06/03/2026
Ten years ago today, a news crew came to my house to film my little baby rescue.
At the time, I had just left the world’s first large podcasting community after eight years. I took my severance package and started a rescue.
I was led to it. It is my life’s calling. Some people can do math, I understand birds.
If you’ve been around long enough, you know that pretty much sums up most of my decision-making process.
Back then, Birds and Beaks operated out of a giant old mansion in Battle Creek’s historic district. It was beautiful, chaotic, full of birds, and completely unsuitable for what eventually happened there.
I just wanted to make a difference.
Nobody told me that saying yes to birds would lead to transport runs all over the country, a camper held together by determination and questionable engineering, a garage aviary, a five-acre facility, a jingled-assed house chicken, sixteen 3D printers, a giant laser, hundreds of thousands of followers, and a man named Karl accidentally helping raise a bunch of money for a rescue he was actively annoyed with.
Some of the last ten years were incredible.
Some of them hurt, profoundly.
There were moments I was sure we’d never recover from.
There were moments that restored my faith in humanity.
And through all of it, somehow, you guys quietly amassed into an army.
You were here for the loss of 11 birds in one night due to a suspected food contamination. You were here for the loss of my little sister. Through this ridiculous year so far that has been a hard lesson in resilience.
You adopted birds, volunteered, donated, shared posts, bought ridiculous things from Etsy, laughed with us, cried with us, and occasionally gathered around while I processed compassion fatigue by publicly choosing violence against internet trolls.
Somewhere along the way, this stopped being “just” a rescue and became a community.
A weird one, bless our hearts, but my favorite kind.
I keep thinking about that younger version of me standing in that old Underground Railroad Mansion talking to a reporter about this little rescue.
She had absolutely no idea what was coming.
She didn’t know about the Busted Ass Bird Buggy or the garage aviary at the new house. She didn’t know that one day her husband would say, “For our 20 year anniversary, I’d like you to get this fu***ng rescue out of our house.”
And she didn’t know that hundreds of thousands of people would eventually find their way here and become part of her little dream.
She just wanted to make a difference.
Ten years later, I genuinely want to know:
Did we?
How did you find Birds and Beaks?
How long have you been here?
What made you stay?
Tell me your story.
I plan to spend today reading every single one.
Thank you for giving the bird with us since 2016. ❤️🦜
We’re doing a birthday fundraiser! You can donate at Birdsand beaks.org/Donate
So far we have raised: $2568
Whether it’s a penny, or 1000, or anywhere in between, we appreciate you! And if you are unable to donate, and we certainly understand that, sharing and telling your friends helps! ❤️
