Home/Surrender a bird
Surrender a bird in MarylandNeed to find your bird a new home? We can help.
Life changes, and sometimes you need to rehome a bird. Mid Atlantic Bird Rescue takes in parrots and exotic domesticated birds of every kind from across the Eastern Shore and the region. Tell us about your bird and Amanda will reach out to talk it through.
No judgment, and no need to drive anywhere first. We are a home-based rescue, so visits and drop-offs are by appointment only.
Rather talk? Text or call 302-864-5543.
Questions
Asked and answered.
What happens after I send the form?
Amanda reads it and reaches out to talk it through: your bird, your timeline and what the right next step is. That first conversation is the whole process, and there is no judgment in it.
Can I just drop my bird off?
No. Mid Atlantic Bird Rescue is a home-based rescue, so visits and drop-offs are by appointment only. Send the form or text first and Amanda will set a time.
What kinds of birds do you take?
Exotic domesticated birds of every kind: parrots large and small, cockatiels, African greys and more. Birds also come to us through rescues with state agencies.
Before the conversation, and what never to do.
It helps to have ready
Your bird’s age if you know it, what they eat day to day, any vet history, how they are with hands and with strangers, and what they are used to: the cage, the toys, the noise of the house. None of it has to be exact. It gives Amanda a picture of the bird before she meets them.
Why people rehome
A move, a new baby, an allergy, a death in the family, a change in work, a bird that needs more than a household can give. Parrots live for decades and lives change in between. Asking for help is the responsible thing, and nobody here will make you feel otherwise.
What happens to the bird
The same thing that happens to every bird here: safe refuge, food and medical care for as long as it takes, and then a home chosen for them, not the first one that asks. The rescue’s commitment to a bird is for life, including if an adoption does not work out.
Please, never
Never release a parrot or an exotic bird outdoors. They are not native here, they cannot find food, and the first cold night ends it. And be careful of rehoming a bird to a stranger online: a free bird is a target for people who resell them. A rescue exists so you do not have to do either.
If the bird is in immediate danger, or you cannot keep them another day, say so in the form or text Amanda directly. Same-day is not a promise, but it is the first thing she will try to solve.
On the day
When a time is set, the bird travels best in their own cage or a carrier they know, covered with a light cloth, in a car that is not too hot or too cold and never in the trunk. Bring whatever is theirs: the food they are used to, a favorite toy or perch, any paperwork or vet records, and the things you have learned about them that are not written anywhere, like the word they say when they want a nut. Those details go on the bird’s page here and into the conversation with the family who adopts them. Say goodbye properly; birds notice. And know that you can ask after them. Families who surrender a bird sometimes want to hear that they settled, and Amanda will tell you. If you are surrendering more than one bird, say whether they are bonded: a pair that has lived together stays together here, and goes to a home together, and that is easier to arrange when we know it from the first message rather than on the day. The same goes for a bird with a medical condition: tell us early, so the vet and the right home are lined up before the bird arrives, not after.