In December 2015 Burge Bird Rescue opened The Sanctuary Room. Over 1,000 square feet is devoted to providing shelter for about 50 retired breeding birds or special needs birds that are difficult to place in adoptive homes. Some of these birds are old wild-caught parrots that have never been tame, others are blind or have ongoing medical needs that require frequent treatment. Three outdoor flight cages will allow the parrots to enjoy fresh air and sunshine as weather permits. To see photos and details of the room click HERE.
Below are the residents of The Sanctuary Room. Would you like to sponsor one of these feathered friends? The sponsor donates $25 or more toward the care of the birds, and their name will be listed on this page and on the bird's cage card for one year. Email us at BurgeBirdRescue@yahoo.com if you would like to become a sponsor.
Meet Pepper and Emily, the Red Throated Conures. We see only a couple of these in our veterinary practice in recent years since they were never a widely owned species.
Emily was born in 1996, and Pepper, born in 2002, was the son of Emily and her late husband RT. He lived with a human family for two years and then was returned to us, and eventually moved in with his Mom to keep her company.
Sponsored by:
This is Van Gogh, the Jenday Conure, who was born in 1995. He lost his mate Cosmo this year and now lives alone, but with plenty of friends and neighbors to talk to.
Jendays are a close cousin to the Sun Conure, which is coveted for the brilliant yellow and orange that covers most of the body. The Jendays have more green on the wings and back, but as babies the two species look almost identical. They are not known as great talkers, and like the Suns they can be pretty loud for their size.
Sponsored by:
Dusky Conures Limey and Kiwi seemed destined to be together since they were both named after green fruits. He was born in 1997, while she is the "older woman" born in 1996. They had a number of babies in the late 1990's, but unlike a lot of bonded pairs they are both still relatively gentle and calm around people.
A couple of articles in Bird Talk Magazine in the 90's touted Dusky Conures as the sweetest, gentlest, most underrated members of their family. Prior to this they were not favored by many breeders or pet owners because they are not very colorful.
Sponsored by:
You almost need sun glasses when you look at Loco and Morgan. They are Sun Conures, one of the brightest and most colorful parrots you can imagine. Many people decide to get one because of their beauty, and then discover how incredibly loud they can be for their size. Suns aren't known to be good talkers, but they can still be sweet, loving pets.
Both of them were born some time in the mid-90's. Although they have been together since 2001, they never had any eggs or chicks. Many childless couples are very happy with their circumstances, and are fulfilled by their careers and even volunteer work. Loco and Morgan seem happy to just be together.
(Note: Morgan passed away from heart failure in 2021)
Sponsored by:
Nanday Conures had a bad reputation among some parrot people. A judge at one bird show years ago went on a rant about how loud, ugly, worthless and disease-ridden Nandays were. Then he had the nerve to write the same thing about them in an article in a magazine. We got our revenge a couple of years later by taking eight Nandays to a show where he was judging so he had to listen to them squawk all day.
Ziggy, who was born sometime in the 1980's, was a handsome bird in his day, but he plucked out most of his chest feathers after his first wife passed away. He got himself a pretty, young, second wife, Yoyo, who was hatched in 2001. Funny how young women will marry balding old men, thinking they are going to inherit a lot of money. The joke is on her, Ziggy was broke! He is gone now, and she is on the lookout for a new life companion.
It never happened on the TV show, but in our place Picard and Beverly ended up getting married. He is the son of Cherie and was hatched in 1993, while she was born in 1994. They were high school sweethearts and have been together since they were young, but they were infertile and never hatched any of their eggs.
Some people in rescue may find it shocking that a breeder could turn into a rescuer. If you watch the documentary "Parrot's Confidential" you will find that several of the parrot rescue organizations featured in the program are run by former breeders. In the 1980's and 1990's when these birds were breeding, there were people on waiting lists for their babies. Most of the birds in pet stores at that time were wild caught, untamed, and were not suitable to be pets. Captive breeding helped supply the demand for pets so that importation of parrots was stopped in 1992. Some species were so decimated in the wild that breeding in captivity is the only way to preserve them.
(Note: Beverly passed away in 2023)
Sponsored by: Esther Cope and Chris Cope (until February 2024)
Ringo is a Patagonian Conure, the largest member of over 100 species in the conure family. They can be pretty loud, and are not known to be great talkers, but they seem to be real clowns. They are difficult to breed in captivity, and were never common, so there are very few of them around any more.
Hatched in 2002, Ringo was adopted from our rescue in 2008 after going thru 2 homes that we know of, but then the third owner decided to get rid of him a few years later. He refused to bring the bird back to us, but gave him to a friend. That friend happened to be one of our favorite clients, and when she had to give him up due to health problems, she brought him back to us. He will live out the rest of his life here in our sanctuary instead of going to yet another home.
