Friends of a feather: Blairstown couple devote their lives to parrot rescue

Jeanne Gilligan, who runs Helping Wing Parrot Rescue, with a Mullican Cockatoo named Boomer (left) and a blue front Amazon parrot named Rocky. Photo: Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerBLAIRSTOWN — To Jeanne Gilligan, there’s no such thing as an ordinary parrot. Each of her feathered friends — and she has more than 150 of them — has its own distinctive attributes: Some are big talkers while others tend to keep to themselves; some are sexist, they prefer being in the company of men rather than women or vice versa; and still others just like to be left alone.

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'My parrots are the squawk of the town'

BIRD BATH: Stuart Romain, 39, takes a shower with eclectus parrot Taz. Picture by Len CoplandFOR one Yeovil resident, man's best friend is not four legged and furry – but feathered, flying and very chatty.

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The Flight of Cornelius Cockatoo: A Fable for Children and Adults

Cover of "The flight of Cornelius Cockatoo by Stewart Metz1997 was a turning point in the life Dr. Stewart Metz. Until then, he had followed the typical route for a physician practicing Medicine in the university setting—seeing patients; doing research in Diabetes; teaching; and Administrative work. Eventually he became Head of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes as a Tenured Physician at the renowned University of Wisconsin-Madison, with about 130 research publications under his belt. But he sensed, increasingly, that something important was missing—and that ‘something’ was parrots. In 1993, he recognized that passion, which grew by leaps and bounds with the acquisition of China, a very special Salmon-crested cockatoo (Cacatua moluccensis). But in 1997, when he turned to the then-fledgling Internet, he found only a striking paucity of knowledge about these cockatoos, which were endangered in the wild. So in 2000, he became a member of the Indonesian Parrot Project (originally called “Project Bird Watch”) and in 2002 became the Director of the project. This NGO is a small, all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of endangered Indonesian parrots, including the Salmon-crested cockatoo.

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Are these jumpers Pollyester?

Parrot fashion ... Friday in frilly jumperPOORLY parrots are beating the big freeze — after a bird sanctuary boss made them tiny jumpers to keep out the cold.

The cosy fleece outfits were invented by Yvonne MacMillan, who also designed little leg warmers for her chilly creatures.

And she even created a cuddly corset for one distressed cockatoo to keep him warm and stop him pulling his feathers out. Yvonne, 49, who runs Scotland's only parrot sanctuary on the island of Kerrera, near Oban in Argyll, said: "The cold weather has been a nightmare.

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Who's a pretty... er, Oscar the bald cockatoo shows that birds of no feathers can still be quit tweet

Ruffled - um - feather: Oscar the bald Moluccan cockatoo peers curiously at the camera from her Florida home

Sadly for Oscar, her answer to 'Who's a pretty boy' is - well - not her.

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