Benefield: Bird Man of Santa Rosa finds new nest

John Lloyd has found a new nest.

For 12 years Lloyd, 68, has run Birds of a Feather Rescue, his nonprofit exotic bird rescue program, out of his home in south Santa Rosa, the same home he needs to leave in the coming days.

Since he got his landlord’s notice in early December, it’s been a scramble.

But deliverance has come.

After I wrote about his housing crisis last week, he’s been able to land a new place where there is room enough to both live and operate his rescue program.

“It’s much bigger, ” he said of his new digs. “The birds will have their own room.”

Where he is now and where he’s been for more than a decade, readers may recall, is a smallish home off Hearn Avenue, where the majority of Lloyd’s current roster of 17 exotic birds live in an array of cages that pack his living room.

In the new place, off Stony Point Road, he’ll be in a two-bedroom place. That second bedroom? It’s for the birds.

The new place came just in time.

Turns out that a property owner with a recent vacancy read the column about Lloyd’s housing pickle. He’s got space and he’s OK with the menagerie of animal friends.

In addition to his 17 exotic birds, Lloyd’s also got four dogs and five chickens.

“When the article came out, I got a call from a guy who says ‘John, I think I got a solution,’” he said.

“When I went over and talked to him I took one of the cockatoos, Max,” he said.

Apparently Max is quite the charmer.

The caller actually knew Lloyd from way back in his organized labor days and offered him the second unit on his property.

The landlord is entirely on board with Lloyd’s rescue program, but he did have one stipulation — he asked Lloyd to run the operation on an appointment-only basis.

“He just doesn’t want crowds of people around. His offices are on the property, so he’s got to keep that more businesslike,” he said.

Birds of a Feather Rescue is a registered nonprofit operation. A recent GoFundMe effort to support the move pulled in more than $10,000, most of which will go toward getting the birds settled into their new home.

“I got some donations from Pennsylvania and Reno and all kinds of damn places. It shows that some people have a heart, and I love it to death,” he said. “I’ve got a donor list that won’t quit.”

There is some amount of prep work that must be done to protect both the new house and the birds, Lloyd said. Some of the money will likely go to buy feed.

Lloyd knows there is work to be done to move the birds and his Labrador, German short haired pointer, miniature poodle and miniature schnauzer.

But moving the birds and setting up their new living arrangement takes particular care. He guesses he’s cared for about 4,000 birds over the years.

Every bird he cares for has a unique back story. Some have outlived their owners, some have been abused, some aren’t what the person who originally adopted them had in mind.

Lloyd takes them in, rehabs them if necessary, and in many cases tries to find them new homes.

But he’s particular.

Don’t just call Lloyd and tell him you want a bird. He’s heard that line before.

He does background checks. He searches for reports of domestic violence or any other sign of aggressive behavior. He does home visits.

“They don’t go out until they are completely tamed and ready to,” he said. “I’m really particular about people who get birds. If I don’t go and do a check on them, the birds aren’t going. I do home visits.”

None of the birds in Lloyd’s flock are ready to adopt out at this time, he said.

The good news isn’t limited to the birds.

In the new place, not only will his roommates have their own room, but Lloyd will get his living room back.

That love seat and recliner he’s got in storage? He’s actually putting furniture in his new front room, not just rows of bird cages.

“The living room is humongous,” he said.

It’s just about perfect, he said.

“I can finally have a living room I can sit in,” he said.

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.