With nearly 60 parrots in its care, Nana & Papa’s Nest is a lively place.
Jude is one of the residents at the Wakefield rescue. He has bright red and iridescent green and blue feathers. A few bald spots cover his belly. He bobs up and down on his perch like he’s dancing to music no one else can hear. Every now and then he says “hello.” Sometimes, he swears.
Jude, a 35-year-old Ruby Macaw, moved in after his owner died a few months ago.
Larger parrots like Jude can live to be 100 years old, so it’s common for them to outlive their caretakers, said Jodie Owrey, director of parrot care at the rescue.
“We get a lot of birds from owners who are either being put into nursing homes or assisted living or no longer able to take care of them because of health issues,” Owrey said.
Many of the birds at the rescue are older, have special needs or have experienced trauma that makes adoption unlikely or impossible. Jude, for example, is blind as the result of being fed a seed diet for most of his life. Nana & Papa’s Nest was supposed to be his new forever home, but it’s now in jeopardy.
The nonprofit just got notice their lease won’t be renewed in August, and the landowner is selling the property. With just four months to secure a new place, Owrey said everyone at the rescue is feeling the pressure. The dozens of parrots, after all, are depending on them to figure it out.
“This is not the first time they've lost their home coming to us, and they're losing their home again,” Owrey said. “We're absolutely at a loss right now as to where we're going to go.”
‘A huge need’
Parrots require a lot of love and patience, Owrey said. The volunteers at the rescue feed the birds twice a day, clean the cages regularly and give the parrots constant attention.
Birdie, 55, is the oldest resident at the rescue. She waves and blows kisses. Marigold shows off her golden wings to passersby. Cuddles is a 41-year-old Moluccan Cockatoo who lives up to his name.
He survived a house fire a few years back and needs consistent medical care. Cuddles is partial to head scratches. He doesn’t like cords — like ones a radio reporter might use with a microphone, for example — because they resemble snakes.
Stephanie Clinton, the rescue’s development director, played The Muppets version of “Mah Nà Mah Nà” for a blue and gold macaw named Kokomo. It’s his favorite song, she said as Kokomo vibed with the music.
People surrender parrots to the rescue for all sorts of reasons. Often, it’s because the realities of having a parrot isn’t what they had in mind.
“‘We didn't know they were so loud,’” Owrey said, giving a few examples. “‘We didn't know they were so messy.’ ‘We didn’t know they were not going to like us, or they were going to like my wife and not me.’”
Sometimes people expected their parrots to talk but they didn't, she said. Other times, people can’t give them the care they need.
But Nana & Papa’s Nest is already at capacity. It has about 50 pending applications on hold, some covering multiple birds.
“For every one adoption application we get, we'll get two to three surrender applications,” she said. “There's a huge need in Virginia for parrot rescues.”
Animal shelters aren’t set up for parrots, she said. Common cleaning supplies like bleach can harm their lungs. They can’t share rooms with critters like mice, lizards and rabbits. And they need vets specialized in avian care.
The rescue wanted to get a bigger space to accommodate more parrots and educational programs eventually — just not on such a rushed timeline, Owrey said.
The biggest challenge right now is funding. Parrots, it seems, also are priced out of the housing market.
“There's an amazing building just up the street here that's owned by the state that would be perfect, but the money they want for it right now is way out of our reach,” Owrey said.
The rescue is trying to raise $400,000 to buy a new space, preferably around Wakefield, before August 31st. Owrey said they’re counting on fundraising campaigns, where people can sponsor a parrot or a cage to help. The rescue is also planning to partner with local restaurants and bars for events to bring in additional money.
“Because we're all volunteers, 100% of the donations go to the new facility, the new cages,” Owrey said. “Everything goes to the birds.”
In the worst-case scenario — if they can’t find a place in time — Owrey said some of their neighbors offered to temporarily host birds in their backyards, garages and barns.
“It would be a mess, but we would figure it out,” she said.
The ultimate goal is to find a permanent home for the rescue so the birds will never be displaced again.
