Tahlequah bird breeder Jane Jorgensen never really expected she – or, in this case, her parrots – would do something very few others around the world have done.
After all, the number of breeders across the world who can say they have helped hatch a white Quaker parrot is extremely low. A dozen may be a big overestimation.
But Jorgensen was astonished when she realized the first clutch, or hatch, of eggs produced by two of her parrots resulted in a dark-eyed white Quaker.
“I had never seen this white before,” said Jorgensen. “Normal Quakers are green with a gray forehead and breast. Then, they came up with blue Quakers with a bluish-gray forehead and breast. This bird’s mom was a pallid [light] blue, and the dad was a dark-blue split. So, I got on the Internet to check.”
Then, she realized just how significant this new creature would be to her. Had the bird been red-eyed, it would have simply been an albino Quaker – not really a big deal. That, however, was not the case.
“I found out there are fewer than 10 of these in the world!” said Jorgensen. “A guy in Florida bred one, and a guy in Oregon. They were the only ones in the whole U.S.”
She started questioning experts, and before long, parrot aficionados where trying to track her down.
“People from all over the U.S. started calling and e-mailing me – aviaries in Oregon, Iowa, Florida and Louisiana,” said Jorgensen.
Callers wanted to get their hands on this extremely rare bird, and all were willing to pay for the privilege.
(Jorgensen did not want to publicly specify how much aviaries had offered her for the white Quaker, only that it was a hefty chunk of change.)
Those who called from Oregon, Iowa and Florida wanted Jorgensen to continue hand-feeding the bird eight for more weeks, then get DNA testing the bird, before shipping it to its new owner.
“I was scared!” said Jorgensen. “What if it died? What if it died when I DNA’ed it?”
Jorgensen said the DNA process – to determine if the bird is male or female – requires breeders to cut a toenail until the Quaker has bled enough to soak through a paper card.
“In the breeding industry, it’s very important to DNA birds,” said Jorgensen. “It takes quite a bit of blood, and sometimes, the wound will open up and they will bleed to death, so it’s not an easy procedure. And shipping is costly and very dangerous.”
But a man from Louisiana, whom Jorgensen admits was the lowest bidder, offered to drive up and buy the bird on the spot. Accepting the offer, she said, was an easy decision based on what others wanted.
She pulled the bird from its nest on a Monday, and the buyer arrived the next Friday to take the Quaker to its new home.
“They’ve been working over 30 years all over the world trying to get these white birds, and guess who gets one? Some little old lady in Tahlequah, Okla.!” Jorgensen said, laughing. “That’s what makes Tahlequah unique!”
Contact Josh Newton at jnewton@tahlequahdailypress.com.
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