Hi! I'm Emily and I helped Jamie start up the Austin Parrot Society.
Growing up, we had finches, cockatiels, and lovebirds throughout my childhood, and then a friend of my father's built an aviary on our property and paid me to handfeed all the babies. I spent almost five years handraising hundreds of baby parrots of many species, and ended up with my very first large parrot, a Military Macaw named Charlie, from one of my clutches. He had a genetic disorder which made him unsuitable for sale and ultimately took his life, but I had him for four wonderful years and will love and miss him forever.
After working for a breeder and realizing how much there is to know about parrots and how few people who end up getting one really understand about their new pets, I decided to move from the breeding side of things to the education, rescue, and rehoming side of things. I did that unofficially on my own for many years, then was a board member for Bird Haven for a couple of years. Then, in 2008, Jamie and I got tired of sitting around complaining about the lack of information and community out there for parrot lovers in Austin and decided to do something about it. So she started APS and I wrote a book called the Bird Owner's Manual and offer a free bird ownership class a couple of times a year. We're both doing our part to help Austin's bird lovers come together and share information.
In addition to my work with APS, I also work with birds and other animals on a professional level. I started volunteering in vet clinics when I was 11 years old, became a vet tech at 17, and have been working in vet clinics in some capacity ever since. In 2008 I started From Beaks To Barks, through which I offer my services as a behavior consultant, relief vet tech, and pet sitter, specializing in birds and animals with medical and/or behavioral special needs.
I share my life with a Red-Sided Eclectus named Bayu, an Aru Eclectus named Cah'ya, a Red Bellied Parrot named Yodit, a Brown Headed Parrot named Zuma, a Bronze Winged Pionus named Ernie, a cat named Lola, a Betta named Zephyr Jr., and whatever other animal(s) I happen to be fostering at the time.
Thank you for your interest in the Austin Parrot Society! We look forward to seeing you!
Sincerely,
Emily Strong
Founder
Austin Parrot Society
