Sometimes a rescue doesn’t begin with a bird in a box or a call from the Humane Society. Sometimes it begins with a text message from a friend.

When HFFN’s President Lea heard from her friend Jill* that the teenage son of Jill’s long time friends who had adopted Jill’s bird a few months earlier was sending deeply disturbing messages — threatening to harm the bird — she knew one thing immediately: that bird needed to get out. Fast.

The screenshots said it all. The messages were alarming, aggressive, and explicit in their threats. This was not a situation to wait on.

There was just one problem. The bird was in California. Lea was in Hawaii. And bringing a bird back to Hawaii requires a 30-day import permit — time this bird simply didn’t have.

So Lea did what HFFN does best. She picked up the phone and called her contacts.

Within minutes, a network of dedicated bird lovers, spanning two states began working the problem. From Washington State, Angela Rezentes (HFFN Founder and former President), Betsy Lott (Mollywood Avian Sanctuary), and Susan Hilliard (Flying Colors Aviary) jumped into action, working the phones and networking their California contacts. In California, Rose Levine (Parrots First) helped coordinate on the ground — and the remarkable Ms. Glenda, without a moment’s hesitation, got in her car and drove for hours to retrieve the bird and bring him safely to her home.

The photo of him perched calmly on top of his cage in her bright, clean living room says everything. He is safe. He is cared for. He has no idea how many people moved mountains to make that happen.

To each of you — aloha and mahalo nui loa. Love and thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. These ladies were guardian angels with phones and car keys, and this bird is lucky he had them in his corner.

We did good. 🦜

*Name changed to protect privacy.