A Bit About Us
SoCal Parrot - A Unique, Urban Wild Parrot Rescue
Back in 2005, before SCP was conceived, our founder Brooke was working with Project Wildlife in San Diego. At the time, adult wild parrots that were brought into the PW Care Center were humanely put down, and nestlings were given to volunteers to keep as pets. Although these birds are very much wild animals, there was no protocol in place for their long-term care and eventual release back into the wild. That's when Brooke decided that she and her husband, Josh, would start a small rescue dedicated exclusively to the naturalized wild parrots in San Diego. Fast-forward a decade or so later, and SoCal Parrot has grown into a successful wild parrot rehabilitation organization. Since 2014, we have increased our intake and release numbers exponentially. We partner with other rescues throughout Southern California to ensure critical cases can be triaged or seen by an avian vet while they await transport to our facility in San Diego. It truly is a labor of love, and we are very proud of all that SCP has accomplished so far!
Who We Are
SCP Staff
In addition to our amazing team of volunteers, SoCal Parrot is run by a small group of compassionate, hard-working folks. Although we are but few, we are mighty!
Founder | Director
Brooke Durham
After building a career as a successful professional portrait artist (photography), Brooke Durham suffered a career-ending injury to her spine, with permanent nerve damage. Years of rehabilitation later, Brooke began volunteering large amounts of time with a large local wildlife rescue center, where she was able to forget her own physical pain as long as she was focused on helping these often-forgotten members of the animal community.
Working in a large wildlife rehab organization exposed Brooke to a huge variety of wildlife species (reptile, mammal, and avian) that call Southern California home. The most interesting, and fateful, of these animals were a pair of naturalized nestling wild Amazon parrot chicks. They were the inspiration for the establishment of SoCal Parrot – “A non-profit that exists to bridge the gap of care and consideration that naturalized parrots fall into because they are neither native wildlife nor truly domestic.” In 2017 Hurricane Harvey delivered a near-miss to the habitat of the last 2,500 or so remaining Green-cheeked (aka Red-crowned) Amazon parrots that call the Lower Rio Grande home, reiterating that the naturalized flocks of parrots in Southern California may one day soon serve as the genetic reservoir for this species.
In early 2017 Brooke was awarded the first new wildlife rehabilitation permit in the San Diego area in 25 years. She and her team are working hard to establish SoCal Wildlife to continue bridging gaps in care and consideration the field of wildlife rehabilitation. She considers her personal mission to be fostering better communication and collaboration within the field for the health and wellness of both wildlife rehabilitators and the animals we serve.
What We Do
Rescue - Educate - Protect
SoCal Parrot was founded to bridge the gap of care and consideration for wild, naturalized parrots and to be a resource for wild parrot rehabilitation, education and protection. SCP is operating under the 501(c)3 parent organization "REP for Wildlife". Initially conceived in 2007 and founded in 2010, SCP is a San Diego-based wildlife rescue that cares for sick, injured, and orphaned wild parrots.
Rescue
Our facility is located just east of San Diego, but our rescue area spans throughout Southern California. From Imperial Beach to Pasadena and even up past Ventura, SoCal Parrot assists in the rescue of wild parrots from several different counties in the region.
Rehabilitate
At SoCal Parrot, we are dedicated to giving every wild parrot patient the best veterinary care and rehabilitation in order to be a candidate for release back into the urban wild. Parrots come into our facility because they are sick, injured or dying; we do our best to ensure they can recover and re-join their flock as soon as they are healthy.
Release
Just like every wildlife rescue organization, the goal for each patient is to eventually release them back into the wild. SoCal Parrot staff ensures each bird is microchipped and tested for infectious psittacine diseases before they are cleared for pre-release. The birds must pass our rigorous criteria before they can be released. We monitor flock locations to ensure all released patients are set up for success, and release them as a smaller flock to join up with their counterparts. Whenever possible, we reunite healthy juveniles with their parents.
