Everywhere in the world,
we can observe
and be touched
by acts of kindness.
People from all walks of
life, faiths, and cultures
extend themselves
beyond the call of duty
to help others
unconditionally.
Through their noble deeds,
humanity as a whole
is elevated.
To commend
virtuous actions and
encourage more people
to be inspired
by their examples,
Supreme Master
Ching Hai
has lovingly created
a series of awards,
including the Shining
World Leadership
Award, Shining World
Compassion Award,
Shining World Hero and
Heroine Awards, Shining
World Honesty Award,
Shining World Protection
Award, Shining World
Intelligence Award,
and Shining World
Inventor Award,
to recognize some
of the most exemplary,
generous, caring,
and courageous people
who walk amongst us.
Today we present part two
of our three part series on
the World Parrot Refuge,
a non-profit organization
that has been honored
with the Shining World
Compassion Award by
Supreme Master Ching Hai.
This bird sanctuary,
operated by
the “For the Love Of
Parrots Refuge Society”
in Coombs,
British Columbia, Canada,
provides a “Home for Life”
for parrots
who have been abused
or had a caregiver
who could no longer
look after them.
In addition to providing
all its avian residents
a permanent home,
the Refuge is also a facility
where the public
can learn about parrots.
Young school children
are often deeply touched
when they see these
majestic and noble birds
first hand.
The Refuge’s environment
is designed to replicate,
to the extent possible,
the birds` natural habitat.
Most of the inhabitants
are free to fly and forage
for food in the safety of
the 2,100 plus square meters
of heated indoor
free-flight aviaries.
There are over 800 birds
from more than 50 species
and the Refuge’s
co-founder and president
Wendy Huntbatch now
describes what happens
when a new bird arrives.
When they come in,
they stay in their own cage
usually for 48 hours.
And all the other birds
that are in that compound
will come down
and speak to them.
So then after 48 hours
we open the cage
and the bird can come out
or stay in
or other birds can go in.
They make these choices.
But we’re very close to them
all the time
that this is happening.
And then you see them,
they make friends
very, very quickly because
they are a flock species.
They’re not a species
like a cat
who’s quite happy
to be independent
sitting on your lap
for the rest of their life.
A parrot isn’t.
A parrot needs a flock.
They make friends,
and eventually they’ll
create a small flock
of their own species.
When you come in
you’ll see that they’re
in individual areas for
different species of birds.
The same birds roost in
the same tree every night.
And then the flights
are about 100 feet long
on the inside.
Ms. Huntbatch
and the Refuge’s staff
want the beloved parrots
to enjoy the type of food
they would normally eat
in nature.
In the wild, parrots eat
seeds and nuts and fruits
and berries and all
the natural types of things.
They eat flowers.
They’re a vegetarian type
of living being.
So we feed them; we get
a huge variety of seeds.
We mix them all together
and then we give it to them.
Nuts we buy.
I spend CAD$1,400 a week
on nuts for these birds
because nuts are
so important for them.
They have large beaks
and it’s just so important
that they get the food
that nature meant for them.
And we feed them
fruits and vegetables,
they just get everything.
They’re very lucky.
One of
the local supermarkets
has taken them
under their wing
and they send us all the
fruits and vegetables that
we need for these birds.
Let’s go and meet
Millie and Babe, two of
the delightful inhabitants
of the World Parrot Refuge.
Those two have been
together for 17 years.
Millie, which is the one
on the left,
she’s a Miligold.
She’s a a hybrid bird.
She was given to me
17 years ago
from another sanctuary.
And then Babe is
the Blue and Gold with her.
Babe was my bird.
And he was a year old
when Millie came.
And Millie just said,
“This is my husband
for the future,”
and she took him.
She’s had a bath obviously.
Her feathers
are all sopping wet.
She’s had a good bath
so he’s helping to groom
his beautiful wife.
As you can see these birds,
they’re all sort of together.
When they first come in,
they always come in alone.
And it takes them no time
to make friends.
And then, like you can see
this couple here,
(they become)
very close friends.
They become pairs.
We saw a few moments ago
the Jenday
and the Sun Conure
preening each other.
At night
you should see them.
They sit together in two’s
and they preen each other
and you just know
how close they are
to each other.
Nobody should ever
be alone in this world
and they never are
when they come here.
So they’re just amazing.
Look there,
isn’t that beautiful?
Look at that.
Isn’t that just beautiful
watching them fly instead
of being stuck in a cage
with their wings clipped.
There’s no comparison.
When you’re
visiting these birds,
you don’t need
to say much at all I think.
Just looking at them
says most of it.
When you see them fly,
it says it all.
I think most of them
are getting pretty full now
because they were fed
early this morning.
The birds here get to forage
which is a normal
lifestyle for a parrot.
Every bird arriving at
the World Parrot Refuge
has a story,
and because this is a home
where abused birds also
come to stay,
some individuals
have very sad stories.
Such is the case for Spirit.
This is Spirit.
Spirit is a Military Macaw
that was caught in the wild
as you can see
by this horrible band
that he has on his leg.
Two years ago almost,
it was in August,
we had a call from a lady
who was very upset.
She knew about
this parrot that was
in a cardboard box
and was dying,
and was very ill
and needed rescuing.
The bird was sitting
in a cardboard box
in the heat of August
without any food,
without any water.
And normally birds,
parrots are like other birds,
they eat first thing
in the morning and
they eat last thing at night.
And he’d had nothing
to eat or drink.
He was in this
much excrement and dirt.
It was just horrific.
They called him Spirit
because even with all this,
he had the will to live.
So when we got him here,
I examined him
and you can feel, when
you feel down his spine,
that there’s a break
in the spine.
So we took him
to the veterinarian.
We had two different vets
do two X-rays each.
His spine
had been broken once
and then six weeks later,
broken again.
So his legs don’t work.
But he’s definitely happy.
He has a wonderful life.
His heart works
and his mind works
and his voice works
and his wings work.
He can even
demonstrate flying.
Can we see you fly
sweetheart?
He needs help.
Oh look at that,
look at that.
Now is that a happy face
or what?
The African Grey
is considered one of
the most intelligent birds
on Earth.
We are now introduced
to a few of
the gentle African Greys
at the Refuge.
In here’s
a little African Grey.
This little bird has epilepsy.
Hi sweetie, are you there?
Are you coming out? No?
I don’t like being
on television, I didn’t
get my hair done today?
She’s really very sweet.
She was totally featherless
when she came in.
She looked like a Q-tip
and we couldn’t figure out,
why every time
she’d grow feathers,
they would break.
And then one day
one of the staff said,
“I think this bird
is having a seizure
but it only lasted
a split second.”
So we watched her all day
and sure enough, she was
having mild seizures, just
instantaneous seizures.
And of course
she would fall
and break her feathers.
So now we’ve got her
on medicine
to stop the seizures.
And she’s growing
her feathers.
Now this is Casper.
Casper’s a new addition
into the family.
She’s only been here
for about three weeks,
or he has I should say.
Right Casper? That’s right.
Do you have anything
to tell us today Casper?
Do you want to say
I like being here?
There. There we go.
Casper spends a lot of time
with this African Grey.
His name eludes me
at this moment in time.
I have over
60 African Greys, it’s hard
to remember who’s who.
Like many great people,
Wendy Huntbatch
has a dream.
My wish, my dream is
that people would
understand that they have to
stop breeding these birds
and selling them for pets,
because it is
a very bad thing to do.
As you can see,
I have over 800 (birds).
This should tell people
they don’t make good pets.
They should stop
the importation
of wild caught birds.
It should be illegal.
Hopefully
that will happen.
Go and visit them
in the wild.
To watch parrots fly
in the wild is the most
fulfilling emotion
you will ever have.
Gracious viewers, please
join us again tomorrow
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants
for the conclusion
of our three-part series on
the World Parrot Refuge,
featuring the presentation
of the prestigious
Shining World
Compassion Award to
this amazing sanctuary.
For more details on
the World Parrot Refuge,
please visit
www.WorldParrotRefuge.org
Thank you
for your presence today
on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May all beings
be forever protected
under the wings of Heaven.