By Leslie Crane Rugg
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Heaven on Earth… Shangri-La… Eden… Paradise… We all search for that special place that takes us back to nature and innocence, a place of safety and harmony where all our needs are magically met. A perfect haven we might experience early in life and, if we’re really lucky, again much later. That story, like many an archetypal journey, is about loss and redemption. This particular story also reminds us of our place in the global ecosystem and our responsibility to creatures we mistakenly view as ornamental commodities.
And so we begin far off on the western tip of a western province of a western Pacific island. There amid a tropical rainforest, dense with mangroves, palms, and fruiting trees, separated only by meandering rivers and a sacred lake, lived a rare and spectral bird who flew as the sun rose and roosted throughout the heat of the day. This black palm cockatoo was a mature male, strikingly feathered in charcoal gray and a patch of red on each cheek just below his all-seeing eyes. As was his ritual, he soared above the canopy of trees to soak up the morning rays before foraging on the ever-moist ground for a meal that would exercise his prodigious jaw, capable of cracking the thickest hulls of his favorite Pandanus nuts. Occasionally, he would pick seeds from black bean trees or choose a juicy orb from a cockatoo apple tree. It was a wonderful leisurely life except when those alien two-footed creatures invaded his homeland to cut down Merbau trees for lumber or, worse, shoot to kill or trap and steal members of his family.
Then one day in 1965, by human count, his life was turned upside down. He, too, was captured and taken away from everything he knew. Over the years, he was bought and sold several times, forced to live in lands completely foreign to him. Finally, the older sister of the last shah of Iran purchased him for her private rare bird collection at her estate, first in Hollywood and later in Montecito, California. But that is not the end of El Greco’s story, for that was the name the princess gave the black palm cockatoo, still proud after all he’d been through. Along with a Hyacinth macaw named Phoenix, El Greco held a place of honor, perched on a gold statue.
Entering his life while owned by the princess was a young woman educated and trained in exotic animal care and management. Jamie McLeod’s first job after college was working with animals in fields of conservation and entertainment, Her heart, however, belonged with birds, and she returned to the Santa Barbara area where she first managed private avian collections in Montecito and then opened an avian service and supply center in nearby Summerland. She also maintained her contacts with private collectors, including the princess. And that is how the worlds of Jamie and El Greco fortuitously converged. She got to know him well when she came to the princess’s estate to provide bird care and grooming for the collection.
That relationship became all the more vital when the princess died in 1996, and her collection was dispersed. El Greco ended up in a bird store in yet another city on consignment. Obviously rare and valuable, he was kept away from the public, placed in a dark back room where he fretted, went on a hunger strike, and withered. Did he dream of his rainforest? Did he miss his bonded pal Phoenix, sent off to a breeding farm? And where was the sun he worshipped? After several months the store owner contacted the princess’s family and asked them to come to get him before he died. Half his feathers and cheek patches had turned white, and he was a bag of bones. The family promptly complied and called Jamie, hoping she could restore him to his proper glory. Jamie already loved El Greco. She took him home, had him properly diagnosed by an avian specialist, and tube-fed him nutrients and medicine for six months to counteract infections that had compromised his liver. He regained his health, and in gratitude, the family gave him to Jamie. She renamed him Buddha for his return to the light and for the enlightenment he had brought to her. She also introduced him to a different Hyacinth, which gave him his spirited spark again. Buddha played a significant role in leading Jamie to two conclusions. The rare bird market was not only saturated by people indiscriminately breeding captive wild birds, but also the illegal avian trade of trapping, selling, and often smuggling parrots and cockatoos from their native habitats was morally and ethically bankrupt.
And now our story turns to the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary, which Jamie founded in 2004 on the same site as her retail establishment. Buddha’s dramatic and traumatic history became only one of the hundreds of parrots who, over the years, needed a permanent haven. Each bird came with a story, which often began with its owner not understanding the nature of a wild bird. Because the most important lesson is that parrots are not domesticated creatures. They have the intelligence of a human five-year-old and the emotional ego of a two-year-old. When they reach maturity, they become possessive, hormonal, demanding, loud, easily frustrated, often destructive to a home, people other than their favorite, and even to themselves. Parrots can be highly entertaining and teachable but also narcissistic. A human who takes on a lifelong commitment to a parrot must be prepared for its dominant needs and attitudes – code for natural avian behavior.
Let’s talk “loud” for a minute. The noise generated by a jet engine is measured at 145 decibels. The squawks emanating from a cockatoo measure 135 decibels; a macaw’s scream is 106 decibels. The human ear can only stand 105 decibels before hearing damage occurs. Think about that in your house! And while we’re at it, let’s go back to “lifelong.” Parrots in captivity, depending on the species, can live as long as 90 years! The most likely outcome of living with a parrot is that it will outlive its humans.
Three kinds of people acquire exotics as pets or members of their families. Ideal parrot owners, who have cherished their parrots, make legal provisions, leaving instructions and money for the bird’s care and placement for the rest of its life. Often that placement is the Sanctuary. The next best owner has family or friends who may not be able to care for the surviving bird but relinquishes the parrot to the Sanctuary with funds to support it. Then comes the unsuspecting and naive person who loves the idea of owning a bird but doesn’t have a clue or the capability to care for a parrot. Oh, how wonderful to have a bird that talks. Oh, how wonderful it is to have a parrot that matches the living room décor. Oh, how wonderful to have a parrot that will sit on my shoulder and go everywhere with me. Oh, how funny that my parrot loves potato chips and guacamole with a sprinkling of birdseed. No, no, and no!
The parrot imitates the family member who swears and becomes a constant embarrassment. The parrot only matches the décor until the fickle homeowner decides to change styles, and then where does the parrot fit in the house? The parrot will sit on a shoulder only to use it as a runway to take off and fly away.
You didn’t know that clipping wings can be a matter of safety as well as a precaution against losing the bird permanently? You got your dream job, but you’re not at home for 16 hours a day, and you wonder why your parrot has plucked out its feathers? Or you come home to find your bird dead because the diet you capriciously fed the bird was totally toxic.
These bird owners may well love their parrots, but they don’t know how to love them well. Without the desire or the wherewithal to be educated, to learn how to handle them properly, to watch for signs of stress, to realize birds are truly not feathered humans, dogs, or cats, people should first visit the Sanctuary to learn the reality of having captive pet parrots instead of impulsively buying or adopting
a bird. And anyone selling or rehoming a parrot without also requiring a crash course in why not to have a parrot at home is doing a pet lover a serious disservice… which will only result in relinquishment to havens such as Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary flock eats only fresh or freshly cooked foods consisting of fruits and vegetables, nuts, and grains. In fact, Jamie has made an in-depth study of parrot nutrition, creating several formulae under the brand name of McLeod’s Parrot Cuisine. She learned early on that diet and nutrition are key to avian health.
Sometimes, people feel so guilty or ashamed at the condition their birds have fallen into that they abandon them. That’s how Doodle, a constant feather picker and severe self-mutilator, came to the Sanctuary. She was left at the entrance to the nearby zoo in a box with a note that read, “Hi. I’m Doodle. Please help me.” The Sanctuary did just that. Jamie determined that the
only material Doodle couldn’t penetrate was bullet-proof Kevlar. For years Doodle wore Kevlar vests sewn by a friend of the flock.
Other times, people’s emotional needs take on impulsive undertones that always end badly for their parrots. Kona, a yellow-naped Amazon, and Bo, a green-winged macaw, we’re owned by a woman who considered her birds as children. Yet, she acted so childishly that her parrots resorted to aggression in order to stop this woman from behavior no human parent would ever permit a child to do. Severe bites to the tongue and nose finally resulted in the birds finding peace and sanity at the Sanctuary. Parrots do communicate, often in our own languages, but they also resort to instinctive behavior. If we make a choice to bring them into our homes, we can’t expect they will take on human manners, but they may very well imitate what they see and hear.
Too often, parrot owners aren’t prepared for the extreme bonding that takes place when a mature bird chooses one person as to its emotional mate. Everyone else in the family becomes the enemy. Such was the case for Kali, a Moluccan cockatoo, who terrorized the man of the house. Kali also had the typical ear-splitting screech made worse by the curse words he had been taught. The family’s answer was to drug him – for an entire decade – with an anti-psychotic to keep him quiet and contained. When Kali eventually came to the Sanctuary, the first order of care was to wean him from the drug and allow him to be himself again.
Of course, the heart and soul of the Sanctuary are the parrots themselves. Currently, the resident flock numbers about fifty, and they include such species as the smallest half-moon conures and caiques to the loudest cockatoos – alternately referred to as squawkatoos – the most talkative Amazons, the smartest African greys, and the grandest boldly colored macaws.
Treated like a pesky pigeon if she lived in her own country, an Australian galah, actually hatched in Las Vegas, is the youngest of the Sanctuary cockatoos. When she was relinquished, her people neglected to name her. On her application, they had merely written: “to be determined.” Her Sanctuary name became TooBee. Two of our female cockatoos constantly wait for their Mr. Right to come along. One was relinquished when her owner became homeless, and another who was too possessive and aggressive.
Not all parrots come with horror stories. Quite a few of the Sanctuary flock have been relinquished because their aging owners realize they can’t provide the quality of life their birds are used to. Relinquishment in every instance is as much an emotional decision as is the desire to acquire an exotic creature in the first place. Just as it is for parrots, it’s also hard for people not to give in to emotional impulses. We want what we want when we want it. But consider…
A market existed for rare species, so Buddha was snatched from nature and freedom to become a commodity and a possession until he became king of the Sanctuary. TooBee was an object undeserving of a name until she became the pink jewel of the Sanctuary. Doodle was allowed to maim herself nonstop until she was dressed in gentle armor at the Sanctuary. Kona was unappreciated for the talent she had until she became a singing star at the Sanctuary. Bo became sweet, gentle, and eager to pose for photos with Sanctuary visitors no longer on constant guard. Kali may still have on/off tendencies, but everyone at the Sanctuary admires his voice. Every parrot at the Sanctuary has a story that is compelling and reflects the best and worst, the smartest and most ignorant of humanity. If visitors come away with just one lesson learned, it’s to be respectful and responsible for these feathered beauties.
The Sanctuary’s Skylar Learning Center is where Avian Adventure classes are offered to children, adults, and senior groups. While the Sanctuary’s primary mission is to ensure the quality of life to all its relinquished parrots, its other goal is to educate, giving people a bird’s eye view into parrots in the wild, their place in the global ecosystem, what is necessary to protect them, how they have contributed to culture, and what responsible ownership really consists of. As a result of the pandemic and its impact on schools, the Sanctuary plans to make these classes virtual, available through Zoom.
The Sanctuary’s website also gives extensive information about its work and the parrots it serves. For people active on social media, the Sanctuary has a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and its own YouTube channel. Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary is featured in a PBS/Nature documentary entitled Parrot Confidential. The Sanctuary and Jamie are also the subjects of two other documentaries, Under Her Wing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV4T64LC1sc and Taking Flight: Fires, Floods & Festivals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5EhZgkMbu.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary survives on grants and donations. The last four years have been particularly difficult, starting with the Thomas Fire, then the Montecito Mudslide, and finally Covid-19. The first two disasters resulted in multiple evacuations and some facility damage. The pandemic caused public closure for 15 months. These cumulative hardships scrambled our nest eggs meant for long-term sustainability, as Sanctuary Director Jamie describes the Sanctuary’s current financial position. Unlike most businesses and attractions whose inventory could be shelved, the Sanctuary’s doors were shuttered, but the parrots had to be fed, watered, interacted with, taken to the veterinarian, and shown love every day of every month until our grand reopening at the end of June 2021. Sanctuary staff and volunteers were the flock’s essential workers.
Support is needed in all forms – first and foremost in big-dollar donations. The Sanctuary is lucky to have the annual assistance of a few foundations but would welcome help from more foundations, families, and individuals to prevent unfortunate year-end shortfalls. The Sanctuary is also grateful for tangible contributions such as helping to keep the Parrot Pantry stocked. Providing quality of life, quality food, and quality care to the Sanctuary’s resident flock is a fund-consuming but necessary and rewarding endeavor. When making end-of-year donations or donations any time of the year, please remember Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary. The Sanctuary barely survived this year, and the flock is depending on us. Please help us thrive on more than a wing and a prayer in 2022.
Now the Sanctuary is rebuilding its presence, reminding old friends to come to see their favorite parrots and inviting new visitors to become friends of the flock. Come see for yourself. Visitors to the Sanctuary are welcome to walk about or take docent-led tours. For the ultimate experience, visitors can reserve a behind-the-scenes program consisting of a personal half-hour with the Sanctuary Director, followed by a docent-led tour and a photo opportunity with several of the parrots staged by Jamie. Once you’ve been to our parrot paradise, you’ll feel the urge to return often. There is magic to this Summerland spot unlike any other. The Sanctuary will touch your heart in ways you can’t imagine. The parrots are calling. You hear them, don’t you? You will soon.
Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary
2430 Lillie Ave. – Summerland CA 93067
805-969-1944
@sbbird.org
www.sbbird.org
Special Thanks to:
Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary
Article by Leslie Crane Rugg
Edited by Dina Morrone
Photography by Rochelle Brodin,
Jamie McLeod, and Jack Nilles
Makeup & Hair by Diego Valdovinos
for Adriano Hair Salon
Model: Anastassija Makarenko
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