It all began on a hot summer day in Arizona. I was enjoying the playful wild birds at the feeder I set up in front of the window in my home office. As I watched I noticed a little Lovebird sitting on the feeder. I just knew he had to be a pet and should not have been out in the wild. After numerous attempts, and following the advice of a local parrot rescue, I was unsuccessful capturing him. Little did I know how that one Lovebird would change my life.
A few days later I agreed to meet with the owner of the parrot rescue to learn more about the parrots there. I was given a quick tour of the rescue and I noticed a small green parrot shivering in the corner of his cage. He was trying to hide and get away from the loud noise and all the chaos coming from the larger parrots in the room. I asked about him and found out he had just come in and was scared.
She told me he was a Senegal parrot. She took him out and placed him on my shoulder where he sat for two hours while I talked with the owner of the rescue. Three hours later he was in my car along with his cage and travel carrier. I was just going to foster him. Oh my! I was bitten by the Senegal Parrot Bug!
That was in 2007, here we many years later and I have a 501c3 Non Profit called Ginger’s Parrot Rescue that specializes in Senegal Parrots. As of today there are over 25 Senegal parrots in the rescue. We also have other parrots, like African Greys and Hawk Head Parrots. The ever changing list goes on, and on. Oh, and I have one personal pet parrot, an African Grey Parrot named Ozzy. But that is another story.
So what ever happened to that little Senegal parrot that I fostered? She is still here. Turned out that “he” was a “she”. Her name is JoJo. She reminds me every day of my reason for this rescue. It is all about these bratty little Senegal characters. They’ve stolen my heart!
They are truly amazing, very unpredictable, full of spunk and charm, their bite is powerful and they don’t let go. They are individuals that have a very independent nature about them and they are not flock birds. They are often misunderstood because of their tendency to bond to one person and their innate territorial tendencies that may lead to the development of behavior problems, like screaming, feather picking or biting. And they don’t play well with other birds at all, especially other Senegal Parrots! But, even with all that being said, there is nothing that compares to the love of a Senegal Parrot!
Executive Director/Found: Ginger Duplisse