PEP, June 2008: Birdman of Maspeth

Local 375 member Barry Schwartz and his family run the only parrot rescue group in New York City.

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Freed from her cage, Maya zipped around the living room like a dive-bomber before perching herself on a wood stand with Marco.

She hung out for a few minutes with her fellow parrot, also an Orange-winged Amazon.
Moments later, apparently restless, Maya abruptly took off and plopped herself on the shoulder of Barry Schwartz, who was sitting comfortably nearby on a sofa.

“You can’t just say ‘Hello,’ ” said Schwartz, smiling as he addressed his avian friend. “You had to land on my shoulder, didn’t you?”

Local 375 member Schwartz, a geologist who works as a Project Manager at the Dept. of Design and Construction, runs a parrot rescue group with his wife, Gayle, and 13-year-old son, Peter. The family shares its quarters with 34 parrots, who, when not liberated, reside in cages in the dining room and basement.

Maspeth Bird Haven Inc. — the only parrot rescue league in New York City — has found homes for 82 parrots since Barry and Gayle founded it in 2005.

Today, the Schwartzes have four parrots ready for adoption. They call the remaining 30 “permanent residents.”

“Thirty is the limit!” Gayle insisted.

“We have to be careful with this because we can’t fall in love with every parrot,” said soft-hearted Barry, who remains attached to Lucky, a Congo African Grey parrot, whose nipping scarred his right hand.

The couple’s love affair with parrots is older than their marriage.

In 2004, as they waited to pick up Barry’s suit for the wedding from a clothing store, Barry and Gayle “stopped in a local pet shop a few doors down and walked out with two parakeets,” she said.

Before long, the couple found themselves acquiring additional parrots. Soon they learned about the problem of abandoned parrots in the city and set up the rescue organization.

The Schwartzes take great care in evaluating potential owners of their parrots. They require applicants to be 21 years old, provide three references and visit their potential pet three times. The couple also visits the homes of applicants.

The best way to inquire about adoption is to send an e-mail message to the rescue group’s Web site, which can be reached by Googling “Maspeth Bird Haven.”

At work, Barry’s knowledge about birds has proved to be an asset. Earlier this year, he worked with a team from the network of parrot rescue groups in the Northeast to remove 40 Quaker parrot chicks from nests in the light fixtures of a Bronx baseball field.

The city replaces light fixtures about every 30 years; the chicks surely would have died had Barry and his team not removed them. The birds are now at an out-of-state sanctuary, while the adults have already built new nests in the fixtures. “Animal Planet” will feature the rescue this summer.

The rescue was one of the reasons that Maspeth Bird Haven was selected in May for the Companion Animal Guardian Award by In Defense of Animals, a non-profit group that fights animal exploitation. In April, the state Senate adopted a resolution submitted by state Sen. Serphin Maltese praising the group.

One parrot saved by the Schwartzes was abused by its former owners. More typically, people give up their parrots when they move, get married or lose their devotion to caring for a pet likely to outlive them.

“It’s a big commitment, not only of yours but your children,” Barry said. “These guys here have an average life span of 25 to 60 years. I am 47. They are all going to outlive me. We had to go out and get our will changed for them.”