Bird Crazy - Letters

Your late hours recently brought us in to board our little green princess, a Jardine’s named Holly. I was nervous about Holly’s stay because she had never been to Bird Crazy before, but I had seen the care and understanding your staff gives birds in the store, and I trusted that she would be in good hands.

Every time we’ve boarded Holly, her behavior is altered for days after she comes home. I have learned to expect it, but this time it was as if she had never left home. I attribute her calm to the daily interaction she had with your staff. Even though she pitched a screaming fit each time she was to leave her cage, those trips out of the cage actually put her at ease.

Words do not adequately express my gratitude for your staff’s effort to make her days feel more like life as usual. It is worth it to us to drive twice as far, right past her usual boarding facility, to bring her to your care.

Thank you!

Satasha & Chris Thompson

Dear Carl, (Editors note: Carl is spelled correctly with a K)

Thanks so much for all your help today; you went above & beyond the call on customer service. I want to apologize fo us deciding to go with the female 'keet right now over the cockatiel,and I wanted to explain,because our family very much wants a long and friendly relationship with you & the Bird Crazy family.... You see, you really sold us on going ahead and getting a large bird ASAP, especially the Hahns Macaw so jared & his sister & my husband & I all voted to start saving for the larger bird immediately,and in the meantime,Jared is going to try to breed his 'keets after all,Please forgive us for being such a pain; I promise you we are going to be long & faithful customers and will be putting a large bird on layaway very soon. Please bear with us and forgive us for changing the game plan. You were really good to us. We won't forget that. So be well and know that your patience has earned you loyal customers for life.

"How I fell in Love with my African Grey Parrot"
Lucy Leonard
When I joined the Navy Reserve years ago I met a physician, who loves birds. Being attached to the doctor's unit, I remember that at each monthly weekend meeting he would mention how much he loved his Blue and Gold Macaw, Bentley Schoendorf. I never forgot how he expressed his admiration for Bentley and to this day, there still exist a strong bond between them. During Desert Storm, I was recalled to Camp Pendleton, California where I met my future husband, Bill. We married a year later and have been living in Oceanside ever since. We decided not to have a traditional family with children, but rather wanted to have a pet. We could not have a dog or a cat because Bill is allergic to them. After we went to the Wild Animal Park and saw the bird show, we entertained the idea of having a parrot. It was from that moment on that we were fascinated by a Congo African Grey Parrot, Bruce Nidel. Bruce could speak English phrases with more articulation than many humans. At that point, we knew that we wanted to get a hand-raised Grey Parrot and we were told to go to a place called Bird Crazy in San Diego. The Trainer during the bird show did mention to us that the life span of exotic birds could be the same as the one for humans, from 20 to 80 years. He also told us they are very intelligent animals who need a lot of attention and diversion in order not to get bored, which could lead to mental problems, self-mutilation or screaming.We drove to Bird Crazy on Clairemont Mesa . Lenny La Riccia, the owner, sold us our African Grey. We brought him home when he was only 19 days olds. Bill and I fed him parrot baby formula by spoon every few hours, like how one feeds a human baby. We have had our Grey for 13 years now. His name is Dukie Fred Dexter Leonard and he can talk 3 languages. He will attack Bill if he has the chance; however, he will not hesitate to be nice and butter up to Bill in order to get Planter's peanuts.Dukie obviously prefers me to my husband and loves me so much. We have a wonderful bond, it is one of the purest relationships one can ever hope to have with an animal. Dukie can also be a very paranoid creature and does not trust strangers. He also instinctively senses when we will have an earthquake. It takes time to earn any bird's trust, especially since they will always remain wild animals, no matter how tame they may appear.In addition to Dukie, we have a Goffin Cockatoo from Indonesia and a Blue and Gold Macaw from South America. Dukie is also bonded to the Goffin whose name is Dufus, after the TV show The Odd Couple. Dukie has learned to say several phrases from Arnold Schwarzenegger's films; "I'll be back" and "Hasta la Vista, Baby".Our birds have become a real part of our family and we could not imagine not having them in our life.

My name is Diana and I live up by San Francisco. I was in the market for white backed mousebirds and Karl emailed me informing me that he had a nice, young male for sale at a wonderful and affordable price! We arranged to have the mousie airline shipped up here for an extra low, reasonable price which made this entire transaction affordable for me. Mousie arrived from an overnight flight to SFO cargo at around 9am and I picked him up. He was in very good shape and well feathered and energetic. He has since been released into my 700 sq foot planted outdoor aviary and he is thriving.The entire experience with Karl could NOT have been any easier and I could not be anymore happy with the bird I received.

Thank you Karl!
Di

I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS TIME TO THANK YOU FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL AFRICAN GREY. HE IS SETTLING IN VERY WELL WITH ONLY A FEW BITES. OUCH LOL. YOU ARE TRUE PROFESSIONALS. I FEEL THAT YOU HAVE GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND TO MAKE THIS A VERY GOOD EXPERIENCE. I HAVE TO ADMIT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT MAKING A PURCHASE OF A BIRD FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY. WELL I WOULD BUY FROM YOU AGAIN IF I DECIDED TO PURCHASE ANOTHER BIRD. I WISH TO THANK YOU FOR ALL THE EFFORT AND WORK YOU ALL HAVE PUT FORTH TO MAKE THIS A VERY PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE AND WOULD RECOMMEND YOUR SERVICES TO ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING A VERY WELL RAISED BIRD AND NEED HELP WITH IT.

THANK YOU,
RAY

Dear Len,

First let me wish you the very best in your recovery. I will be saying a prayer for you to get well soon. I was exhausted today after the long drive so I have been slower moving than normal and considering my back pain, that's slow anyway :) I have to tell you how extremely impressed we were with your wonderful store. We really didn't introduce ourselves to anyone and actually that is better since we were just "normal" visitors. The reason that I mention this is so that you know that your staff was superb, very helpful and knowledgeable. We were admitted to the bird section by Karl and when I mentioned that we definitely wanted to see the Queen of Bavaria's while we were there, he gave me one and my husband one. They are just incredibly lovely birds! We had not seen them in person before and they are wonderful. Then Karl just let us visit with the birds and did let us know if we had any questions to let him know. We took plenty of time to visit (we were there close to 2 hours). The birds are all in excellent health and the varieties you have just floored us. We have never seen so many species of birds in one location in our lives. The finches you have, oh my, so many kinds that we have wanted, we were so delighted to see them and when I am up to it, we would like to make the trip again for several of them. The variety of gorgeous soft bills was beyond belief. Some of the big birds just grabbed our hearts. There was a baby umbrella that just was going crazy over us and performing (near the nursery area) and another sweet umbrella on the stand. We adored the Major Mitchell's. We have one and they are a very special species. We did visit with all of them but I must say the hardest thing that I had to do is leave without that Bare-Eyed fellow :) We have 2 male Bare-Eyed cockatoos and I just love them to pieces. This fellow amazed me as he related to me as well as our own do, even doing the crazy flips and antics that I have taught ours to do. That species has a very special place in my heart; however, having two of these nutty guys is enough, LOL. We both handled the Greenwing without no problems - he will come around with patience, love and getting used to folks who know how to handle him. To Be totally honest, one of the Blue and Gold's said what sounded to me like "Good luck" and that made me break down into tears as our Otis used to say that. Whether that was really said or whether I just misunderstood, I don't know, Len. Otis passed away on November 23 and that loss was such a shock and we still have not gotten over it. We have a very trusted Certified Avian vet, Otis was there for his routine annual checkup and he had a heart attack there and could not be revived or saved. That is why it came as such a shock to us. We did have a full necropsy and histopath and there was absolutely nothing contagious - basically his heart just stopped. We just need time to heal from that, Len, and we didn't know it. I want to sincerely thank you for everything you have done and please know that we feel your store is wonderful, the staff was very kind and we were enthralled with your gorgeous and healthy birds.

Sincerely,
Ruth

11-6-07

Staff of Bird Crazy,

Thank you so much for taking care of Harvey-macaw, Babee-cockatoo, and Mango-conure during recent evacuations due to wildfires. If was so comforting to know that our "family" was being well taken care of. Your kindness and genourosity has not gone unnoticed. You have new customers for life!

Gratefully,
Ramona Valencia