victoria is one of seven sweet pied Cockatiels surrendered to MAARS by a small local breeder who had more birds than she could sell. When the seven arrived in 2001, MAARSians dubbed them the "Toeless Tiels" because each of them came in missing several toes due to repeated attacks from a larger bird. The breeder kept five other Cockatiels that she wanted to continue breeding. [More…]