My name is Sandi. I am the founder and President of Feathers Galore. I founded the rescue out of my love and passion for parrots. I never imagined that it would grow to become what it is today.
Parrots are my life's passion and the reason I get out of bed every day. I am thankful every day for the love and support the rescue receives from our community. It means the world to me to know that Feathers Galore has become a resource for past, present, and future bird owners. I love helping parrots in need and am thankful every day that our community trusts me to do so!
Why Was Feathers Galore Founded?
I get asked pretty regularly about what made me want to do parrot rescue work. The answer is a simple one. A rescue parrot touched my life in a way I never would have imagined. I want to help others find the same love and excitement for a parrot that I did.
My blue & gold macaw, Marjorie, is my best friend and motivation to do what I do.
I adopted Marjorie from a rescue several years ago. She was pretty difficult when I met her. I remember being very scared and intimidated by her at our first meeting. My biggest bird prior to her was about the size of her beak, so to say I was nervous would be an understatement! When I went to meet her, she hit my hand with her beak over and over. She repeatedly lunged at me. She was trying to intimidate me. However, even though I was scared, I didn't let her see that. It took a while, but eventually she realized I was just as stubborn as she was and she eventually stepped onto my arm. We've been inseparable ever since. She has had struggles with learning to trust me and to learn that I was not ever going to hurt her, but she continues to work through them.
I don't know too much about her previous life, but I can make assumptions based on how she reacts to certain things. She yells at my other birds to "shut up" when they start getting noisy, which can be funny, but also not something I taught her. Not once have I ever told her or the other birds to "shut up". This phrase was learned prior to me. To this day, she is scared of anything shaped like a broom (anything shaped like a stick), so it's probably safe to assume that when she didn't "shut up" maybe her cage was hit with a broom to scare her? I don't know, but with how she reacts I can assume this to be the case. She is very scared of anyone that is not me. When anyone approaches her she shakes because she is nervous, wraps her wings around me, and threatens/lunges at anyone that comes too close. I think she knows how much I love her and we both protect each other.
I don't know a lot about her life prior to me, but I know that from the day she entered my life I promised her she would be loved forever.
Seeing how much she changed from the moment I was introduced to her until now, showed me that birds in similar situations needed to feel loved and cared for. I knew from that moment that was my calling in life and what I was meant to do. Every bird that enters my care is given that place of comfort and shown that they are loved, no matter what their previous lives may have been like. A bird may not fully build trust in the time they are with me, but they will be making progress in that direction. They will know what love feels like. They will know that I am doing everything I can to provide a safe and happy life for them. And they will know I will do anything I can to be sure they live a happy life from the moment they meet me.
Thank you Marjorie for showing me the bond that can be built between birds and humans. Thank you for showing me what I was meant to do with my time here on Earth. And thank you for giving me the chance to share my knowledge and experience with you with other birds in need. 