Florida’s recent cold temperatures have taken a toll on vulnerable and exotic birds.
Birds and Paradise Sanctuary and Rescue houses 200 parrots at its Palmetto headquarters that were surrendered or taken from hoarding situations.
“We take in sometimes the worst of the worst," said Debbie Huckaby, the sanctuary's executive director. "They come in: mutilators, feather pluckers, sick, almost on death’s door step."
Huckaby said the birds are used to tropical climates but can get acclimated to colder temperatures.
However Huckaby said the unseasonably cooler temperatures have taken a toll on some of the birds. She equips the cages with heat lamps and propane tanks and hopes to eventually install curtains for insulation.
“When it gets really, really cold like this, of course they can sit and fluff up their feathers, which is their protection mechanism against cold or rain, but still these temperatures have been a little extreme,” Huckaby said.
Unfortunately, Huckaby said one of the parrots died last week and the cold may have been a factor. Huckaby said the loss has left the bird’s mate in mourning.
"I pulled him from the aviary because I could tell that he was upset because she was gone," Huckaby said. "They sit together every day, they eat together, they play together, they fly together, so it’s like losing a spouse."
It’s a loss Huckaby strives to prevent. She hopes a little awareness will go a long way.
To learn more about the Birds of Paradise Sanctuary and Rescue: www.birdsofparadisesanctuary.com