Thanks for purchasing our 2024 Charity Calendar
The birds featured are winners from our social media competition in Autumn 2023.
January
Yogi the Sengal parrot; Winner: Naughtiest Bird
Yogi is 8 and belongs to Michelle Quinn, who adopted him from Feathers Together two years ago. Michelle says
“Yogi is a bit cooky, he loves to dance and sometimes will head bang on the cage. He can be a bit psycho, mostly with Mandy, especially when he decided she needed her lip piercing with his beak. He acts all coy and stands all tall when you tell him he’s sexy! His habit at the minute is undoing his cage door so it clatters to the floor and gives you a heart attack. He loves women who have red hair especially my friend Jenn who he goes into full on love mode with her. He hates being put back in his cage when I have him out and will run onto my back and hang off my bottom so I can’t get him. He’s a right character and love him to bits.”
February
Patches the Blue-fronted amazon; Winner: Golden Oldies
Patches is 60 years old. Her owner, Kathleen Lawrence, says:
“I’ve had her since I was in my teens; now I’m in my 60’s. She is a Blue Fronted Amazon who prefers Mom vs Dad. She was probably smuggled into the USA a long time ago. She loves her ‘flock’, including our two Blue and Gold Macaws. She likes spray showers, loves music and getting the other two talking and making noise. A regular tropical rain forest. She can laugh too.”
Mrs Puff the Spotted pigeon; Runner up: Golden Oldies
Mrs Puff belonged to Sevanah De Bruin from South Africa. She says:
“Mrs Puff lived to be just over 10 years of age before passing of natural causes. This bird started it all for me, my love for pigeons and birds in general. She was very intelligent, she used to follow me around the house and would even go as far as to camp closed doors just to make sure I’m not inside that room. She had a personal vendetta against my money plant, I would often find her ripping the poor plant up just for her to stop and run away like a guilty child if I caught her… needless to say the money plant did not last long and neither did its like 5 predecessors after that. This photo was taken in 2017 in a photography studio when she was 8 years of age. ”
March
Sunny the Pekin duckling; Winner: Best Baby Bird
Sunny belonged to Sevanah De Bruin from South Africa. She says:
“Sunny the duckling was just over a month old or so in the photo. She was a rescue from our avian vet, a very small miniature pekin duck. Sadly she was stolen off our farm at just over a year along with 4 other ducks. In the photo she is with us visiting the Lifestyle garden show 2022. Sunny’s favorite things to do was follow us around the house, happily quaking as she goes along. She would never miss bath time and enjoyed accompanying me in the garden. Her favorite snack was frozen peas in her water bath and she also enjoyed fresh greens in the garden.”
April
Sadie the Quaker parrot; Winner: Wettest Bird and Overall Competition Winner
Sadie is a two year Quaker parrot in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, owned by Crystal Helbrecht. Crystal says:
“Sadie has a strong work ethic and spends many hours each day carrying foot toys and other items from his play area to his cage (he’s trying to build a nest but hasn’t quite figured it out yet). He loves his flock, which includes another Quaker (Grover), a Congo African Grey (Clarke), and Scarlet-Fronted Conure (Gator). One of Sadie’s talents is an ability to mimic all four of Gator’s loud conure screams. In the photo, Sadie is taking a spray bottle shower. He took his first shower when he was two months old and thought it was the best thing ever. Sadie often does yoga poses and other contortions while getting sprayed to make sure every feather is saturated. Sadie has a unique trait (for a parrot) of expressing gratitude. When offered something – a toy, food, or even the spray bottle – he rubs his cheek on the item and your hand as if to say ‘I like it. Thank you’.”
May
Steve the Orange-chinned brotogeris parakeet; Joint Runner-Up: Best Baby Bird
Steve hatched in May 2022 and was 7 weeks old in the photo. His owner, Sarah Soulsby says:
“His favourite treat is almonds and he likes playing with woven paper and tiny wooden blocks. I think of his personality like a tiny amazon – despite his size, he’s loud and he can be quite bossy! He likes to hang upside down and when he does he resembles a little leaf.”
Baby the Blue-headed pionus; Joint Runner-Up: Best Baby Bird
Baby is a blue-headed pionus parrot, owned by Jacob Raboin from Ohio, USA.
June
Exhibition White Silkies; Winner: Best Flock
These beautiful chickens are exhibition type white silkies. They are owned by poultry enthusiast Cory Bainbridge.
July
Ruby-throated hummingbird; Winner: Best Wild Bird
The winning photo was submitted by Sophie Reinhardt, who says:
“The photo is of a baby ruby-throated hummingbird. They can be found in the south of Canada and eastern United States; this one was photographed in Val-des-bois, Quebec, Canada. The males will get a ruby coloured throat when they get to maturity. This baby comes from a family of 5 babies born this year (2023). For a couple of weeks they are learning how to feed by themselves, and at that moment they are less scared of the humans because they still don’t know what to expect. ”
August
Buddy the Green-cheeked conure; Winner: Angriest Bird
Buddy is four years old, and owned by Keli Lamb. She says:
“Buddy has the funniest little personality and is very very affectionate and loving but also very lazy! He escaped once and lasted a whole 24 hours out in the wild in the freezing cold and pouring rain before we found him. We had a full search party out looking for him. He turned a few streets over tapping on someone’s conservatory window to be in then casually just hopped through an open window. I was terrified it would have scarred him for life but he came back perfectly fine and seemed to have enjoyed his little adventure, certainly a lot more than I enjoyed it! He also likes to hang upside down like a bat – not sure if this is a conure thing or just a Buddy thing.”
September
Kiki the African grey parrot; Winner: Best Trick
Kiki is one talented parrot, showing off not one but two of her tricks. Her owner, Paul, says:
“Kiki has a great personality” Her favourite thing to say is ‘who let the birds out’! She loves to sing and dance and she likes to swear a lot. She teases the dogs too. She thinks it is absolutely hilarious to stand on the side of the cage bars to do a poo so it comes out of her cage and on to the floor; she then waits for us to clean it then does it again cause she knows it drives my wife Lucy mental…”
October
Myrtle the Raven; Winner: Out and About
Myrtle is 6 months old and her owner, Caroline, has noticed a strong sense of like and dislike of certain things:
Good – bottle lids, being the centre of attention, baby wipes, holding Mammy’s finger, other people’s food, her best friend (‘Killer’ the Chihuahua), cuddles from Mammy, ring pulls, smashing cardboard boxes, days out to the beach, barking like a dog, hiding food and toys in curtains and cushions…
Bad – bedtime!
November
Scruffs the Cockatiel; Winner: Best ‘Glow Up’ Rescue
Scruffs is a rescue bird, the first photo is the day he arrived, the last was taken just this month (November 2023), only 18 months later. His owner Niki Gye, says:
“I adopted Scruffs on a Friday the 13th, but not an unlucky day for him! I’d been tagged in a post about him being at a local vet clinic and up for adoption – he had been found as a lost bird by a member of the public and was actively being attacked by the wild birds. They took him to the clinic who cleaned him up and discovered in some parts he had been scalped down to the bone and they didn’t think he’d survive the night but gave him a chance. He survived so they kept treating him, the clinic had him for a few months while he recovered but no owner came forward so be was placed up for adoption. I registered my interest and after a chat on the phone with the vet nurse who had been treating him I was invited in to meet him – and took him home that same visit. I was told he may always be bald due to the damage done to his scalp and head but he’s got a bit of a mohawk happening with some bald patches around his eyes, and some long term damage to the skin around his eyes but i monitor that. It was a year in May that he has been here and absolutely thrived! Unfortunately I don’t know his age, the clinic told me they weren’t sure how he would go with other birds but he has made some feathered friends who he sings to every day. He has received so much love and support in person and on-line which has been amazing.”
December
Broccoli the Green-cheeked conure; Joint Winner: Best in Show
Broccoli is a young turquoise Green-cheeked conure, owned by Keira Bailes. Keira volunteers for Feathers Together, helping to feed and clean the rescue birds. Keira says:
“I think one of Broccoli’s cutest qualities is the he will say “gimme a kiss” before giving someone a peck on the cheek followed by a kissing sound. He will also repeatedly say “cuddles” as he snuggles up into my hand. ”
Billy the Quaker parrot; Joint Winner: Best in Show
Billy is a nine year old blue Quaker parrot, adopted from Feathers Together by Mandy Cook. She says:
“Billy is a little character. He shouts “stop” at the dogs when they play up. When hoovering he shouts “what you doing”! When he sits on your shoulder he shouts “what what” in your ear!!!! When he is ready for bed he will hang upside down from the top of his cage and scream the house down until I cover him. Then no peep comes from him! He hates cardboard boxes and the sweeping brush and growls whenever he sees them. His favourite treats are cashew nuts, peaches, grapes and pine nuts.
