Photo by Jon Perry

My name is Jon Perry, the creator of this site. I’m not a veterinarian, I’m not a professional bird trainer, in fact I’m not a bird expert by any means. I’m simply a guy with a Sun Conure Parrot named Apollo. Currently (as of December 2009) I’ve only had him for 2 years but it’s been a crazy 2 years and my fascination with parrots has grown so strong that I’ve decided to start this parrot website.

Apollo the Sun Conure Parrot

Apollo was 2 years old and fully flighted when I bought him. His flying abilities were the main source of my attraction to him when I saw his ad in the paper. I didn’t want to buy a flightless bird with clipped wings. I figured “If you don’t want a pet that flies, get a puppy!”

Unfortunately, when I first got Apollo, he was extremely aggressive toward me and everyone else for that matter. When I went to his owner’s house to meet him for the very first time, he flew to my shoulder, crept up to my face and bit me as hard as he could directly under my left eye. The bite was so bad it made me bleed. For some reason I bought him anyway and the taming began.

I’m a graphic artist by trade and I work from home. This gave me plenty of time to get him used to me. I put his cage next my desk and talked to him all day while I worked. At first he hated the fact that I was there. His little body would fill with rage every time I spoke. He would shake his wings, scream as loud as he could, and lunge at the cage in a vain attempt to bite me. I was amazed at how strong his little beak was. When he clamped down hard, the cage bars would bend and flex under the pressure. By evening time, probably out of sheer exhaustion, he had come to tolerate my presence in the room. Eventually he even let me feed him peanuts by hand (to this day he will do anything for a peanut) but he still would not let me touch him or his cage without giving me a painful, skin breaking bite.

The next morning I let him out of his cage but first I put on a thick sweatshirt with the hood up and the draw string pulled tight. The only thing I left in the open was the tip of my nose. I had to tilt my head back and peer out of my little hole so I could see my computer screen. I put Apollo on my shoulder and talked to him calmly as I began my day’s tasks. He spent all his time trying to bite my face. I spent all my time blocking his attacks  with my hands which were tucked safely inside my sleeves to avoid getting totally torn to pieces.

Every time he had a calm moment, I gave him a peanut for being good. Every time he tried to bite me I barked “No!” and lightly shook my shoulder where he was standing to get him off balance and break him from his trance of anger. By lunch time he was done trying to bite me. I took off the hood and we ate a sandwich together. By night fall we were buddies, two days later and we were best friends. A week after that and he was already doing tricks, flying to me when I called, and staying when I told him to stay. We took him to a local basketball gym to see how he did flying in large open spaces. He did well and so then after having him for only two weeks (and this was reckless craziness on my part so DO NOT TRY THIS as quickly as I did) I took him out doors for his first time in open free flight.

My many parrot keeping mistakes

Before buying my bird I spent months reading books, watching parrot training DVDs, and looking at bird videos on Youtube. I thought I was ready. The problem was, I had never owned a parrot before I got Apollo and I did not know anyone else who had ever owned a parrot. In spite of all my research, I was still a totally ignorant. I let him eat stuff he wasn’t supposed to eat, drink things he wasn’t supposed to drink, and fly where he shouldn’t have been allowed to fly. I get him stuck in trees time and time again, once he was almost hit by a car, and once he got lost over night in a rain storm. It’s a miracle that the little guy is still alive. Fortunately, after several close calls and few expensive vet bills, I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes and so can you.

Our mission

The mission of this website is to build a community of experienced and novice bird owners who can assist each other in the life changing hobby of parrot keeping. The website is empty now but will soon be full of articles and videos that will carefully explain all of the basics of parrot keeping, along with providing your a forum where you will be able to communicate with other bird owners around the world to bounce new ideas off their heads and even pioneer new ventures in parrot keeping.

My hope is that this site will always be a place with a special spirit of camaraderie. A place where people can come to receive helpful and friendly advice from other members of the bird community.

Thanks
Jon

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