05/01/2024
We need wonderful, loving, and patient people who would like to foster birds in need!
HARP is a foster based rescue, which relies on the kindness and love of people willing to bring a bird in need into their homes. We love our fosters and they really do make our world go ‘round!
You don’t have to already be a crazy bird person, we will train you! We try hard to match fosters with a species they are comfortable with. If you have no bird experience, that does not mean you can’t foster a bird! We just ask that you trust us in making a match for you to learn how to work with birds. This will probably mean fostering a smaller species and then moving up as you gain confidence and knowledge.
If you’re already a bird nerd like us, you can tell us what parrots you have experience with, what you prefer to foster, and can even learn to work with something new! Many of the larger species of birds require an experienced, knowledgeable handler. If you know other bird species but want to know more about large birds, we can hook you up with a large bird foster who can get you that experience (this is also a way to get large bird experience when you’re interested in adopting one from us!).
Most parrots we take in will need to be fostered from between 30 days to 6 months or more – until they are adopted. Some parrots will be easier to place than others. If you have an empty cage (or two!) that could be used to house a foster bird, let us know in the application. Otherwise, HARP will provide an appropriate cage, a few toys, and a small supply of food. If the parrot requires medical care, HARP will work with the foster to cover those expenses as well. We expect fosters to provide some food and toys, along with lots of patience and loving care!
HARP has a high need for experienced cockatoo fosters. The white cockatoos (Mollucan, Umbrella, Sulfur-crested, Goffin’s, Bare-eyed and more) are popular birds that are featured in many funny internet videos. Unfortunately, these birds are very needy, high energy, and they will sing you the song of their people at decibels close to a jet engine. This causes them to often be displaced, and often with behaviors that we need to identify and/or work with. If you are someone who can learn and pay close attention to the body language of a cockatoo, understands the needs and need-nots of a ‘Too, we would love to chat with you!
In order to be considered for fostering, you must fill out the fostering application. Incomplete applications will be tossed into the round file (trash). We are a small group of valiant volunteers, so we try to answer applications within 7 working days. Often, we communicate by email, so if you haven’t gotten an email, add [email protected] to your safe list or check for us in your spam or trash folder.
Here is the link to the fostering application: https://forms.gle/gWKciGB3WHK1gaYSA Once you complete it, feel free to let us know at [email protected] so we know to look for it!
