Latest News
We just want to share with you, our friends, that the new Pole Barn is being erected and we are all excited that the birds will have a new, secure, stable structure to house them. We worked hard to raise funds to build this and it has been a long awaited reconstruction which will help keep the birds cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter. We will update the photos as it progresses over the next week or so. Thanks to everyone who contributed - it makes us so happy when we can improve their environment and we can do it because of your continued generous support. We are building it around the old structure which will then be removed once the new one is complete! It's BIG!! Stay Tuned!
The Oasis has recently had three positions become available, and we are looking for full-time, on-site, Caregivers, to start as soon as possible at The Oasis. We will consider individuals who are willing to share housing or a couple that would love to work together. We like to say, this will be the hardest job you will ever love! We are offering full time positions working with the Birds of The Oasis, birds we all love and who love to love us back, either through a chat, a scritch, or just showing off a little (or a lot)! You will work side by side with Staff, receiving on-the-job training and have the opportunity to be with some pretty fabulous coworkers.....bird lovers all. 
The New Shelter Challenge has Begun.....
The name has changed...The Doggy Paddle! And this time the new mini-Challenge is only running for 17 days - and we are running late!!!!
This time voting is simpler...Just use this link:
http://www.shelterchallenge.com//?&utm_source=email&utm_medium=arsscadmin&utm_campaign=sc&utm_term=20130606&utm_content=_m
Fill in the name of The Oasis Sanctuary, our location of Benson AZ, 85602 USA and follow the simpler directions to VOTE!!! If everyone votes every day, The Birds could be awarded $1000 and perhaps receive some additional gifts!
Phillipe The Early Years
By Sybil Erden,
Founder/Board President
Phillipe was one of the first Macaws to come to my home in 1997, in the days before The Oasis became a non-profit. We had already applied for incorporation and non-profit status, but things were far from complete. Rainbow, my very first Macaw (a young Scarlet) was already living with me, but as a captive bred bird, he was and would remain very different from older wild-caught and retired breeding birds…
I had made a friend with a man on an Internet chat list who worked for a huge breeding operation in Florida. On a trip to Ft. Lauderdale to visit family, I took a day to visit their facility. I learned a lot about the care of large numbers of birds (they had 1000 breeding pairs!) and have utilized much of what I learned to create some of our operating procedures for large scale feeding etc…but I digress...
Shortly after my visit I received a call from my friend telling me that his boss had two pairs of Macaws that were unproductive…and that he normally “euthanized” non-productive birds. These birds had a special place in his heart as they were his very first two pairs of birds. One pair were Blue and Gold Macaws, the other were Scarlets – Phillipe and Priscilla, his mate of over 20 years.
I was enthusiastic about taking these four birds in and before they arrived, I had two large cages, 6x20 feet built…the same size they were accustomed to. A couple of weeks later the cages arrived. A few days after that I went to the Phoenix airport to pick up the birds.
Priscilla & PhillipePhillipe and Priscilla were special from the very start. All four were older wild-caught birds, birds forced to “triple clutch” eggs for over 20 years. And while both pair were obviously dedicated to their mates, Phillipe was extraordinarily protective of his much beloved mate, Priscilla. He would spread his large wings around her every time anyone approached their domicile. Priscilla, I had learned, was about 10-20 years older than Phillipe. She was wracked by severe arthritis so we installed flat perches for her, something The Oasis still does for birds with foot problems. She also had obvious cataracts. Priscilla also could no longer eat holding food in her foot, so Phillipe would not eat that way either, and they ate like budgies or pigeons. Furthermore, since she could not crack nutshells, neither would Phillipe. He understood her limitations, but loved her with fierce devotion. I immediately felt that we humans had a lot to learn about love, marriage and monogamy from this pair….
