Eclectic Daydreams

Graehstone

Queens is America's undisputed mecca for transplants from far-flung corners of the globe. Now exotic winged creatures also have a welcoming way station in the borough of immigrants.

Barry and Gayle Schwartz have turned their Maspeth home into an animal shelter devoted entirely to parrots — the only center of its kind in the city.

"Cats and dogs have many more options for shelters and homes," said Barry Schwartz. "As bird owners we love helping people and these birds find the perfect home." The Queens couple founded the Maspeth Bird Haven in 2004 and has since found homes for over 70 parrots.

"We saw that in the five boroughs there were no organizations, or animal rescues, for parrots," said Barry Schwartz. "It was a chronic problem for people giving up their birds."

Dogs and cats generally live through their teens, but parrots can survive through their 70s, often outliving their owners.

"A parrot is a very long-term commitment," said Schwartz, a full-time geologist with the city Department of Design and Construction.

"They live anywhere from 20 to 80 years of age. Very often people can no longer care for them and we help them find a home. Sometimes people have a child and can no longer keep their parrot," he said.

North America has no native species of parrot and importing them has been banned since 1992. But parrots originally from exotic locales including Australia, South America and Indonesia are still bred within the United States.

"We have handled most species of parakeets and cockatoos," Schwartz said. "We have seen orange-winged Amazons, macaws, Quakers and conures." Schwartz considers the shelter a way of life.

"We treat these birds like they are our own until we find them a proper home," he said. "We already have 28 birds, so we let them interact with each other." Unlike shelters that house animals in cramped cages, the couple converted their dining room and basement into an aviary to accommodate the flight patterns of their feathered boarders.

"They can sit in their cage or fly around the room," said Gayle Schwartz. "We just like to give them the freedom a normal shelter wouldn't be able to allow them." For information on adopting a parrot, visit mysite.verizon.net/vzermrgu.

Hookeye, a Congo African Grey parrot, is one of many such birds that share Maspeth home with Gayle and Barry Schwartz.

Chet, a Senegal parrot, is perfectly at home on a rope swing.

Marco, an Amazon parrot, finds Barry's shoulder the perfect hangout

Cookie, a cockatoo, puts on his best smile for the camera. The long life spans of exotic birds sometimes mean they outlive their owners - which can bring them to Maspeth and the city’s only shelter devoted entirely to parrots.

Are you looking at me? Pudgie, a Quaker parrot, wants to know if you’re considering adopting him from Maspeth Bird Haven.

Samantha, an Amazon parrot, is among the 28 parrots available for adoption at Maspeth Bird Haven, run by Gayle and her husband. The couple opened shelter in 2004.

It's not just pirates who have parrots on their shoulders — Taco makes himself at home perched on Gayle Schwartz.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/01/08/2008-01-08_couple_turns_home_into_parrot_shelter.html