Tiki’s Tale: Devoicing
By Sybil Erden, Founder - December 14, 1999 Tiki is an 18-year-old Blue and Gold Macaw. She arrived at The Oasis shortly before Thanksgiving in 1997. Tiki had lived the first sixteen years of her life with one family. The…
Clovis: The Lucky Nandy Conure
By Sybil Erden, Founder - August 22, 1992 I bought Clovis early in 1992 from a local back-yard breeder. Clovis was 11 months old. I already had several other birds, but. I wanted a hand-fed, hand tamed bird. When I…
The Wild Parrots From Telegraph Hill
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…
The San Francisco Cherry-Headed Conures
By Sybil Erdern - December, 1999 In August 1999, The Oasis Sanctuary received four Cherry-Headed Conures from Mark Bittner in San Francisco. These birds were part of the famous feral flock of Telegraph Hill. Ginsberg (female) and Yosemite (male) were…
The animals we live with – A bird named Beauty
By Sybil Erden, Founder - May 18,2007 I returned to the office late one evening during the winter, 2007. Paul Teza, Benson Shelter’s director, had left a message for me. They had a foundling bird turned in, a "parakeet" he…
The animals we live with – A bird named Sassy
By Sybil Erden, Founder. Sassy and I fell in love the first time we met. She was five months old and had just undergone major orthopedic surgery to correct her legs, which at birth were rotated with her feet pointing…
Kai Bansner
The trip I most enjoy looking back on last year was the closest to home and the cheapest. Pooh and I did an all night drive to reach the Oasis Sanctuary before the sun got too hot. The Oasis is…
Chris Reid
Fall/Winter 2009/2010 is my second season here at the Oasis and it is only getting better. Since extreme heat has been my enemy since early childhood, I am only here for half of the year from October thru March. Last…
Tom Trebisky
I sometimes tell people my interest in birds began with rock climbing. Unlikely as that may sound, here is how the story goes. I came to Tucson to study geology, and along with studying rocks, found interest in climbing them…
Janet Hilton and Lisa Avant
We humans have a penchant for collecting beautiful things. We see it, we like it, and no matter the consequence, own it. Despite all the negatives, we acquire that beautiful object. At first, we can’t get enough of it. We…