Meet the Animals in Our Care

We take in animals that are unadoptable. Since we have a extreme level of education, experience, and understanding, we choose to take on the harder cases. We specialize in old age, special needs, and extreme behavior. We feel it is our obligation to take on these types of extreme cases. We prefer to leave animals that are really adoptable for families and people who want a great companion right off the bat! Giving an animal who has special needs a chance and helping them through their behaviors is very fulfilling!

Maui, Sun Conure

Maui is a female Sun Conure that was hatched in 2006 and has been a resident since she was a baby. She was a “family bird” often hanging out with everyone in the home. When she was about 8 years old, there was a dramatic change in her behaviors to an unknown reason at the time. She started biting hands, necks, faces, ears and chose not to want to interact with people. It was a complete 180 to how she has always been. I contemplated rehoming her because I was at the end of my ropes. That is when I started my training journey that has blossomed here today to save my personal bird Maui. Through our training, Maui is back to being that social and sweet butterfly once I understood her behaviors, how to modify them. She was on the verge of being rehomed to being back to her normal self though consistent training. Since, she has chosen to buddy up with another one of my female Conures Rosie!

Noel, meyers parrot

Noel is a female Meyers parrot that was hatched in 2007 and has been a resident since she was a baby She was super gentle as a baby, like most baby birds, and friendly with the whole family. Her wings have never been clipped either, so she is amazing at flying. When she hit four or so years old, she started becoming a “one-person” bird. Through training, we have worked on her social skills through hands off activities with guests for safety, like target training and station training. She is no longer as reactive in front of new people, but seems to prefer to stay hands off with others, which we respect at Fluff and Feathers and just adjust goals for her to be within her individual comfort zone while still challenging her to improve.

rosie, cinnamon pineapple green cheek conure

Rosie was hatched in 2013 and she is a cinnamon pineapple green cheek conure female. She was known to be nippy as a baby, and some even said aggressive. She has been a resident since she was about one years old. Around five years old, she became very skittish of hands specifically. She would scream when I put my hand in her cage and throw herself around. If she did step up, once she was out of the cage, she would instantly fly off. Like Noel, her wings have never been slipped, so she is an excellent flier. This is because we found out about her lifelong medical concerns and she was on medication and at the time she was not syringe trained.

Through training, she is stepping up for myself and others perfectly. She is far less reactive. Not only is she friendly with all humans and no longer fearful. She is syringe trained so there is no need for force to be used, which has shown to lessen our relationship. She also has a gal-pal, my other Conure Maui!

JoJo, Yellow Nape Amazon

JoJo was hatched in 1994. He is a yellow nape amazon male, and he has been a resident since 2017. He was dropped off at the rescue Melanie used to work at, and she did the intake. His previous owner was a teacher and was his only owner. He was in a very small “parakeet-sized” cage that the owner said hasn’t been cleaned in probably a year or more. His nails were growing into his feet, his beak grew into his neck it was so long. He was scared of everything. His owner said he never got out and proper care because he was so highly aggressive. Melanie offered for him to be fostered so she could get to know him, and give him a quieter transition into his new life moving forward. When she brought him to the vet, they discovered he has a lipid buildup on his pupil from a high fat diet for his entire life. It was so bad that he was mostly blind. Through a diet change and time, the buildup has naturally gone down, but he still cannot see completely. His beak also has to be longer than a normal bird because he refuses to eat when it is a normal length. This is simply cosmetic and due to his long-term neglect and does not harm him in anyway.

At first, JoJo was fearful of everything. He never made a sound, he didn’t move in his larger cage, he didn’t know how to play with toys. Through training, he started getting more settled in and came out of his shell more. But, as he became more comfortable, the more his aggression came out. This made our training get more and more serious. Fortunately, he has done a complete 180 because of consistent and proper training. JoJo has a very wide vocabulary. He knows a lot of husbandry and medical behaviors, as well as tricks for fun. He is also harness trained, and has become an education ambassador for rescue, his species, and our training. JoJo has developed a deep bond with our other amazon Ringo. They are often snuggling each other and preening one another. Jo and Ringo share a walk-in aviary together.

Ringo, Orange Winged Amazon

Ringo was imported from the wild around 1985; we are unsure of exactly how old he is, but we believe this is when he was imported. He is a wild caught orange winged amazon male. He has been a resident since 2018. He was found outside in New Jersey and was brought to a local shelter by the people who found him. He was treated as a stray, and his owners claimed him over the phone and said they would be right over to pick him up. Months go by and the owners never came to get him, so he got transferred to A Helping Wing Parrot Rescue in New Jersey. Upon first introductions, the rescue said that he was very aggressive and had bites on their hands from him. They named his “Walter” at the time, since he did not have a name. When Melanie first approached the cage, he instantly put his head down and asked for scratches. He stepped up wonderfully on her hand to come out of the cage. He was very talkative from the start. He also kept saying “Ringo” and “Ri” which could only be assumed to be his name.

Ringo was great for the first few months. He was so sweet, and he would constantly follow everyone around everywhere. Melanie noticed that he started to show an interest in JoJo, so she allowed them to meet under close supervision. They instantly became buddies. Ringo was screaming for attention less, he was overall happier, and it made Melanie happy to see the two of them so happy. As the friendship continued, Ringo started to get super attached to JoJo and would lash out in the form of aggression towards humans. He would protect JoJo. He also stopped stepping up and was biting a lot more. I knew he was acting differently because he was protecting JoJo, and I moved into working with a bonded pair. The question became “do I allow them to stay together, or do a separate the pair so I can have a relationship with Ringo?”

Melanie chose the birds overall happiness over selfish desires. That does not mean that Melanie gave up on training Ringo. Ringo has learned husbandry behaviors, as well to step up again onto humans as long as his buddy JoJo is with him to ensure they will not be separated. We have also worked on decreasing the severity of the pair bonding behaviors to allow for separation if medically needed.

Crazy Bird, Blue Front Amazon

Yes, that is the name given to him his entire life, and it has stayed because it is very fitting! Crazy is a male blue fronted amazon parrot and is presumed to be wild caught, estimated the same time Ringo was. He has been a resident since 2020. He lived with a family who passed away, and he was relinquished to a rescue. They noticed his severe aggression behaviors and was struggling to find placement for him. In hopes to find placement in another area, he was moved to another state. He was also not finding any luck in the adoption center and was transitioned to a foster home to be able to help his severe behaviors. The foster parent quickly found they were not experienced enough to handle his behaviors and was hospitalized for two weeks due to a brutal attack from Crazy Bird. The rescue considered euthanizing him for his behaviors. It was ruled to wait a bit longer to make that call. He then was kept in a small cage with a lift up door. He was under stimulated and started to play with the door to his cage. It ended up landing on his neck and killing him. He was fortunately brought to an avian vet and resuscitated. After the incident, he was brought back to the original rescue and remained there for about 10 years.

He has a long list of attacks and injuries he has given to people, including when he came back biting the owner of the rescue and rupturing their minor artery. Since it was very unsafe for staff and volunteers for him to be out of the cage, and the rescue had no idea on how to handle him, he stayed primarily in his cage for those years.

Melanie was looking for the next project and knew about him. She decided to take him in understanding the severity of his behaviors. She determined he has vision problems after working with him. One eye is believed to have no vision and constantly pinned, nicknamed his “crazy eye” and the other we believe he has difficulties seeing up close with. The lack of vision, as well as a lot of fear seen in his behaviors, and lack of skills taught lead to this perfect storm for aggressive behaviors.

He has severely calmed don and built confidence. He no longer attacks people, knows a lot of husbandry behaviors, and steps up on a towel for handler safety as we continue to go through his training. He takes food from everyone’s hands and sometimes allows Melanie to scratch him through the cage bars. He is out of his aviary everyday and enjoys the company of amazon JoJo.

Munchkin, Double Yellow Headed Amazon

Munchkin is an unknown age male double yellow headed amazon who has been a resident since 2018. He is a special needs bird. It is believed that he was hatched this way, or developed the way he is when he was very young, all due to poor breeding practices and possibly inbreeding. He has a beak deformity that makes it look like his beak is upside down. His upper mandible is very skinny and super small. It does not grow. His lower mandible is very wide and deep to allow his upper beak to fit inside perfectly. His beak needs to be kept longer in order to aid him in climbing and eating. He can eat like a perfectly normal bird except he cannot eat in the shell tree nuts, which is given to him out of shell. He is not a candidate for a beak prosthetic and does not need one, since he functions like a completely normal bird. He also does not have nares (nostrils). He breathes out of his mouth. He also is known, when he is over stimulated, to rupture his air sack, which is heavily monitored and has yet to be serious. He has an underdeveloped eye in which he is completely blind out of. His other eye appears to have full sight and no issues. His skull is about half the size it should be, which has not affected his ability to function at all, but does cause his good eye to pop out a bit. He also has some foot gripping problems. He most likely developed weakness in his feet because he was on the same dowel perch his entire life before getting rescued.

Melanie flew from Baltimore, Maryland to San Diego, California to adopt him from Parrot Education and Adoption Center (PEAC). He was known to be a very reserved bird. He did not like human affection, but liked to be in the action. He did not like to step up often, he never let anyone pet him, and he did not show affection back to human caretakers. He was also very plucked upon arrival. Upon arrival, Melanie spent the entire day with him. He instantly stepped up on her. Then, he did the unimageable. He jumped off her hand when she was sitting on the couch, ran up her torso towards her face, cuddled up and started grooming her and giving kissy sounds. He also allowed Melanie to groom him. His foster mom was in tears and everyone who knew him was in total disbelief. Melanie knew him for two hours maximum, and he acted like we knew each other our entire lives. It was an instant love connection, like we were soul mates.

So, he flew back first class, in cabin on Delta Airlines with Melanie. The stewards fed him fresh oatmeal, fresh fruits, and granola to keep him occupied during the over 10-hour travel day. He was trained by the rescue to operate well while traveling and carrier trained him so this would be an easy adventure. When we got back to Maryland, there was no adjustment period. He immediately acted like he owned the place.

Munchkin has become Fluff and Feather’s most well-known ambassador for rescue birds, and rescue special needs birds. He shows that you can have deep connections with a rescue, older bird. He also shows that just because he is special needs does not mean that those needs are dramatic. His care is not too much more special than my other parrots. Munchkin and his story have been featured in many places.

Rukkas, Red Lored Amazon

Rukkas is a 57 plus year old wild caught red lored amazon female. She has not had the easiest of lives. Her first home used to beat her with a broom so much that they broke bones many times in her legs, wings, and feet. It was so severe, and was never medically attended to, that she has become deformed. She was never let her out of her cage. They also tried to clip her wings, and did a bad clip job, resulting in clipping her bone on one of her wings. No primary or secondary flight feathers now grow on that wing. She endured that for 28 years.

She was then rescued by a couple and lived with them until 2019, which is when she became a resident. The family that I got her through loved her, and had big hearts, but they lacked the education on how to properly help her behaviors. As they were getting older themselves, they found it time to rehome her to someone that knew how to properly care for her, and give her what she needed. They did a lot of searching and through the grapevine, a mutual friend said “oh, Melanie, she loves old, mean amazons with special needs, here is her contact.” That is when Melanie got the call.

When Melanie met her, she saw her physical condition and was very worried. Her nares were completely clogged and swollen, she had rhinolith. Melanie saw her deformities and saw how she got around, which was pitiful. She had a beak deformity, scissor beak, where the top beak grows one way and the bottom the other. It happens when the beak isn’t groomed enough, or when being hand reared and the feeders only feeding from one side on the beak and not both equally. Since she is confirmed wild caught, her beak was due to neglect in her first placement. Luckily, the owners did take her to the groomer, but they did a poor job at correcting it, they just kept it not too long. She was lunging and biting the cage. What gave us hope was, she hung upside down and was singing.

Melanie realized her aggression was out of fear. She was scared of everything. Most of her training has been desensitization and finding a safe way to transport her, since she cannot just step up like a normal bird and needs extra balancing support. She really likes to sing and watch TV and sit on Melanie’s couch with her.

Alfie, Moluccan Cockatoo

Alfie was hatched in 1996, and he is a male Moluccan Cockatoo. He has had one previous owner before us, and they rehomed him because they were very ill and could not keep him anymore. He ended up at a friend’s bird shop in New Jersey, and they messaged me a photo of him and said “he needs a home.”

When Melanie got there, she went back to find him, and immediately took him out of the cage, and he just melted into her arms. He was the biggest love bug. Melanie’s friend and shop owner came to meet her and was so shocked. He asked if Alfie would be put down on a stand calmly. Melanie was very confused, but followed the suggestion. The store owner said that since he messaged Melanie, he has gotten to know Alfie and said that he was highly aggressive. He said that the previous owner also saw that Alfie was aggressive. Melanie then saw him interact with the shop owner, who was male, and saw how overstimulated leading to aggression he could get. She also saw him doing a lot of hormonal behaviors generally as well. After knowing Alfie for a hour and a half, more and more behavioral concerns started showing themselves. Melanie still said she would take him. She was told that I could not because of how aggressive Alfie can get, the shop owner was afraid I would get seriously injured by him, and Melanie would rehome him again or get scared of all birds in general. Melanie reassured her friend about training him and not giving up on him. After much persuasion, he allowed Melanie to take Alfie.

Two months later, there was an educational event that Fluff and Feathers and the store owner was going to be at. Melanie brought Alfie on his harness in order to use him to help educate. Alfie did amazing; he entertained crowds, willingly went to large amounts of strangers, was confident and comfortable. Also, no aggressive attempts because of our training. My friend was astonished that it was the same bird, and joked about wanting him back! He was so happy at the progress I made with Alfie.

Merlin, Blue and Gold Macaw

Merlin was hatched around 1985 in captivity. He is a blue and gold macaw male that became a resident in 2021. He was with the same family since he was hatched and the family used to babysit Melanie when she was a child. When merlin was a fledgling, he was placed on the back of a sofa. When he attempted to fly, each time a few primary feathers were cut till he did not fly at all. His wings remained clipped for the majority of his life. He was a beloved companion, but as the owners started to have children of their own, Merlin got less and less attention.

His entire life he was in his a 2 foot by 2 foot cage and his tail hit the bottom grate. He was rarely let out because he showed aggressive behaviors towards everyone but one member of the house and always attacked when going back into the cage. The owners realized he deserved better and made the hard decision to find him placement. They instantly reached out to Melanie, as she has known him her whole life.

When Merlin arrived, he was severely atrophied. He had a lot of pressure sores on his feet, his nails were extremely long, and he was very unbalanced and uncoordinated. This lead to a lack of confidence. He instantly warmed up to Melanie, but tried to attack everyone else. It was shown he has arthritis and a old break on his wing that healed. Melanie works tirelessly on his socialization skills with others in all environments. He also has been trained for flight and always challenged to improve his coordination and strength. He is no longer atrophied and much more confident. He will take food from others through protective contact and enjoys entertaining crowds off contact. He will allow Melanie to do almost anything to him he trusts her so deeply and quickly.