By: Amy, Kiri's new mom
For anyone who's ever wanted a pet bird/family member, I highly recommend EBR! There are so many wonderful birds out there that need a good home and EBR will take the time to get to know you, what fits your wants and needs and find the perfect bird fit for you. EBR has such a wealth of knowledge and support and they care so much about the rescue birds that they want the best fit for you as well as for the bird!
The author snuggles with her new Blue-and-Gold Macaw, Kiri.
We'd had a Sun Conure parrot who passed away at 18 1/2, and like all ideal pets she took a piece of our hearts with her. We hadn't planned on getting such a smart pet again, but the empty hole she left in our lives couldn't be left gaping. Everybody has to do what works for them and what worked for us was to pray about it and start searching to see what could be out there. So we started looking for adoption options. We used to live in Portland but now live in Eastern Washington and because of our local lack of options discovered EBR, thank goodness! We took their wonderful free bird care class, which anyone even thinking of getting a bird should take. It was so helpful and informative even if you've owned birds before! They really went above and beyond to work with us in our unique situation distance wise, and thanks to technology they were able to interview us and do a home visit through video chat. Once they knew what our lives were like, what we were like and what our wants were, they told us they would line up several visits with different birds in foster homes.
We thought originally that since we'd had such a wonderful experience with our Sun Conure that we wanted to meet several conures as well as some larger birds. They told us they had recently taken in a Blue and Gold macaw that just might fit us - and wow were they right! She couldn't be a more perfect fit! For me it was love at first sight when I met Kiri, the then 23 year old macaw, for the first time (keep in mind with whatever bird you're considering adopting how long they live as many parrots can live a very long time!) We had a total of 3 times where we drove to her foster home to visit her and then adopted her, a process which went so smoothly and so easily! Kiri belonged to a wonderful lady in Portland who loved her very much and took exceptional care of her. Through EBR I was able to connect with Kiri's previous owner who has become not only a dear friend but adopted family member. I am by no means a bird expert. I'd never even been around a macaw before, but EBR and Kiri's previous owner have both been a wealth of knowledge to any questions I might have day to day! Kiri is so fun, smart, humorous, and just a part of our souls and our family! She's a best friend and we can't imagine life without her! She is my dream bird! I feel like we were just made for each other.