After that, we found ourselves with some free time so we decided to go over to Feathered Friends, the bird habitat. We hadn't been there before and An really wanted to see the parrots. We parked in front and went to what we thought was the main entrance, but it turned out to be the back entrance. As we were walking away, the door opened and one of the caregivers asked if he could help us.

We explained that we had finished volunteering for the day and we wanted to just look around at the birds if possible. He offered to give us the tour even though they normally didn't do tours at this time of day. He told us that they would be bringing all the birds back inside soon but he had enough time to show us around. He said his name was Brian, and he took us out to the Parrot Garden where he showed us each of the birds out there and explained what kind of bird they were, where they came from, what their name was and any personality quirks they had.

I thought one of the most impressive birds out there was a Congo African Grey parrot who belonged to one of the founders of Best Friends. She has since passed on but her parrot survives in Feathered Friends. She brought him with her when they founded Best Friends, and he's been there ever since. He's almost 60 years old. An really liked another of the Congo African Greys, a guy named Cody. He was very pretty, with pale yellow eyes and a bright red tail. He was also a talker, and while we were looking at one of the other parrots we could hear him talking away.

"Did you get your tour?"

"Wanna piece of chicken?"

Brian said, "I keep telling him that's wrong, it would be cannibalism."

What are YOU looking at?

There were a lot of parrots there, all different types and ages. A number of them had been rescued from "birdie mills", the avian equivalent to puppy mills. Birds were kept there just to breed, so their owners could make money by selling the offspring to pet stores. As a result, some of them had issues with pulling out their feathers. It's just like what happens to some dogs kept in puppy mills, they have to find some way of keeping themselves active because they're never let out of their cages. And when they have no toys or companionship, all they can do is pick at themselves.

The caregivers use bandages and t-shirts on the cockatoos to help prevent them from tearing out their feathers for a few days if it's needed. Brian also gave us anecdotes about each of the birds as we stopped to look at them. There were a pair of green parrots, and one of them screams if the other one is taken out of the cage, but the other one couldn't care less either way. One of the other parrots has a dislike for all males (humans). Only females can handle him safely. They each had their own story and their own quirks.

One of the most visually impressive birds was a Green-winged Macaw named Rio. He had the look that people usually associate with parrots; Red head and neck going down to green wings and blue tail feathers. But the colors were just brilliant, and I hadn't seen one of these in person before. Really a beautiful bird.

When Brian finished our tour, he began to take the birds inside. Every morning they take all the birds outside to the Parrot Garden, and every evening they bring them all back inside. It's a lot of work because there are a lot of birds, but it's so cool for the birds. Some of them are in cages with lots of things to climb on, and others are in larger enclosures, co-existing with one or two other birds. As with the dogs and cats, a number of them have personality or health issues usually related to the circumstances under which they were brought to Best Friends, but like the dogs and cats, it seemed to me that these birds were getting the best care possible. Their caregivers go to extraordinary lengths to ensure everybody's well taken care of, and the Parrot Garden really is a wonderful place, complete with a really nice fountain that has water cascading over rocks, making a soothing bubbling sound.

Can’t see this video? Click here to watch it on YouTube

After we went around taking pictures of all the birds, it was getting close to 5 PM, and we still wanted to hit the welcome center on the way out like we always do. So we packed up our stuff and drove down to the welcome center where I bought another shirt with a Cyrus painting on it. You can't have enough Best Friends shirts, as far as I'm concerned. When we were done we changed into our comfortable shoes and hit the road back to Vegas. Once again, it had been an immensely gratifying weekend. I was tired but my soul had been purified and I was at peace. I love working with the animals at Best Friends even though we mostly just take dogs on walks or sit and socialize with them, or clean their areas for them.

It may not be the most important job there, but it's the most satisfying job I've ever had.

>>> Continue >>>

“Did you get

your tour?”