Home > Help Us > Gimme Shelter! > Issue 5: October 2005 > Coco: Helping a Feathered "Greenhorn" Find Her Inner Bird

Coco: Helping a Feathered "Greenhorn" Find Her Inner Bird

Coco is a Cherry-headed Conure who had been very bonded to her human female guardian. 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 patient and experienced care-giver to teach her flock rules. MAARS Shift Manager, Placement Counselor, and Executive Committee Member, Liz Alt, had a full house already, but she thought that her home might be just the right place for Coco. Turns out she was right!:

Coco is doing much better at being part of the flock. She plays on her cage, chewing on a perch, box, and a couple of toys. At first she wanted to be with me all the time, but I said no, you will get your time just like everyone else. She seems much more comfortable with that thought now. I make sure she has her special time with me each day. She rides on my shoulder every morning when I get everyone fresh water. She growls at the running water when I rinse the bowls. Then laughs when I shut the water off. This morning she was dancing on my shoulder, so I was "singing" to her. I stopped singing, she kept dancing. When I asked her why she didn't stop dancing, she laughed very heartily. She LOVES kisses. When I make three kissing sounds in a row, she returns them with three soft snorts. The really cool day was when she initiated the kisses by doing the three snorts first.

She is still slightly aggressive towards the other animals. If any of them get within a foot of her, she opens her beak like she is going to chomp them. If they don't remove themselves from her space, she backs it up with a little growl. She loves to tattle on Paco (a Blue and Gold Macaw adopted from MAARS) when he is doing something she deems is wrong. Budd (a Patagonian Conure adopted from MAARS) is the only one who feels even slightly intimidated by it. The others just look at her like, "Yeah, right!"

A couple weeks back, I had Coco and Budd in the finch room while cleaning the big bird room. Coco was playing on a table and Catalina Macaw Merlin's tree — it was funny to see the little green monster on such a large tree! Frankie, one of the cats, went into the room to see what was going on. He saw Coco on the table and was interested because he had never seen a bird on the table. It is a glass table with a wood frame so he was able to see her from below.

Well, Coco had other ideas. Frankie walked up to the base of the table. Coco was dancing from the edge back 6–8" in a warning for him to steer clear. He finally got really brave to put his toes on the edge and stand up for a better look. She zoomed out to the edge, rapped her beak on the wood, and stepped back. That cat was out of the room like a bullet — didn't go back the entire time she was in the room. When I chastised her lightly by saying "Coco, that wasn't nice," she let out with a hearty laugh. I couldn't help it, I did too.

Join the MAARS Flock Today…and Be the Wind Beneath Their Wings!

The MAARS Annual Membership Program gives you and our other loyal MAARS Supporting Flock Members the opportunity to help MAARS on an ongoing, sustaining basis. Your annual financial contribution will allow us to continue to provide and expand our valuable rescue, intake, care, veterinary and behavioral evaluation and treatment, adoption, sanctuary, outreach, and educational services for the displaced captive birds who we meet and the people whose lives they touch.

With so little, you can do so much to change the lives of birds like Coco. On average, it takes $1.00 per day to care for each MAARS bird. Every small donation makes a big difference, and big donations help even more. Your participation in the MAARS Annual Membership Program will help save and improve the lives of hundreds of parrots and other displaced captive birds.

Please join MAARS today! Give them shelter! Ease their pain! Stop the cycle! And know that you made one corner of the world a better place for another living creature!

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Mail a check or money order made out to "MAARS" to: MAARS, 1360 University Ave W #347, St. Paul, MN 55104.

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Midwest Avian Adoption & Rescue Services, Inc., is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Federal ID# 41-1944074) and is registered with the Office of the Secretary of State and the Office of the Attorney General of Minnesota as a charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

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