Exotic Bird Finds Home in Rohnert Park

Cockatoos are known in the bird world as affectionate, intelligent, acrobatic. Sadhu, an Umbrella Cockatoo native to Indonesia, whose magnificent white body is rimmed with flashes of yellow, does not disappoint.

But he wasn't always that way. He was found wandering along Highway 116 about 17 years ago, several local caregivers said. No one knows how he got there, or why the large bird was walking along the road, but one thing’s for sure — he’s had anything but an easy life.

Best estimates put Sadhu in two homes before he reached the former Animal Farm Pet Store in Santa Rosa, now Village Pet and Supply. When Animal Farm sold, Karla Lica, his caretaker, could no longer care for him.

Sadhu was transferred to the Sonoma County Animal Shelter in Santa Rosa. He didn’t do well there, he was plucking his feathers and the shelter staff were worried. So, 49er Pet in Rohnert Park agreed to take care of him.

Exotic large parrots like Sadhu live long lives — usually between 70 and 80 years. So, Sadhu was just a teenager. Maybe he was going through a phase, but Kitty Collins, who owns 49er Pet, said he wasn’t too social.

“When he first came here, he wouldn’t come out of his cage,” Collins said. “No one could pick him up, and he was chewing.”

But, about four months into his stay, Patricia and Mark Chamberlain, of Rohnert Park, happened into the pet store. They were on a routine errand for food when they spotted Sadhu. The two, who together have raised six children and have two other parrots, almost immediately fell in love.

“A bird will choose his owners,” Mark said. “He came right to me, jumped on my shoulder. I think animals know when they’ve found their owner.”

Collins said when the two would leave, Sadhu would call across the store for them.

That was it. Sadhu, the bird who shifted from home to home over the last five to seven years, and who most of the time wouldn’t even let people pick him up, had a home.

“I knew right away,” Patricia said. “But we took our time. We had to get to know him.”

The Chamberlains visited Sadhu during lunch hours, after work, in the mornings. They had experience with Lexi, their four-year-old Cockatoo and with their African Grey called Taz.

“He’s a completely different bird,” Patricia said. “He dances, does somersaults, he loves ‘70s music and he’s starting to talk.”

“I loved Sadhu,” said Lica, his previous owner. “But when the pet store sold, I couldn’t keep him. He’s such a cool bird — everyone would come to see him.”

Now, Sadhu has quite the life. The Chamberlains say their birds are a lifelong commitment. They’ll do anything for them.

“We sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ to them every night … Sadhu’s been out for pizza and Chinese.”

“He needed someone who knew cockatoos,” Collins said. “Now he’s home.”