Where to find a parrot in Connecticut

Nestled on the outskirts of a large city and away from the busy humdrum of everyday life, you will find Diane's Parrot Place, located in Woodbury, CT. It is small, home-based business where Diane Macary, the owner, raises, trains and educates people and their birds (especially babies) to be the best companions any "human" would want. At the present time, it is the only Parrot Place location to service people in the Northeast, even as far away as Maine and New Hampshire.

Diane has twenty five personal parrots in her home, which include a variety of Conures, an Umbrella Cockatoo, A Mealey Amazon and a Hahn's Macaw. Some are rescue birds and the others are purchased birds. She started hand feeding babies about 14 years ago when she bought an Umbrella Cockatoo and a few years later, a White Eye Conure, who the store thought was a Mitred Conure. Can you imagine how Diane felt about the store when after researching out the "Mitred" found out that is was indeed a "White Eye"!

Diane decided about eight years ago to get some breeding birds as a hobby. All but 3 pairs are left today as she had decided that the raising and training of babies is where her passion really and truly lies. While it was such an experience to see the chick emerge from its first home, the egg, it was more intriguing to raise them to their full capabilities in the nurturing and cognitive abilities each individual species has. Just watching those birds "learn" to say words, or to do things like "turn around", "dance", "sing a song", or to "fly" to someone on command was an interesting endeavor in itself.

Diane states that training parrots is very similar to training young children. Being a former educator and learning all the disciplines and techniques utilized with students, makes it that much easier when working with a young bird or an older one. It is a rewarding experience. Every species has its own "little" actions they do regularly. By concentrating on a particular trait the bird has; one can then make it an enjoyable game. The end result is the bird doing a "trick" without the bird realizing it and the audience will see what the "cute little bird can do".

Diane likes all kinds of parrots, but in particular the Conures. Her favorite Conure is the Blue Crowned Conure or Sharp Tailed as it is often called. Diane feels the Blue Crowns are so easy to train and has even worked on a semi-tame imported one with good results.

Conures are very active birds ranging from about 8-9 inches in length to about 18 inches in length. They love to chew wood, climb and love affection. They are interested in everything you do in front of you and will gladly lend a hand, or should we say a beak or foot! Scruffy, her Blue Crown mascot loves to help when Diane makes some new toys for her flock.

While it isn't good to overindulge a Conure, Diane says, an occasional scratch on the head or a verbal praise to the bird will have you both companions for life.

Diane started educating herself many years ago about exotic birds, especially when she bought a Green Cheek Conure for her daughter. She says that reading as many books and articles about these incredible birds was a big help to her understanding the care and nurturing these birds require. Several people in the "bird" circle were willing to share their information about their knowledge and/or experiences. When she purchased an Umbrella Cockatoo, she then was trained in hand feeding it. That was an experience in itself. At that point in the feeding, Diane started reading about hand feeding babies from books. While she continued to feed this baby, she also bought a lot of books on Conures and other species of parrots. She rescued some birds from neglect or abuse and proceeded to work on their individual behaviors that people could not tolerate any more. While these birds were not as nice as hand raised ones, she was able to get the birds to the point of being handled and of trusting the humans again.

As her hobby of breeding parrots continued for some years, a new book was coming out about the parrots in California that were living wild there. In the book, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill", written by Mark Bittner, Diane learned more about parrots than any other articles or persons could give. She, not only enjoyed the book and documentary on these Cherry Head Conures, but she had actually met Mark when he came to Madison, CT for a viewing of his new movie.

Diane said that Mark knew these parrots so well that he could distinguish one from the other as he fed them daily. Mark talked so much about the Cherry Heads that the information he put in his book was a wealth of knowledge for any pet owner or breeder of these birds. The most interesting idea she learned from this was the fact that these free-roaming Conures had feelings and their relationships with their own flock. The movie and book should be seen and read by all parrot lovers. Diane has two Cherry Heads in her "flock", one is a rescue bird that is 32 years old and the other one was purchased at a pet store when he was a year old.

Diane says that reading and talking to many experts in the industry is an excellent way to learn about exotic birds and the pet industry. Always ask questions no matter how silly one thinks they are. The Nationwide Parrot Place Organization educates and helps people and their pet companions in every aspect of their relationship with the bird.

Diane stays informed about the bird industry by consulting with the various Parrot Place Affiliates on their experiences with raising babies and with the avian vets and behaviorists that are members of the Nationwide Parrot Place Organization. Frequent chats with the Affiliates on various subjects, keeps her informed of the latest information on hand feeding, raising and any medical problems that could occur when one is not totally informed about raising and living with these birds. She has joined this organization because it was necessary to learn and teach people about bird keeping that very few pet stores will give. Diane loves to raise and train these parrots but actually loves to talk herself into a frenzy when discussing an aspect of the birds' upkeep. Be prepared to talk a long time when she gets started on birds! Her motto here would be, "There is always more to learn about parrot keeping as new information arrives". Be informed from experts in the field and do not rely on "someone's" opinion. Get the correct information from a reliable source.

Another one of Diane's philosophy states that when working with any birds, babies or older ones, one must be consistent when training them and all persons involved must use the same techniques. It is similar to raising your own human children. Without consistency in rules you will generate confusion and the result is a badly behaved parrot (or child for that matter).

One of the first birds that Diane bought was a Blue Crown Conure that was on consignment at a bird store. She named him Paulie (from the movie of the same name) and had him home fro 2 days when she noticed some clear liquid draining from his nostrils.

Paulie was about 4 years old, living in a filthy cage, which the bird store got rid of, and was put in a room by himself because he was too noisy for his owners. The owners possible let his soft food and water stay in his cups too long and therefore he contacted the different bacteria. Paulie was brought to 3 vets during the time he was ill by Diane. Tests were done and the result showed that he had a few bacteria that caused him to have his nostrils fill with fluid and draining. One of the bacteria showed a moderate growth of a bacteria that would kill birds in 6 months or less. He was also underweight. Diane says that he ate very little, did not play and stayed perched in almost one spot all day.

The avian vets that treated Paulie did a few things: Placed him in the hospital for a week, put him in a tank with a nebulizer twice a day and even "flushed" his nostrils. Poor thing to have your nostril "flushed". Diane said that must have hurt. Hurts humans, too.

The vets said that he was better and could go home. He was not better and continued to go one more time to a vet, this time a different time. When Paulie came home he was still sick. He did have a Vitamin A deficiency as it is no wonder because he would not eat much of anything that was offered to him. Sunflower seeds, yes, they were consumed.

Anyway, Diane being a religious person, who believes in the power of higher ups, prayed and prayed for Paulie to get better. She asked out loud for any help that could come her way. She was guided by a source that led her to information about natural remedies for different maladies: homeopathic remedies. This was not generally accepted by the medical community years ago as it is much more today, and so Diane had to "teach" herself about them. She did find someone who was willing to discuss an alternative, the homeopathic remedies for use in birds.

Diane also did a lot of reading on this subject and finally decided to use Paulie in an experiment. One of the bacteria that Paulie had, would have killed him in a few months as the medicine given to him did not work. So, Diane thought to give him a second chance and see if he these remedies would work. For 2 years he was isolated in a special room upstairs and given the remedies according to the directions she inquired about. Homeopathic remedies will make a bird worse in the beginning (first 2-3 days), when they are administered in the bird's system but then take over as the bird gets the immune support and the good bacteria that is replaced to fight off the germs. Diane says that the traditional medicines can make your immune system break down because the "good bacteria" is no longer there to fight off infections.

For many years Paulie was on and off with the remedies. It has been over 10 years and Diane is so happy that she could give Paulie the extra years of living. He is eating, playing and vocalizing. While he doesn't speak, his actions can be read. To this day, Paulie still has a slight wheeze but who wouldn't after the "flushing of the nostrils (nares)".

Paulie lived by himself in the room for 2 years so Diane's other birds were not exposed to anything. He now has 3 roommates: a Jenday, a Sunday and another Blue Crown (imported) that had been ignored. Paulie is 15 years old now and will have many more years of happiness and health.

Since these remedies in no way hurt the bird but actually helped, Diane has used the Immune Support for all her birds along with natural vitamins, minerals and probiotics. Just to keep them from having any serious problems. She has also used other remedies on several of her birds, depending on their individual needs. Some of them were a bird in shock, seeds that were not digested properly, plucking/chewing of feathers, screaming, babies whose crop did not empty from the parents' feedings, and a pet bird who broke an egg inside of her and most likely would have died. Diane says that she is very confident in using these remedies.

While Diane cannot "officially" tell people what to do, she is willing to relate to anyone who asks what helped her birds to recover. She totally believes this is going to be the next step in the medical world.

Diane says that one must keep their bird healthy by good nutrition, including supplements as needed for their individual needs and also give that bird what it needs to be the best companion to you for life.

What had originally started as an interest in learning more about exotic birds, has now been turned into a passion: a full time job of teaching birds to be the best and healthiest companion for their "Moms and Dads"!

To learn more about Diane’s Parrot Place

Visit Diane’s Website at

Www.dianesparrotplace.com