My friend, Pat Whitfield, is a bird lover. She is dedicated to her "friends" and has a whole room full of them. They are free to fly around the house during part of the day, (those that like to). Cockatoo George, is on her shoulder and a dove sits on her hand.
These lovebirds nestle in shredded paper, protecting their egg. You can barely detect the egg because it is small and white against the white paper. Pat is no longer breeding birds to sell. She just enjoys her friends.
She only has two large cages, now. They are friendly and cheerful and provide much joy to her life. It takes a lot of dedication to nourish and feed and care for these birds.
Along with the birds, Pat collects bird houses. There are so many I couldn't begin to count them. The one above is so appealing to her birds, they continually peck at the wood and widen the hole. Others they leave alone.
When she walks down the street, George sits on her shoulder and doesn't make any attempt to escape. He obviously loves her. It seems as though everyone likes birds, but the birds have an affinity for Pat. When we visited Moaning Cave last September, the parrot in the cage fell in love with Pat and spoke to her, words the owners didn't know the bird could speak. It allowed her to pet it and didn't want her to leave. This huge parrot could have snapped her finger in two.
A wild dove in my yard allowed her to approach it so closely, she could almost touch it. They sense the bird lover and act differently around her than around others.
Bird houses and feeders around her yard become nesting boxes, like this feeder above.
And this one. Both are quite low to the ground. They seem to trust that nothing will happen to them. Did I mention there is a cat in this house as well?
This bird house was my favorite, but so far, the birds don't choose it. They know what's best and Pat is on their approval list.
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