Bird Stories
By Sybil Erden - August 2, 2008
"It happened over there!"As most of you are aware of by now, since April 6, 2008, The Oasis been working almost daily to get an abandoned American Macaw named Gulliver back to the US. He was stranded in the Republic of Kiribati (Kee-ree-bas) in the area of the South Pacific referred to as Micronesia, when his former caregiver's boat crashed and sank off Fanning Island. As I write, Gulliver is still at the USDA Quarantine outside San Diego.
By Sybil Erden, with Jean Gauthier and Janet Trumbule - December 16, 2010
Pong yoThe hardest part of running or working at an animal sanctuary is not the tedium of cleaning and feeding…it is not fund-raising or business stresses….it is when one of our many little friends becomes ill or simply ages and passes away. And each time it becomes harder to write about….
An Update on Oasis Residents Mingus, Andi and Yosemite - March, 2005 PLUS Mark Bittner's reunion with Mingus in July 2005
A few of the most famous residents of The Oasis have no idea they're celebrities .... and they probably wouldn't care if they did know. Cherry-Headed Conures Mingus, Andi (short for Anditson) and Yosemite spend their time eating, playing and noisily discussing events of the day with the other Conures and assorted parrots that live in the aviaries in the midst of The Oasis' pecan orchard.
In February 2004, the book The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill [A Love Story...With Wings] by Mark Bittner was published simultaneously with the release of a documentary film by the same name (Judy Irving, Producer). After getting off to a slow start, a distributor was found and the movie is now being shown in theaters across the country to rave reviews. It's the inspiring story of how one man found his life's work and true love among an unruly flock of wild parrots roosting in one of America's most picturesque urban settings , the hills of San Francisco. The flock of naturalized Cherry-Heads came to view Mark as a friend and he literally had them eating out of his hand (and sitting on his head, shoulders and arms).
By Pat and Neal Rudikoff
PhoebeIn October 1998 we brought a sweet Male Umbrella Cockatoo, Zeus into our family. Our very first bird! We fell so in love, that a year later we got him a girlfriend to keep him company, Circe, a lively little female Umbrella Cockatoo. About six months after that, we adopted a gorgeous, regal three year old male Moluccan Cockatoo, Ajax. Of course, shortly after, we realized he needed a friend of his own, so six months later, we brought home a baby female Moluccan, Phoebe. We realized that we had reached our maximum flock given our time, energy, and living space. Our flock was complete. We fully expected to have them all for the rest of our lives and even set up a trust fund for them in our wills.
By Sybil Erden
Skippy, a Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, was bounced through seven homes and caregivers during the first nine years of his life. At one point, his alcoholic owners threw him - cage and all - into a trash dumpster. Another one of Skippy's caregivers, a psychotic man who refused medication, burned him with cigarettes! During this period of mistreatment, his wings were so badly damaged as he flailed repeatedly to try to escape the torture that they shattered, leaving him flightless.
