It's party time for the birds! All they need now is a disco ball and a laser light show and they can start selling tickets to standing-room-only crowds.

More than ever before, the birds at Best Friends are getting a chance to mingle. These are birds who have been chatting as neighbors for years, in some cases, but have never had a chance to rub wings together. Until now.

It's interesting how things unfolded. At first, staff decided to build a big outdoor flight area for the cockatiels. Then, it was going to be a cockatoo flight area instead. After all, cockatoos are much bigger birds and need more room to stretch and play. And then, there were the macaws to consider.Š

But then, a new wrinkle. You know how when there's a new toy in the house, all the kids fight over it at once? Same thing here. All the birds wanted to check out the spiffy new play area. So the bird caregivers came up with a great idea: They'd just rotate who got to use the place. Kinda like a parrot park.

The new room is big enough, for instance, to put all the African grays at Best Friends in at once. Or, all the macaws at once. Bird get-togethers this big have never happened before. And the birds are loving it. Here's just one example. Cody is a single male African gray who has lived at Best Friends for years. He went into this new party room with all the other "grays" at the sanctuary, many of whom are already bonded pairs.

Cody was the only eligible bachelor at the party. So, two single female "grays" swarmed right over to meet the handsome stranger. Boy, were the sparks a flyin'! Cody has already asked Santa for a little black address book as a stocking stuffer this year. Sounds like he's going to need it.

Story by David Dickson
Photo of Al Johnson and the African Greys by Maggie Hall

For this story and other great "Sanctuary Stories" go to the Best Friends web site HERE