BY JACK LOWENSTEIN
The Rainforest Clinic for Birds and Exotics hosted parents and students from Christian Homeschool Support of the Western Communities at the clinic’s aviary in Loxahatchee Groves on Friday, Feb. 17.
Christian Homeschool Support President Margaret Cooper said this kind of trip is important as part of the education that the children in the program receive.
“Sitting in front of a computer or looking inside the books, it doesn’t really bring it all to fruition,” Cooper said. “I think hands-on makes it last longer for a child’s brain, and then they remember it when they get older.”
Dr. Susan Clubb, director of the clinic, brought out her bird, Moonlight, to show the students. Moonlight is a black palm cockatoo that has been with Clubb for almost 25 years.
“She gets a little nervous if a lot of people hold her and touch her, and she really doesn’t like the people who don’t know how to touch her. The best thing is she just sits on your hand, and you admire how beautiful she is,” Clubb said. “So, who wants to hold her?”
Just like that, Moonlight was interacting with the students. You wouldn’t even know she was timid, as she went from person to person.
Clubb is a staff veterinarian at Parrot Jungle, now Jungle Island, in Miami, where they imported Moonlight. The palm cockatoo became overstressed with too many people, causing her to have issues.
“She’s a very gentle bird. A lot of people have held her, and she has never attempted to bite anybody,” Clubb said. “With most parrots, you have to be cautious, because if they don’t know you, they might be scared.”
In the front office of the clinic sits a 19-year-old African grey parrot named Lacey. She belonged to Clubb’s mother, who could no longer care for her.
“They used to have such detailed conversations, and she sounds so much like Clubb’s mother,” veterinary assistant Terry Timberlake said. “That species is very good at mimicking sounds that they hear.”
Since she is in the office most of the time, Timberlake said Lacey enjoys making all the copy machine noises and other quirky sounds you may hear while working in an office space.
Timberlake, the proud owner of a Eurasian collared dove named Flyboy, led the field trip.
“He had been attacked by something. He had no tail feathers and was badly cut up,” she said.
Timberlake said Flyboy was found as a baby and became tame to humans. He was released, but was unable to fend for himself in the wild, so he was brought to a dove aviary.
“He had to fight with every bird,” Timberlake said. “We tried him with education, and he worked beautifully. When the facility closed, he came with me.”
Timberlake believes birds are animals that can be cared for and given a proper life by humans.
“There are times when you can have a high-maintenance bird, as long as you figure out a life that gives that bird lots to do and the birds are not bored,” Timberlake said, noting that many birds have the intelligence of a young child.
“You can teach them a little bit about what’s dangerous,” she continued, “but just like a young child, you can’t teach them everything that’s dangerous, so you have to protect them, and just let them be happy.”
To thank Clubb for hosting the group, Cooper’s daughter Ruth, a CHS student, made a scenic painting of different exotic birds in a natural environment. All the students who attended signed their names on the back of the artwork.
“We were just going to do a card, but I just thought, it’s more fun to do a painting,” Ruth said.
Along with interacting with the birds in the clinic, everyone from CHS toured the inside space and went outside to look at other birds in the aviary. Among them was a group of blue-headed macaw.
The students then were given pinecones that they decorated with peanut butter and animal feed for a take-home craft that could be used to attract animals to a nearby tree.
Cooper viewed the field trip to the Rainforest Clinic as a chance to impact each and every one of the students in the CHS program.
“Who knows, maybe someday one of these children will be a veterinarian,” she said. “They’ll want to take care of birds or cats and dogs… It’s a good thing to get them exposed to as much as you can.”
To learn more about Christian Homeschool Support, visit www.christianhomeschoolsupport.org or call (561) 758-0632.
To learn more about Dr. Susan Clubb and the Rainforest Clinic for Birds and Exotics, visit www.susanclubb.com or call (561) 795-4878.
