One of the things that we love about our birds is that they live such a long time, especially the larger parrots, although the smaller birds have similar lifespans as dogs and cats. Due to this long lifespan, and the fact that our lives change and we age, there may be a time when you have to find someone else to care for your bird.

If you are lucky, you may have a son or daughter (or even a grandson or granddaughter) who shares your love of birds and wishes to take over the commitment of looking after your wonderful companions. This is obviously the best option because you have been able to watch him or her interact with your birds for years and know that they will be loved.

Unfortunately, many of us have families who do not understand our love for our birds and although they may indicate that they will undertake to look after them for us, we know that there would be no love and our birds would suffer. At this point, we have to look for someone else who would be willing to welcome our feathered kids (fids) into their home.

If there is a parrot club in your area, you could contact them to see if someone has room in their home and in their heart for more birds. If someone from this contact indicates a desire to have your birds, it is still up to you to make sure that they will provide a suitable home for them. Many people will say whatever they think you want them to say in order to get a free bird.

Invite this person and the rest of the family over to see how they relate to the birds. Don’t take the wife’s word that her husband loves birds - insist that the husband come also. If things look promising, the next step is to go to their home and see if everything is the way they indicated to you.

Do they have enough room for the bird cage, the bird stand and all the bird toys?

Do they have other birds - and if so, do they have an area to quarantine your bird away from theirs?

Do they have other pets?

Do they smoke and if so are there dirty ashtrays in sight, or do they go outside to smoke away from the birds?

Do they have children and if so, how old are they?

How do you think your bird will like living here?

If you decide that this family would not provide a suitable home from your bird, you can say NO and continue looking for the right home. You owe it to your bird to find the best possible home.

If you decide that this family would provide a wonderful home, you could then arrange a few more visits so they can spend time with him at your home and your bird would then be comfortable going home with them.


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