Bird lovers descend into Jackson for Exotic Bird Fair

For the second time this year, the Jackson fairgrounds hosted its most popular winged event, the Exotic Bird Fair, on Sunday.

Bird and animal lovers from all over the Southeast came to browse different types of birds and to look at the exotic animals such as sugar gliders and prairie dogs that are for sale.

Ken and Lynnette Price traveled from Henderson Sunday afternoon to purchase the family's second cockatoo.

'They can get loud, but she likes him and she doesn't really like me, so we're getting a bird that likes me,' Lynnette said in regard to her husband's cockatoo, which he was carrying in a cage.

Ken said that bird shows such as the one Jackson hosts three times a year are great for bird lovers.

'Selection and price are a lot better here (than pet stores),' Ken said. 'A lot of times, these are the breeders.'

He explained that the breeders raise the birds by hand, which means they're easier to train and to work with. The cockatoos are a favorite as they tell the couple 'goodnight' and tell the Prices to 'come here' when they leave the room.

The Prices have the two cockatoos, two Sun Conures and three Pomeranians at their house.

'The dogs probably like her better than she likes them,' Lynnette said.

Kimberly Morales uses the bird shows as an opportunity to sell some of her rescue birds and German shepherd puppies. On Sunday, Morales had the only dogs for sale in the building.

Morales, from Jackson, raises the purebred dogs and sells them at shows as a side job. She's been breeding dogs for 15 years but has been rescuing birds for only five to six years.

'I like things that play back with me a little more and bark,' she said.

For Michael Camire, of Bird Buffet N Things LLC in Prattville, Ala., shows such as the one on Sunday are where he can make some money in the supply part of his business so that he can put more money into rescuing birds. Camire sells birds and supplies, but the rescue work is what he loves.

'We work with them, rehabilitate them and get them back healthy, and then we try to find an everlasting home for them,' Camire said.

Camire said last year alone, his business took in 181 parrots. Currently it has 70 to 80 birds, which are in various stages of readiness to be sold.

'Some of them are very easy, and others take a few years,' he said. 'It just takes a lot of time and patience and love. It's something you've really got to love to do to do it.'

Reach Tyler Whetstone at (731) 425-9629. Follow him on Twitter @tyler_whetstone.

Three birds are perched on a stand at the Exotic Bird Fair at the Jackson Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon.(Photo: TYLER WHETSTONE/The Jackson Sun)

Kimberly Morales sells her purebred German shepherd puppies at the Exotic Bird Fair at the Jackson Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon.(Photo: TYLER WHETSTONE/The Jackson Sun)

Baby parrots waitfor someone to take them home from the Exotic Bird Fair at the Jackson Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon.(Photo: TYLER WHETSTONE/The Jackson Sun)

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