Parrot Sanctuary in Cabbagetown takes in unwanted and ill-treated birds

Marie-Elisabeth Gagnon watches Buddy, a Lilac Crowned Amazon parrot, that was separated from his longtime owner, who moved into a nursing home Image by: AARON HARRISWhen his best friend of three decades went into a nursing home, Buddy was bereft. He couldn’t go, too.

Instead, the 31-year-old Lilac-Crown Amazon parrot was given to a pet store where he huddled in a cage, acting scared and unhappy, a reaction similar to other sentient creatures that have bonded with people and then been separated.

Luckily, the store’s staff recognized it wasn’t the best environment for the intelligent bird, which had been acquired as a baby and raised by one owner. So they contacted Marie-Elisabeth Gagnon, the founder of Parrot Sanctuary, a 9-year-old Toronto rescue organization for parrots, and she agreed to take him in.

That was about a year ago. Now Buddy, who could live for another 30 or so years, has come back to his old, sociable self, adapting well to living with Gagnon and her family.

“He’s bombproof,’’ jokes Gagnon, referring to his unflappable nature.

He’s also a curious fellow and turns his amber-colored iris on a visiting reporter, watching carefully from a roost. After a while, he flies to a nearby seat, then hops on the reporter’s leg and watches. He moves to the lap, then an arm, where he bends his head for a scratch of his lovely, soft, lilac-feathered head, all the while making little chortling noises.

In a temperature-controlled, bright and airy “bird room” in the basement of Gagnon’s comfortable Cabbagetown home, are cages filled with birds, 14 of which are living with her permanently (including Buddy). She’s also fostering nine parrots, likely to be up for adoption. Parrot Sanctuary, which incorporated last year as a non-profit, also has six foster homes for rescued parrots. In total, the sanctuary has 26 birds for adoption.

Many people who thought they could handle a parrot find out they can’t. That’s why Gagnon’s sanctuary is always at capacity. Right now, she can’t take in any more birds — but she still gets contacted by people who want to give up their birds.

Because parrots can live so long, Gagnon advises people to make plans for them in a will, as she has done for all her birds.

Gagnon’s organization has adopted out about 200 parrots since it started. Her website offers a lengthy adoption application with questions designed to make people think long and hard before adopting.

People in bird rescue work figure an average domestic cockatoo in North American spends about six years in one household. Because they can live 60 to 80 years, they can be move homes about 10 times or more, says Gagnon.

“It’s like being in love six times in your life and being dumped six times,” says Gagnon. Some birds will self-mutilate, plucking out their feathers after being moved.

One such bird at Parrot Sanctuary, a Goffin cockatoo named BamBam, looks like a tiny, partially plucked chicken from the neck down. He’d been owned for 19 years by an owner who adored him but moved to a different country and gave him to someone else. For the next seven years, the bird wasn’t let out of his cage. BamBam plucked out his own feathers. He has stopped since coming to Parrot Sanctuary, but some feathers aren’t growing back.

Many people get parrots for the wrong reasons, says Gagnon. “They don’t see past their beauty and romanticize they will sing or sit quietly in a cage and not need much maintenance,” she says.

The opposite is true. They have many needs. Imagine the intelligence of a 5-year-old with the emotional neediness of a 2- or 3-year-old child, says Gagnon. They are often noisy (especially if bored), and sometimes aggressive.

In other words, if you want a pet that will sleep for 16 hours a day and amuse itself, get a cat.