1. Love is felt, not seen – Within moments of being blessed with my first blind angel, it became strikingly clear that love is felt by the heart. They may not gaze up at your face, but blind Birds show us that they feel our love rather than seeing it on our faces. Because they aren’t looking out for a smile or silly face, they rely on feeling our energy & presence, this actually means they feel love more intensely than sighted Birds & give it more too. Because they rely so much on sensing our presence, their presence is enormous.
2. Quality of life must be given – May people don’t agree with allowing blind or visually impaired Birds to live ‘because they have no quality of life’, but for them to have a quality of life we must first give them a quality of life. Many blind Birds are laid in tiny barren cages & are treated like they are made from glass, a Bird in this situation isn’t having no quality of life because they are blind, but because their caregiver doesn’t understand what it is to be blind. If we tune in to the individual Bird & what they need, they can blossom. Blind Birds can climb, explore, play, chew, dance, sing & so much more, we just need to learn what they need from us in order to safely adapt things for their safe enjoyment.
3. Sensory support is vital – Birds who are blind, weather from hatch or due to reasons in later life, often have sensory issues. Birds rely enormously on vision, so when that vision isn’t there, the world is full of baffling smells, sounds, shadows (for those with partial vision), movements & sensations. The world can become a very scary & isolating place where a threat could come at you at any moment & you won’t be able to know what to do, but it doesn’t need to be this way. For each of my blind Birds, I have created an individually tailored sensory therapy program to help them locate in their environment & know where sounds are coming from. Some Birds also have sessions with pleasing sensory textures to help relax them & aid their ability to know where they are in space. Once you hit on the thing that their sensory system needs to make sense of the world, there is no holding them back.
4. Isolation isn’t needed – There are myths surrounding social contact with blind Birds. Not all blind Birds are happy mixing with their own kind, but many want that & some even crave it. Blind Birds can mix with others of their own species who have gentle & understanding natures, it’s best to have supervised play sessions where you can ensure all is gentle between them. Some of my blind residents live in with their own kind full time, but careful supervision is required. One of my blind Budgies even lived in an aviary with 20 other Budgies! She was blind from hatch & an aviary Bird all her life, so when she came with her flock, aviary life was continued. Many caregivers of blind Birds are also told to distance themselves from the Bird too. Anything you do with a sighted Bird, you can do with a blind Bird, you may just need to adapt it slightly. Blind Birds won’t break if you sing them a song or give them a good cuddle.
Blind Birds may be a little different & they may need slight adaptions to live their lives to the full, but they are incredible. I cry to think of all these remarkable, funny, cute, cheeky angels who had their lives ended too soon because prejudice stopped people from feeling the love in their hearts. Please, be the one to feel the magic.