For our February 2026 Sid’s Spotlight, we’re sharing Brawley’s story — her journey from neglect and loneliness through rescue to becoming the self-assured queen of her universe.

Brawley is a Blue-and-Gold Macaw who spent the first ten years of her life in a cage the size of a filing cabinet, not even large enough for her to spread her wings. No toys. No human interaction. Grocery-store seed. Sadly, not an uncommon start. Also not uncommon, she plucked every feather she could reach.

Frightened, angry, and aggressive, she spent the next four years in rescue. Prospective adopters walked past her with only a cursory glance, often ridiculing her — even calling her “ugly” because of her naked breast and shoulders.

The rescue asked me to foster her “for a few days.” Honestly, I was terrified — she has a beak the size of a Buick and a well-earned reputation as an aggressive biter — but I agreed – “for a few days”. On the third day, when I reached into her cage to retrieve her food dish, she spontaneously stepped up on my hand. Stunned, I brought her out and reached up with my other hand to scritch her head. She rolled over onto her back in my arms like a baby. And so it began.

She never has made any attempt to bite me.  But every morning while I’m fixing their breakfast, she sneaks up behind me, nips me gently on the ankle, says, “Ow” and laughs upproariously.  Then  she runs down the hall, laughing and squawking, and I’m supposed to chase her.  When we get to the end of the hall, we turn around and she chases me back into the kitchen, There aren’t words to tell how it warms my heart that this little girl, once angry, aggressive and insecure, has blossomed into this self-confident lady who loves to play.

She had never had toys, and wooden toys seemed to intimidate her. When we began making Sockatoos, she became an important member of the design and quality-control focus group.

And she loves her Sockatoos! For the first few years, she laid one or two clutches of eggs each season. She adored her eggs, gently brooding them, keeping them warm, moving them — all her wild instincts snapping into place. She refused to leave her nest voluntarily. I put her food and water on the floor of the cage next to her and forced her out for a few minutes several times a day. But when she saw me approaching with a Sockatoo, she was off those eggs in a flash, up on her Sockatoo perch before I could open the cage door. “Sorry, kids, Mommy needs a little ‘me’ time.”

The shy, aggressive, overlooked girl who arrived plucked and uncertain is now a bold, mischievous, gloriously self-assured queen of the house. The other birds are warned to guard their Sockatoos — she doesn’t hesitate to waltz into an open cage and help herself. ALL Sockatoos belong to her.

Our “for a few days” foster celebrated 20 years in December 2025. I think it’s safe to say Brawley is a foster fail.

Janet Hill