Biosketch

My History
Although California-born, I grew up around Dallas, Texas; graduated from UT Austin; and lived in the Austin, Texas area for many years. I have now retired and relocated to the country in Comanche County, Oklahoma. I have frequently had flying dreams, and I loved 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'—both the book and the movie. I have always felt very close to birds.

My first bird, Tweetie Boy, was a green budgie I received on my 7th birthday. He talked, did tricks, and was a much-loved member of our family during the next decade. When I left for college, he stayed with my folks and later kept my grandparents company.

In years past, I've raised Arabian horses and maintained MacDonald's farm when my kids were in FFA and 4H. My daughter still has the horses, and even though I now share my home with a lot of birds, I also love the sight, sound, smell, and feel of a sensitive and responsive horse! When I want to experience what really loud and pulsing to the core is, I enjoy the Austin Taiko Drumming group.

FCA's History
Feathered Companions Aviary began more than 17 years ago when I received a cockatiel companion who reminded me how much I love to interact with birds. I bred cockatiels for a while, but then I fell in love with a special sun conure, Solay. He and his mate Suzie have been with me since 1995. Through them, I learned about co-parenting, being included in a flock, and sharing deep affection with feathered creatures.

As the "bird fever" grew, I acquired more types of parrots and finally made some hard decisions that led to my specializing in smaller species  that I felt were most adaptable to human and bird flocks. My wonderful sun conures continue to be excellent feathered ambassadors. The plucky Pyrrhura conures have become my major focus, and my appreciation for the feisty and beautiful parrotlets is also growing.  All my birds have inspired me to write articles of my experiences and to help educate others.

Through many bird e-lists, I have networked with like-minded people, and I am currently President of the Pyrrhura Breeders Association. I actively support responsible birdkeeping, as well as organizations that are concerned with the well-being and re-homing of parrots (and not the "warehousing" of birds to generate donations).

The Future
My primary joys are my birds and participating in the best that aviculture and related endeavors have to offer. I will continue to home-raise handfed, socialized youngsters that can be pets and/or breeders—individuals that interact with both the "extended" flock and with people. I also will continue to learn and expand my "reality" in regards to these special companion birds. I will pass on what I've learned to those just starting or who are also questing to increase their knowledge and understanding in aviculture. I believe that all aviculturists have an obligation to provide the best care for, and access to owner-education about, these wonderful feathered creatures that share our homes and hearts.

I am a member of the following avicultural and animal-welfare-related organizations:  Pyrrhura Breeders Association (PBA), Avicultural Society of America (ASA), International Conure Association (ICA), Parrotlet Alliance (PAI), National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), Oklahoma Animal Interest Alliance (OAIA), Responsible Pet Owners Alliance (RPOA), and the Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA).

Animal Rights Fanatics and Thieves
I am very cognizant of (and actively oppose) the ongoing legislative  encroachments of “animal rights fanatics” organizations that embrace fascist ideologies and that attempt to force compliance with their agendas.
I understand that their ultimate goal is to break the human/animal bond and take away the public’s access to ALL companion animals (including exotic birds) through incrementally legislating and eliminating breeders, and thus the availability of home-raised, socialized pets. If there are no breeders, our grandchildren will have no pets.

In addition, I educate about coattail opportunists who use the AR-agenda to hoard or 'warehouse' birds and exploit them under the guise of animal welfare, and which in reality give true "rescue" a negative image. I also work to expose thieves who seize animals using bad ordinances under the guise of "animal welfare" to adopt out (RE-SELL) for a profit.

I wholeheartedly support legitimate rescues and re-homing individuals and groups. Like most breeders, I try to help in re-homing birds when possible.

More Information, Links, and Contact
Please visit my other pages and the Links page, which includes a whole world of avian networking articles and pictures. Contact me with specific questions about my birds.

Cordially,
Marcy Covault

© Feathered Companions Aviary. All rights reserved. Copyright laws at this site.
No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of FCA.
Disclaimer:
Articles and observations are my experience only. Each person should rely on common sense, personal research,
and professional avian veterinarian advice to determine their own actions with their birds.
This site last updated on May 2, 2008.