Florida sanctuary gives rescued parrots a thriving home in DeLand
A sunless room of 13 neglected birds became a DeLand sanctuary now caring for 123 to 126 parrots, with 75 heat lamps and painting sessions.
Patty’s Parrot Palace in DeLand turned a 2010 rescue of 13 abused birds into a licensed nonprofit with 126 parrots in February and 123 tropical birds in June. The sanctuary’s rule was: “The bird comes first.”
Trish Koile started it after answering a classified ad for bird cages and finding birds packed into a room with no sunlight, moldy water bowls and contaminated food. One bird had died and was left in its cage, and Koile and her husband, Tony, brought the rest home before the rescue grew into a permanent sanctuary. The nonprofit took in displaced companion parrots for temporary boarding, rescue and rehabilitation, and it also offered bird training classes, speaking engagements and behavioral counseling when birds needed help settling back into flock life.
In February, the sanctuary’s usual monthly electric bill of $250 to $350 climbed to $900 and then $1,800 as cold weather pushed it to run 75 heat lamps for tropical birds. Volunteers and donations helped keep the place moving, while the flock stayed in warm enclosures.
Patty’s Parrot Palace also opened its doors to people through painting-with-parrots events inside the bird habitat, where cockatoos and other birds roamed nearby while visitors painted.
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