07/28/2020
Jinx’s story...
Today I close the door to the past...
Open the door to the future, take a deep breath and step on through to start the next chapter in my life...
Jinx is an incredibly special bird. I don’t say this because I am biased, but because he shows me every single day that after all he’s been through; he still has the capacity to love and trust. That is a quality not many people have.
My husband and I met Jinx in the beginning of March 2020. We attended a bird fair in Atlanta, GA to enjoy seeing all of the birds and toys they had. We did not have the intention of purchasing a bird seeing as I had made my mind up that my next bird would be a rescue. As we were walking along, we noticed this gorgeous little Timneh African Grey in a clear acrylic case. He seemed terrified. His chest was plucked but otherwise looked healthy. We were instantly drawn to him and just by looking at him, knew he had a story we needed to hear.
A dear soul named Brenda had rescued him about a month prior to us meeting him. She stated he had been pushed in to a kitchen corner not handled and fed only wild bird seed. She knew she couldn’t leave him and I thank god she didn’t. He had a wonderful home before that one from what we understand. Jinx’s history is pretty much unknown other than he is at least 30 years old and is presumably a wild caught bird who was imported before 1990. As for many parrots, I can’t imagine the sheer terror and broken soul that came with being torn from his family and home. Free. After we heard this story, we stood there and looked at him, hearts bleeding. He was wide eyed, beak slightly open as if he was ready to defend himself if needed. We decided to walk around and look some more while we discussed the situation. We thoroughly discussed the time, effort and patience it was going to take to bring a bird back from such a horrible past, if at all. It didn’t take me long to decide that I would do anything and everything I could to make his life comfortable and happy. I was more than content with the thought that I may never be able to handle him or be affectionate with him. As long as he knew he was safe, I was happy. We talked to Brenda and told her we wanted to take him home, to which she was extremely happy. We purchased a very nice cage there and loaded it up. All that was left was to get this sweet boy and head home. He was placed in a decent sized box with holes to help keep him calm. When we got home, we got everything set up and opened the box.
Never in my life did I expect to hear the sounds that came out of this box. I knew African Greys were known to growl, but to hear it in person is intimidating. After gently trying to remove him from the box and several bloody fingers later, he was in his cage. It was then that I noticed his cataracts and that his vision was greatly impaired. He wasn’t able to see where I was at and would turn the direction of my voice but couldn’t track me visually. I spent days sitting by him and talking to him. I spent months gaining his trust. As of now, he is a happy guy who loves his scritches and willingly steps up now. He uses his beak as his eyes. Everything that comes near him, he touched with his beak ever so gently. He will allow anyone to hold him and love on him. The only downside that we face now is his poor vision. He has at least 30 more years with us, God willing, and his quality of life is great affected by his cataracts. He is fearful of shadows, movement and sounds. He can’t place them, therefore is terrified until I reaffirm that he is safe. He has honestly become the love of my life and I want to make sure that he has the most amazing years to come ❤️
