A local bird lover who said she was accustomed to people ask others to watch their dog or cat while they went on vacation once wondered, "Wait a minute...who's going to take care of my birds if I go away?" It was this idea that led to the creation of her now one-year-old business, The Bird Sitter.

Tricia Boodoo, 34, of St Joseph has loved animals since she was a child. She told Newsday that growing up, she had dogs and some parrots. She was also a volunteer at the El Soccorro Wildlife Centre for about three years, where she did a course in wildlife rehabilitation.

As an adult, she continued to have birds as pets but all of them are rescues. She has a blue and gold macaw, an African grey parrot, an orange-winged Amazon parrot, a white-tailed cockatiel and a black-headed caique.

Funnily, the parrot's name is Parrot and the cockatiel's name is Bird.

[caption id="attachment_914298" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bird sitter Tricia Boodoo takes care of birds for her clients who are away for a period of time at her home in St Joseph. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]

She also cares for and rehabilitates injured birds to re-release them into the wild.

She currently has two such parrots, one her mother calls Semo and the other who she calls 'The Lonely Traveler' as he just showed up in her yard one day.

"I learnt a lot from the (wildlife) course but a lot of the things were learnt from experience in taking care of birds."

She said she was talking to a friend who lives in Canada last year and told her, "You always seeing somewhere looking for people to board their cat or dog, but no one asks about a bird. What do you think?"

She said her friend loved the idea and offered her support in beginning the journey of being a bird-sitter.

"A lot of people liked the page and ask questions about things they want to find out about birds.

"I got a parrot a couple of days ago because his family was going to a beach house, for instance. I'm hoping it catches on and picks up."

[caption id="attachment_914295" align="alignnone" width="1024"] One of the birds Tricia Boodoo owns, Charlie, plays with his toy at his home in St Joseph. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]

She has wildlife licenses for all the birds she owns. The Conservation of Wildlife Act requires that people have permits to own certain birds, including orange-winged Amazon parrots and macaws.

In addition, it says, "No person shall clip or cause to be clipped the wings of a protected bird or in any way mutilate or cause to be mutilated any protected animal or bird in order to prevent it from escaping from its cage when opened."

Boodoo told Newsday, "One of the questions they do ask is how you obtain the animal. They try to eliminate people getting them through the illegal wildlife trade. They have the authority to seize that animal.

"Sometimes the cage that they (owners) have the animal in...then they have no toys or anything. People need to remember that yes it is a bird but they're smart. You can let them out and let them move around more a bit."

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