Ambassador Birds

Turacos are in the bird family Musophagidae which means banana-eaters. Despite the name, our birds don’t eat bananas or plantains! Our turacos love to chow down on a mixture of papaya, apples and blueberries.

Amigo is green with a bright red forehead and crown, purplish blue patches behind the eyes, and light green cheeks. Amazons are often kept as a pets. While they  can be very affectionate and playful with people they select as flock members, amazons often can be "nippy" with people they don't like. A vet once warned us that it wasn't "if" an amazon would bite, it was "when."

In spite of her name, Beakman is a female. Female Blue and Golds look very much like males except that sometimes their chest color is lighter in color than a male's. A macaw's beak is black and strong enough to crush the shell of Brazil nuts, (not to mention a finger!) Macaws also use their beaks like an extra foot. Beakman likes to hang by her beak from a branch and then swing back and forth while she flaps her wings as if to say, “Look Ma, no hands!”

The East African Crowned Cranes roost in trees. Ferguson and Olivia sleep on top of the tall shelter in their aviary. They sound an alarm when a predator comes too close. This means that any one within hearing distance can hear crane calls all night long. Ferguson and Olivia greet visitors by dancing, bowing and jumping. Most people think that this means they are performing a welcome dance. In fact, Olivia and Ferguson are actually saying, "Stay away. Pandemonium Aviaries belongs to us."

Our Rainbow lorikeets, Peeki and his first mate, Harli, had no offspring even though they had been together for 10 years. They were always grooming or playing with each other and seemed very much in love. After Harli’s death, we were surprised to learn that the lorikeet was a male! That explained why the couple had not had children

Kenya was originally very shy around people, but she quickly learned from Amadeus that humans are where the much desired blueberries come from! They both eagerly come over for a hand-fed treat where they remain until all the goodies have been given out.

Mia Bird came to us from a rescue group because she had started plucking her feathers out. She has had a few homes and calls herself Mia Bird. For one of her foster families she lived with, there was a little girl named Mia. She considered herself Mia’s Bird. Here at Pandemonium, she reminds us of an educated aristocrat who often does not appreciate the rivalry that sometime takes place between the other parrots. Quite simply, squawking about trivial matters is beneath her.

Piper, an albino Indian Ringneck, was so afraid of people she would beat her head against the cage whenever she was fed. She now occupies the center and top position of our largest aviary where she feels safe. Feeding is no longer a problem and she is a happy bird.

Shana is a 24 year old Yellow Headed Amazon who is a Diva Opera Singer and Resident Whistling Champ.  She will ask you if you want a cappuccino, even though she has yet to make a cup for anyone.  Shana can impersonate Darth Vader and is always up for a dance party or a quiet chat...as long as she is given proper Diva status.  Nobody puts Shana in a corner.

Fred and Ethel are are truly a match made in heaven.  When one turns left, so does the other.  Never more than a few feet apart, Fred and Ethel redefine soul mates. Fred and Ethel are superb worm hunters. When we put meal worms in sand boxes in the aviary to enrich the lives of the birds, Fred and Ethel gobble up more than the other birds combined.

Tico is Pandemonium’s resident trickster.  He loves to dance, especially to Disney soundtracks (Aladdin is favorite) and electronica rock. If you feed him something he likes, he will yell out “More!”  One of his favorite tricks is to open the doors to other bird cages, let the birds out, have them switch cages, and when everyone is settled in a new cage, close the doors. Imagine our surprise with birds in different aviaries not knowing how this happened. He is a master lock-picker and quite possibly Houdini re-incarnated.