Hubby and I managed to get away for a few days to our favorite place on earth and along the way we stopped at World Parrot Refuge This is a rescue/haven of sorts for over 500 parrots, over half of which were Cockatoos. The founder of the refuge is a bit controversial in our local bird community, some call her a saint, others think she's just a hoarder. Form your own opinions after checking out the site.

For me, this was such an emotional visit, I left in tears at how some of the birds so desperately wanted human contact and companionship. There was one U2 who followed me the entire length of the flight, pressing his head against the chain link and sticking his feet out through the wire desperate to get cuddled. When we walked out of the 'Too room, he screamed his little head off. The policy of this place is that parrots are not rehomed, but will live out their days in a more "natural" flock environment. I guess it is good that there is a place like this for the many unwanted parrots but I can't say that I personally believe with her beliefs and opinions.

We saw parrots of almost every species, Macaws, including one Hyacinth, a Hawk Head parrot that was badly plucked, even small birds like GCC's, Sun Conures, Parrotlets and a few Quakers.


These were the first two to greet us in the Macaw building, the noise was unbelievable from all the birds calling to each other


This little Hahns was one of the birds so desperate for a scritch


This is a shot of one side of the Cockatoo house, there were two long flights down each side of the building, lots of room for everyone. The small cage in the center was full of Lovies, Budgies, Teils and for some reason, a Pidgeon


This was the only Hyacinth we saw, he was in the "new arrival" area waiting for clearance to join the flight aviary. He didn't come down to visit


More new arrivals awaiting clearance to join the flock, most birds in this area were Toos


This little guy kept getting on the floor in the new arrival room and chasing our shoes


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This was my little sweetie, I wish I could have brought him home. If we thought the Macaw house was loud, the Too house was something else


These two were enjoying the small outdoor enclosures that they had free access to

What a beautiful organization to care for the birds as they do. It seems nice and clean and well run from the pictures you have shared and from visiting the website--but of course that is a limited perspective. I'm sure that it was a deeply emotional trip for you all. Why is it that she has a varied reputation? Does it stem from the 'flock' atmosphere rathern than re-homing some of the birds? Just curious.

It is a really amazing facility, the buildings are all professionally built, well constructed with good lighting and ventilation. The birds are all well fed and on the proper diet, we saw lots of big trays of fresh fruit and veggies, lots of nuts and goodies. The aviaries were all full of natural tree branches along with several rope perches for climbing and there's tons of toys, mostly kids stuff for ripping apart. The aviaries were very clean, it looked like they get hosed down in the mornings and volunteers were in them scraping the poop off the floor

I think this place is controversial because of the fact that many of these birds would be good "cases" for rehoming. I've heard several people say that it's unfair remove parrots who were born and raised in home environments and put them in this flock environment where they don't get much attention. I'm sure it could be argued for hours as to what's best for these birds, it's great that this facility exists otherwise there would likely be a lot of parrots who continued to be passed from home to inexperienced home.

I haven't visited this place, but have heard lots of things about it. Both good and bad. Almost everyone says that the birds are well cared for and the facilities are clean. They also have a clinic on site. All of which is good, although I'm not sure how well they practice quarantine with the amount of parrots they get in. I could be wrong, but from what I've heard is they don't have enough room to practice a proper quarantine, which can pose a problem given the amount of birds they have in their facility. Not too mention if any sort of disease hit, it would be pretty disastrous.



This is the main reason why I disagree with the policies of this place, and many others like it. While I love the fact that they take in parrots that need homes, they are a sanctuary and under no circumstances do they release any birds. They have some rather rare parrots in their possession that should be placed in a breeding situation to ensure the future of the species and yet they refuse to release the birds.

I agree it is good that places like this exist, I just wish they didn't close their doors off to adoptions. As Catherine saw, they have many, many pet parrots who would do excellent being rehomed, but will spend the rest of their lives with little to no human contact except through cage bars. And, keep in mind, most of their birds are fairly young. So some of those birds will spend the next 40 to 60 years like that. It is very sad indeed.

Catherine, thanks for sharing your visit with us.

Thank you for sharing your visit. I'm emotional about it and I wasn't even the one there! I think it is a little short-sighted that they don't allow adoption. Surely that 'too would have fluorished in a loving home. If they never let birds go then they will eventually reach capacity and not be able to take in anymore birds - so some birds might miss out on this santuray, and that would be a pity.

One final comment, one of your pictures showed a bird (not sure what type sorry) that was able to put it's head through the wire. IMO the wire is too big if this is possible...

Personally one of my dreams is to run a refuge for birds, and maybe one day I'll have the cash to make it happen. I have a huge amount of respect for the people running this refuge, the world needs more people like them

YES! We were laughing, a little bit more of a squeeze and he would have been through, I'm not sure what I would have done then. Maybe stick him in my purse and run like crazy!