Koichi, Alloy, and Momo

Pictured: seconds before disaster

rhinocerous hornbill

Needle Felted Birds

Yummy

WARNING: AVIAN ABUSE/NEGLECT STORIES BELOWMove straight to the cute photo at the bottom if you’re not prepared.

“I used to have a parakeet, but my daughter forgot to feed it, and it died, lol.” This has been told to me on more than one occasion, and one person was in a dog rescue. They didn’t even bat an eye. 

“We went on vacation and left our bird at home. The heater broke and it was like a sauna in there. It died.”“One of my canaries didn’t sing, so I set it free.” My father recently told me my grandma did this.I get a lot of “set it free” stories which is illegal and likely to cause a bird a traumatic, horrible death.I get a lot of “it flew out the front door” stories.

Then there’s the abuse stories. A couple rescued a macaw that bit the dude’s girlfriend. Dude threw the bird against the wall so hard, it broke the top of the beak off.Family’s parakeet flew into boiling water, they wanted me to pay for the vet bill, and return the bird… I didn’t have the money at the time and what if something else happened to the bird? Would I have to pay for them again? I already do that with my ex’s bird… and all of my birds… That was before I had a connection to a vet. That was so horrible for me. I told them to go the wildlife center to see if they could help. Ughh… I hope that bird survived.Angry bird store customer duct-taped a parrot to a box and left them in front of the store. I didn’t get the details as to how they got the tape off. Then the two black masked lovebirds found in bulk trash when a kid was walking their dog. 

Some pet stores take sick birds and put them in the freezer to kill them instead of taking them to the vet for a check up or at least gently put them to sleep… 

So, whoever survived reading this, here’s a palette cleanser.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Birdcraft. 1897. Cover detail.