Sanctuary in Pasco County provides exotic birds with permanent home

Florida Exotic Bird Sanctuary in Pasco County

The sanctuary houses over 850 parrots and the goal is to be able to house 1,200 birds by the end of the year.

HUDSON, Fla. - A wide array of colorful birds calls the Florida Exotic Bird Sanctuary (FEBS) home. The non-profit has over 850 parrots.

"We are able to provide these lovely creatures with a permanent home where they can live out their days just being a bird and being bonded with other birds of their same species," FEBS Treasurer Dennis Padget said.

Many exotic birds outlive their owners, with some living 80-100 years. FEBS Founder Patrica Norton says many birds arrive after their owners realize they can no longer care for them, or their owners pass away.

"They want them in an environment like this where they will live their entire lives out here," Norton said. "They will not get bred, adopted or sold."

The sanctuary receives parrots every week from all over the country. Many birds have not been around other birds for their whole lives.

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"It's our job to get them kind of situated and happy with each other, and once we get a nice group together, we're able to put them with each other in this nice big flight," FEBS Director John Wiggins said.

The property has several bird flights, with both the birds and habitats varying in size. The need continues to grow. FEBS had 400 birds in 2017. They are currently fundraising with the hopes of being able to house 1,200 birds by the end of the year and 2,000 by 2030.

As passionate as the staff is about the birds, they say the purpose of the sanctuary is to prevent these exotic birds from being pets in the first place.

"Our tours are educational tours. They’ll come out and say, hey I want to buy a bird, and I just want to see the different species you have. Before they leave here, we will talk them out of that, because some of these larger birds will live 80 to 100 years," Norton said.

And in case you’re wondering, freeing the parrots into the wild is not an option.

"They already know how to eat from us, so we cannot release them, but we can give them this kind of life," Norton said.

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