A year ago today..

I posted about a baby Red-bellied parrot.

These were the days pre-Pixel, where I was anxiously trying to find a female Red-bellied parrot. I had gone the road of trying to find adult birds in need of a new home but I was unsuccessful. Well that is not entirely true - I did find one that I got to visit, but her plumage looked really dodgy and she wasn't particularly nice and would require a lot of socialization. Out of fear that she might have some type of disease and not wanting to risk the health of my flock (I could do a partial quarantine as I did with Pixel but ultimately, flock and new bird would share the same air) I passed. On top of things, her owner was selling her because she had started to pluck and I didn't want, at that point and time, to have to deal with that level of work. After all, I did have a few birds that already required some time, extra attention and needed to have some behaviours modified, adding that little Red-bellied might have put me out of my depth at the time.

Then there was another one I heard of who's owner wanted to find a new home for but eventually decided to keep her. And there was one a few hours away that had belong to some type of zoo and I just didn't bother.

So I turned the breeder route. With the help of a friend who've I met first on a parrot forum and later in person, I did find a breeder. She was a few hours away but had a pair of Red-bellied parrots who had successfully bred in the past. So it became a waiting game. Eventually the pair had a clutch of three babies, one had gotten injured by the dad, the other two had gone to a local pet store (local to her city of course) with the promise that if a baby girl turned up, the breeder would get it back and would sell it directly to me. Alas, both turned out to be males so my hopes lay with the little injured one. But he also turned out to be a male so I resigned to wait for the next clutch.

That is, until Pixel came up. I've posted her and mine's story before. Coincidence? Faith? I don't know but in June I finally got my female Red-bellied parrot. The irony in all of this? Shortly after Pixel came home, I was offered another female Red-bellied parrot. For the longest time, nothing then two in a matter of two months or so.

Out of all of my guys, only two (Piper and Shade) I got from a breeder. Seeing how Cape parrots are rare and that I'm also set on getting a female, the likeliness of me getting one in need of a new home are rather slim. I've already got in touch with a breeder, but chances are her pair won't have any babies for a while (settling in) and that is ok. Maybe, just maybe, I'll come across one in need like I did with Pixel.

I guess only time will tell.