A phone call late one evening from Birdline UK brought me and Cyril together. I was already very full at PreciousWings, but when I heard Cyrils story, I knew I would never be too full to offer warmth and safety to a needy bird. Its hard to believe, but this elderly old bird was hated by his owner. She had no love or compassion for him, and was quite prepared to kill him if he wasn't taken away immediately. Cyril had existed for over 19 long years in a tiny, bare, cylindrical cage. A cage that would not even be suitable for a finch. He had no toys, and his cage was permanently locked shut. He lived a loveless and lonely life. Whatever had he done to deserve such misery?? It would seem that the crime of being born was enough to condemn this poor, helpless little bird to a life of isolation, bereft of compassion, care, or love.

A couple of days later, I collected this elderly, frail old bird from Gina, the lady who was 'safe-housing' him for Birdline. The first thing I did when I got him home was gently remove him from his tiny, bare little prison and place him in a larger cage where he had room to move around and spread his wings. The old cage was dumped, never to be used again. Because Cyril had spent so many long years cramped in such a small cage, he could not even lift his wings from his sides. He had arthritis in his feet, legs and wings. Because he had been unable to move properly for so long, falls were frequent. I padded the floor of his new cage thickly to cushion his falls, and covered all his perches in 'Vet-wrap'(tm) to help his feet get a better grip, and help the soles of his feet heal from years of perching on tubular, hard, ridged plastic perches. 

At first, Cyril refused to eat anything but pure sunflower seeds, the only diet he had ever known. He bit me more than any other bird had ever bitten me, frequently drawing blood. After a while, as his trust began to grow, the biting got less, and eventually stopped altogether. He began to experiment a little with other foods, the first new food he decided to try was scrambled egg. Eventually, he began to eat apple, broccoli, quality, nutritionally balanced cockatiel food. He would nibble on wholemeal toast and even began to peck at a cuttlefish bone.

One of my severely splayed budgies, Tutu, was Cyrils first friend of his own kind. She constantly flew onto the side of his cage, and chirped cheekily at him, as though to say, ''Come on Cyril, cheer up! You're safe now! Would you like to be friends with me?''  Cyril looked nervous of little Tutu at first, but soon, he began to respond to her insistent offer of friendship, and would move right over to where she was, beginning to chirp back at her. He had a friend, his sad, and empty past was slowly but surely becoming a distant memory.

Within a few weeks, Cyrils courage was such that he began to venture outside his cage, and explore the world beyond. He happily wandered around the floor (he couldn't fly any more because of the damage that confinement had done to his wings) He loved to walk along the back of the sofa and the chairs, and would eagerly step up on to my hand in order to get to my shoulder and perch there like King of the Castle. Despite his intense and constant biting in the first few days, now there was nothing this sweet old bird loved more than having his neck tickled, or his back and wings softly stroked. He loved to be kissed on top of his head, and have his beautiful little crest preened by gentle fingers. Cyril would go to anybody, his forgiving, trusting little heart bore no grudges for his heartbreaking past.

As the weeks passed in to months, with good care, veterinary help, occasional medication and a good diet, all wrapped up in a whole lot of love, this beautiful cockatiel was thriving. His wings, although basically useless for flight, could move freely from his sides, and he often held them stretched out, just for the sheer joy of being able to do so. He could flutter a bit, a wonderful achievement for a bird whose wings were, not so long ago, frozen.

From this point on, every day of Cyrils life began with a beautiful dawn. The endless nights were over.

Click here http://photos.imageevent.com/chirpy/special/Cyrilsworldnow.wmv to view Cyrils video diary.