Emily’s introduction into the avian community began in her teenage years when she added a blue budgie to her family. Determined to do the best for her budgie, Emily immersed herself by reading and absorbing whatever information she could relative to parrot companionship. She became involved with a local bird club (Reno Area Avian Enthusiasts), where she volunteered as a foster for displaced birds. Her next companion, a black headed caique, Higgins, sealed her life purpose and subsequently has dedicated her life to aiding parrots and their companions. Today, she and her husband provide loving companionship to three caiques, two conures, two cockatoos, a macaw, an eclectus, a cockatiel and two parrotlets.
After adopting Higgins, Emily initiated a forum (www.caiqueforum.com) dedicated to caiques. Emily recognized the need for an outlet for caique lovers to compare notes on uniquely caique behavior and husbandry. The body of knowledge on caiques, while growing, was, and remains limited. Drawing upon experience and information obtained from other caique owners, she compiled her observations, notes, and information about caiques into an easy-to-read format for caique owners and launched http://www.caiquecrazy.com. This website has been an invaluable resource for pet owners and has been used in professional avicultural presentations around the country, including at the Houston Parrot Festival in 2011 (http://www.parrotfestival.org/).
In June 2012 Emily was invited to write a feature article on caiques by Bird Talk Magazine. She has contributed to Good Bird Magazine (Barbara Heidenreich), the Papageien Journal in the Netherlands, In Your Flock Magazine, and a local newspaper, the Pet Gazette.
Professionally, Emily is Level II certified through the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) (http://www.afabirds.org/), certified by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (https://www.pijac.org/), and has successfully completed Susan Friedman’s Living and Learning with Parrots course (http://www.behaviorworks.org/htm/comp_professional_overview.html). In 2006, Emily won the Youth Pilot Award and scholarship entitling her to attend the AFA (http://www.afabirds.org/) convention in Miami, Florida. This honor resulted in Emily participating in a presentation by Marshall Liger, “Youth in Aviculture”. Emily is also a member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (http://iaabc.org/).
Emily is a seasoned web developer utilizing her skill to assist rescue organizations with their online presence, on a pro-bono basis. Her avian clients include The Alex Foundation (http://www.alexfoundation.org/), Bird Lovers Only, Inc. (http://birdloversonly.org/), and Reno Area Avian Enthusiasts (http://go-reno.com/raave/).