Foreclosure Crisis Affecting Pet Birds, Too!

Here is a little-known side of the foreclosure crisis: exotic birds abandoned or dropped at shelters because their owners cannot move into an apartment or a relative's home with the sometimes noisy creatures.

Animal rescue groups say they're becoming inundated with calls from people who lost their houses desperately trying to find a new home for their macaw or cockatoo.

Adding to the problems of finding new homes is the life span of the birds, which can run from 20 years for a cockatiel to between 50 and 80 years for the larger birds.

Intelligent, lively birds like parrots, cockatoos and cockatiels can be time-consuming to care for, loud, and destructive to themselves or their surroundings if neglected or mistreated.