The Story of Maggie Mae

15 years ago a little Solomon Island Eclectus was hatched. She spent the first 6 years of her life with one person, and little is known about that other then her behavior indicates that she was used for breeding purpose. Her behvior indicates such by her constant hiding in a breeder style box. She moved in with a woman who lived only miles from us. She stayed with her till the woman passed away. It was a nine year love affiar for the two of them. Maggie Mae was the "mother hen" of 12 other birds. The woman was not a collector, she was a rescuer. She took in needy birds, and also had ones that she had hatched in her home. There were two pair of breeders, and solitary birds as well. Maggie was one of 3 female Eclectus. There were also Amazons in the house. Every time that the breeding pairs would lay, Maggie would become the nanny. She would go and check on the cages and make sure that not only the babies were ok, but that the parronts were ok. When the woman passed away (about 2 months ago) Maggie took the loss the hardest. She began plucking, and lost almost all of her feathers. She still had her beautiful head feathers, but that was about it. We were informed about the womans death through the PD and called to see if there was anything that we could do to help with the birds. We went and met Maggie and well we took her home. She came to us with the condition that we would keep her to try to get her beyond the greif and allow her to be able to regrow her feathers. We knew that we were going to try to find her a new home as soon as possible so that attachment did not happen (for her or us). We got her to the point where she was regrowing feathers rather rapidly. Within about a month, she was already getting fluffy again. We did try to find her a home with a family through a few different adds indicating everytime that she was a special needs bird, and would need more attention that most in order for her to have a happy life. I spoke to a few people and there were a few that I didn't even bother responding to. One woman wanted me to drive her to Maryland. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I have frequently looked online at various different sancutaries (I am a sucker). There is a sanctuary in Lancaster PA called Lair of Dragons Bird Rescue www.lairofdragonsbirdrescue.com , they work with reptiles and birds. I decided to call and see if they would be able to take Maggie. They had the room and the time. We make the arrangements, and brought her to them last Wednesday. We donated her cage, Oscars original cage, three bags of toys, and some food. Jo, who runs the sanctuary with her husband, takes care of all different types of birds, from Tiels to Macaws. She has a 3 yr old Scarlet Macaw named Mika. This is the bird that greeted us when we walked through the door with "HI MIKA" and "High Five" this immediatly put me at ease. If her bird is this happy, Maggie should be fine. In the room that Maggie was to be placed, there were three Soloman Island Eclectus (2 female, 1 male) a Sun Conure, 2 African Grays, and Amazon, a Blue Crown Conure, and another breed that I don't remember. In the front room, with Mika there is a Double Yellow Headed Amazon named Chit Chat, he loved me, and I adored him (if we had the room...) another Scarlett named Chili Pepper (cantancerous old man of a bird) a B&G Macaw that I don't remember her name, but she waas there for 3 months, and arrived bald, head to tail bald, and is fully feathered at this point. There were two birds in quarentine in there basement as well. Maggie Mae did not need to be quarentined because we had her vet checked and were able to provide the information for Jo to verify. I didn't have the number with me, so I called her with it. When I called (less then 24 hrs later) to give her the number, she was able to give me an update already. Maggie did not pull a single feather overnight. She spent the day talking to the other Eclectus, and was eating everything that Jo gave her. This tells me that she is in the best possible place that could be found. Jo promised that no matter what, she would never have Maggie in a breeding situation again. As we get updates from Jo, I will place them here so that everyone can see.