Once again, parrots took over Houston in January. I’m talking about the Houston Parrot Festival, held January 25-27, 2008 at the Doubletree Houston Intercontinental Airport. No doubt more than a few hotel passerby were convinced Jimmy Buffet was in town, with all the “parrot heads” running about. These parrot heads however were the real deal; people so enthusiastic about all things parrot that they literally dressed the part for the festival’s “Party In Paradise” reception (the proof is in the top photo).
We sponsored a special “Win A BIRD TALK $400 Shopping Spree” raffle with proceeds directly benefitting the National Parrot Rescue & Preservation Foundation, which hosts the event. My hand was a bit jittery as I pulled one winning ticket from the 500-plus tickets overflowing from the container. The lucky ticket belonged to Patricia Sund, who, coincidently, gave us the fabulous quinoa recipe in the March 2008 issue. Fortunately, Patricia was up for the other part of winning our raffle; me videotaping her purchases in the vendor area for BirdChannel.com.
Patricia set about finding the best foraging toys for her two African greys. Mattie Sue Athan, BIRD TALK’s contributing writer and author of “Guide To A Well-Behaved Parrot,” joined us to provide on-camera commentary on the benefits of the many new and interesting toys and foraging products available. I couldn’t have asked for a better on-camera crew, and we will have the footage up on BirdChannel.com soon!