Charlie - Scarlet Macaw

We received a call one morning from a concerned friend of a woman who rather unexpectedly became the new owner of a Macaw named Charlie.  According to the limited history we were given, Charlie is most likely an old wild-caught who spent at least 40 years in the same family.  The story we were told is that Charlie's original family loved him very much.  In fact, they rode around town with him on the front handlebars of their bicycle.  Over time, Charlie moved from home to home within the same family - each time with a degrading quality of life.  As his old owners grew old and passed away, he found himself in a "chicken coop" style cage where he was housed year-round outside.  His dietary needs were not being met and he developed a serious overgrown beak.  By the time we were called in to help, he was extremely thin and unable to eat because of the beak overgrowth.  Charlie was voluntarily surrendered to us and we immediately brought him to Dr. Stahl for treatment.  We're proud to say that months later Charlie has made such a huge recovery and has regained that Scarlet Macaw fiery personality he once had. 

Charlie's "chicken coop" prior to rescue

Prior to vet treatment

With our vet, Dr. Stahl

December 2008