How did it all come about:  “Dale-Mako”.

I have owned several birds and have handfed my 15year old Blue-throated Macaw. He went from being sweet and cuddly to aggressive and nasty during the time my children were babies, but has matured and settled to being my good friend.

One day, my 8-year-old son decided that he wanted his own bird. Well, I thought he might be a little too young to make a lifelong decision like that. However, over the last year, he has done all the research and we discussed the responsibilities, dedication, and daily involvement one needs in owning a larger bird. In addition, he saved up all the money he needed to purchase a bird. He put gift money in the bank, for example, the money for the “DS” electronic game toy went in the bank. I only helped him with the cage, as I decided that this new bird should have a stainless steel cage as my Macaw does. It makes cleaning it so much easier.

After many hours of researching different birds on line, visiting bird stores, and asking questions, we decided on a male Red Sided Eclectus from a breeder. Now the search was on for a breeder. Luckily we found one but she did not have a Red Sided Eclectus; however, she referred us to Lisa.

It was a wonderful experience to deal with Lisa and to learn about our future bird, Dale-Mako. My son was overly exited at getting to have his own bird soon.

Dale-Mako was not fully weaned at the time, therefore, we had to wait for about 4 weeks. However, during this time Lisa would e-mail us pictures and we had several phone conversations about how Dale-Mako was developing. In addition, Lisa was able to get comfortable to let her baby bird go to a new family and feel assured that he would have a good home with us and be well cared for. The waiting period gave us plenty of time to prepare our house for the new addition, find the right cage, and rearrange the furniture to make room for an additional cage for Dale-Mako.

Well, all the waiting and being patient has well paid off. On the day I drove my son to the airport to pick up his new bird, he was so excited, it seemed he was holding his breath the entire drive. We were early, nevertheless, his carrier was already near the counter waiting for us.

On the way home, I called Lisa to let her know that Dale-Make had arrived and was well. He was very quiet in his carrier, which my son was holding on his lap sitting in the front seat of my car. When Lisa spoke to him over the speakerphone in my car, I could feel and see that he was feeling already much better.

When we all arrived at home, I tried to prepare my son that the bird might be very shy and not being able to be handled right away. Well, it was a little tricky to get him out of his carrier, but after that everything was just wonderful. The first few days it seemed that Dale-Mako did not eat as much and was slightly reserved, but after about 2 ½ weeks he was well adjusted and enjoys being handled and played with.

Lisa has called several times to make sure that everything was going just fine. She also mailed us a package of things the bird was playing with at her home in addition to dried grains she used to cook for him. This really made a difference, as he felt more at home when he tasted this food.

It was a wonderful experience to buy a bird from someone who really cares. It made me feel good to know that Dale-Mako came from a caring house and not just a place were his parents were bred.

I know that my son and all of us will have many wonderful moments with Dale-Mako.

We dropped "Dale" and most of the time call him only Mako except for situations when he gets into things he is not supposed to, you will hear my son say, "Dale-Mako what are you doing?"

— Martina

My bird!

I love him so much.
— Nikolas