Nancy, "Mr. Peaches" Moluccan cockatoo and "Baby" Hyacinth macaw.   photographer unknown

We are a small educational parrot sanctuary providing education to the visiting public and the best quality care possible in regards to food, foraging, mental stimulation and training.  Our flock represents formerly unwanted and abused parrots.  I provide Storytelling to our human visitors and our flock on all topics concerning parrots.  I am dedicated to stopping the abuse of these highly social, intelligent, long lived and over bred animals.  I emphasize adopt don't shop.  Always educate yourself before bring a parrot home.  Adding a parrot to your family is like having 5-year-old child for the rest of your life who can outlive you.  Taking good care of a parrot is complex and labor intensive.
I do not offer a tour or a parrot show.  I do not put parrots on people's shoulders for photo opts!   I do not force parrots to be petted, touched or sit on arms they do not want to be on.   Forcing a parrot to do things against their will can break their spirit.

Nancy Forrester at Higgs Beach with Cockatoos Mr. Peaches, Molly, & Dulce and Baby Hyacinth Macaw in 2013 photograph by artist Sage Sohier from her book Peaceable Kingdom ​Sage Sohier - Peaceable Kingdom on Vimeo

In 2013 photographer Sage Sohier visited Key West and photographed me interacting with some of our rescued and lifetime care birds.  She has been photographing people in their environments for more than 30 years and her current project then was a photographic series about people devoted to animals, titled “Peaceable Kingdom”. Sage has photographed animal rescues of all sorts, including farm rescues, and also people who care for or rescue and rehabilitate wild animals. Her focus—both with pets and wild animals—is on the special and caring relationships that develop between animals and people.

She has taught photography at Harvard University, Wellesley College, and the Massachusetts College of Art, and has done commissioned work for the George Gund Foundation in Cleveland, the Robert Rauschenberg Residency program in Captiva, FL, and the Photographic Resource 
Center in Boston. Sage’s work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Davis Museum, Wellesley College, 
and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.
I am honored  to be part of Sage’s project, “Peaceable Kingdom”: People’s relationship with Animals. 
Check out her previous work on her website:   Sage Sohier

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Looking forward to seeing you soon
Come visit us 

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Key West Parrots at
Nancy Forrester's Secret Garden
518 Elizabeth Street
Key West, Florida 33040

Open to the Public Daily 10 to 3 everyday
Adults $10 each, Children 5 to 11 $5 each

Artists Jennifer Strachen and Steve Lohman enjoying a special educational event on parrots at the Secret Garden.   Steve has two Sun conures on his shoulder.     photograph by Nancy Forrester 

To view ALL my Instagram photos, go to ​Nancy Forrester (@keywestparrots) • Instagram photos and videos

To view our parrots with our visitors go to Parrot People Portraits • Instagram

Coming soon more photos of our parrots

"Remembering  Our Parrot Teachers, Guides & Heros who have "Crossed over the Rainbow Bridge"

Hawkheaded parrot "Rock" died of fright two days before Hurricane Irma hit Key West five years ago.  Our tiny favorite rock star liked to display his raiseable crest "headdress" for his fans.  He always greeted  with "Hi Baby", Whatya Doing?"  then he would laugh like the wicked witch "He He He"

This adorable Goffins Cockatoo was abandoned in a cage on my doorstep. Sady, no name, no age, no history.  The bird turned out to have psittacosis and she had to be isolated from the other parrots in our upstairs bathroom while she underwent treatment for many months. She was under the care of Dr. Doug Mader at the Marathon Veterinary Clinic.  Once deemed cured we found a loving home for her.

A boy named "Pearl".  He was a victim of the captive bird trade.  Pearl was caught in the wild in the Indonesian Moluccan Islands.  He was never fully tamed.  I met Pearl for the first time many years ago. It went to a Sat morning side walk sale on Grinnel Street.  I was attending my artist friend's sidewalk sale.  Directly across the street  from my friends sale was another sidewalk sale.  Pearl was on the sidewalk in a small cage offered for sale for $1,000.00.  I spoke to the owner who said he had just moved into a smaller apartment with a new boyfriend and their big dog.  The bird was repeatedly biting him, his boyfriend and threatening the dog.  They had to get rid of it!   I introduced myself and told them about my parrot rescue.

"Isis" also know as "White Bird" on table with a Key Lime  Greater Sulfer-crested Cockatoo