‘ALL
THESE BIRDS ARE GOING TO OUTLIVE ME,’ SAYS FOUNDER, WHO SEEKS CONTINUING
SUPPORT
By Isel
Longoria
Contributing
Writer
Shelters
for dogs and cats are common, but bird shelters are harder to find. The Santa
Barbara Bird Sanctuary (SBBS) in Summerland is the only parrot shelter in the
county.
The
nonprofit’s mission is to “rescue and rehabilitate unwanted, abused, and
orphaned companion parrots.”
Sanctuary
director Jamie McLeod founded SBBS in 2004. Before starting the nonprofit, she
was a bird breeder and owned The Menagerie, a parrot store, and she realized
there was a need for parrot shelters in the Santa Barbara area.
“After
about a decade it became apparent that there was actually more of a need to be
re-homing unwanted birds rather than bringing new ones into the world,” McLeod
said.
Now the
sanctuary carries more than 60 large parrots with some of them available for
adoption. The staff and volunteers help clean, care and cook for the birds.
“We don’t
just feed them bird seeds. We actually cook for them and they get lots of
fruits and vegetables,” McLeod said.
These
intelligent, exotic birds are also avian ambassadors for the sanctuary’s Skylar
Learning Center. It was named after Skylar Runswick, a little girl from Idaho
who fell in love with the sanctuary’s birds and its purpose. Skylar’s family
foundation provided grant funding for the learning center.
“The
first program that we encourage (kids) to take is World of Wing (W.O.W) and
that’s where I bring out each different (bird) and we talk about where they
come from,” McLeod said. Other learning programs such as Conservations
Adaptations Rescue Environment (C.A.R.E) and Parrots in Art, Literature and
Science (P.A.L.S) also educate children.
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