Gizmo and Mister

09/17/2026

🚨Lights Out Alert! Tomorrow night approximately 4.1 million birds will migrate through Oregon's skies. Help keep them safe by turning off your outside lights and drawing your blinds between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Why is it important to go lights out during fall migration (now - October 19)? As migrating birds pass over brightly lit cities, skyglow drowns out the stars, confusing them and luring them into urban areas. Once trapped in the windowed maze of the city, birds either hit buildings directly or circle them until they collapse from exhaustion. Lights Out programs help to prevent birds from being attracted to urban areas.

👉Visit CSU's Aeroeco Lab for the nightly numbers: aeroecolab.com/oregon

P.S. For our neighbors to the north, Washington state has a red alert TONIGHT and tomorrow with 5.4 million and 4.6 million birds traveling through the state.

09/08/2026

06/18/2026

Gizmo and Mister 39 year old care-taker Byron Geils III diagnosed with late-stage cancer:

Byron Charles Geils III is an information and communication technology (I… GFM 4C needs your support for Life & Dignity in the Fight Against Late-Stage Cancer

05/10/2026

Cockatoography and hip hop.

03/24/2026

Allopreenings

03/24/2026

Gizmo, an umbrella cockatoo, and Mister, a Goffin’s cockatoo, are both males in their twenties. I am Gizmo’s second home. And Mister’s fifth.

Gizmo has opened himself up to Mister’s preening, but the trust required for Mister to allow the same in return is still being built, one careful interaction at a time. That asymmetry is not a flaw. It is the work.

Allopreening, the mutual grooming behavior common across nearly all avian species, is one of the most honest signals of trust a bird can offer. It requires vulnerability.

For a cockatoo who has cycled through five homes, vulnerability is earned, not assumed. Gizmo is slowly earning Mister’s trust. As am I some times.

This photo is the product of a lot of love, patience, and respect for where each bird is in their own story. 🥰

01/05/2026

Celebrating Aviculture