Friends in Aviculture and their Impacts on our Culture

Written by Sal Salafia, Certified Avian Specialist, Founder of Exotic Pet Birds Inc.

We are so truly blessed to have an amazing group of people who support each other here locally as Aviculturists. Our staff is honestly a powerhouse team that proves to you all daily that you are important to us. They give you amazing care and attention to detail and they provide so much love to our birds. They are the base of what makes us a great company.

That said, this year we want to acknowledge the many outside the organization that have taken time to make our journey special. For starters we have a wonderful woman who has supported our company through her many babies born near by and sent exclusively to EPBI. Her name is Janet (don’t ask me how to spell her name because I’ve butchered it every which way ya can!) It is not uncommon to see her here on a Saturday chatting with me and holding a basket of beautiful babies. Janet has become a true friend of mine and great supporter to us all here. Many of the babies you brought home have come from her beautiful breeding stock. She and I share breeding secrets like great chefs share receipts. We both love raising birds and our friendship has grown stronger each year as a result of our common bond.

Janet

Yvonne Brass- she is one of the kindest smartest people I know. At one time she served as the President of The Cage Bird Club here in Rochester, NY. She loved lecturing at these events and sharing her knowledge. For years she nurtured my growth as an Aviculturist. She helped me learn the basics of this amazing hobby and taught both Janet and I some amazing techniques we are both grateful for. She has since retired from the large scale breeding program she ran, after an amazing 40 plus year career in this awesome hobby. When she retired she looked to me to take over her flock. I was truly blown away and of course accepted. She had so many people she knew that she could trust with this but the fact that she picked us was so touching. In fact we now proudly raise many birds that come from her breeding stock. We proudly breed her beautiful cockatiels, green cheeks, Quakers and kakarikis. Yvonne entrusted the flock to me when she was ready to step down from their care and I will be forever grateful to all she has done for EPBI.

Yvonne Brass

It’s no secret that our vendors have been a great support to the growth of this company. One Vice President turned my relationship to a next level adventure. Jon from A and E is that man. He is a true advocate for all things EPBI. It’s no secret that we love the company’s products and all they do to create cool new things for Aviculturists. We are eternally grateful for that extra special support he gives and check ins he makes to ensure we are on track to do more and more wonderful things for this community. Jon’s role at A and E has him working with some of the largest Brands and Pet distributors in the country. He always manages to give us that special connection that makes us feel remembered in all he does. We literally talk to each other like family when we do business it’s no longer a business relationship, he’s part of the extended family of EPBI.

This year we rejoined the organization AFA (American Federation of Aviculture). After getting the opportunity to network with the current president of this amazing organization I decided there was no better birthday gift I wanted to give to myself than to have Exotic Pet Birds Inc. be listed as a corporate member from here on out. I proudly support all that Buddy and the Folks at the AFA are doing and even wrote a letter for Buddy to bring along with him on a recent opportunity he had to defend Aviculture in the state of Rhode Island. I intend to voice my thoughts directly to Buddy as Aviculturists face continued threats to be able to do things the way we do today through out the year and appreciate him for allowing me to share my thoughts. He’s a great guy who gives up a lot of his time to defend our rights to have these amazing creatures in our lives and I value his friendship.

All these friendships are so valuable to me, however this year a new friendship made seems to have grabbed many of your attention. I got the unique opportunity to get to know Zeb Ernest this year. I have had many talks with him since our visit to Global. Zeb is a really smart guy who doesn’t “work” in Aviculture but is wildly respected for his knowledge gained through his deep respect for his personal birds. In talking with Zeb you can just see that he has such a respect for the hobby and loves to learn and grow. His commitment to his life with his birds is truly admirable.

Zeb Ernest

In a recent chat we had, I found it hilarious that he doesn’t think of himself as an Aviculturist, yet he is likely becoming one of the most well known and well recognized Aviculturists in our country. Don’t get me wrong, he respects Aviculture deeply, but this guy is so humble that I don’t think he stops to realize how far he has come. This is because he just does the action of caring for his birds as second nature. He has helped give home to so many birds in need and I know through private conversations with him that he invests heavily in giving a healthy lifestyle to the birds he takes on. In several private talks it’s come up that he’s made strong financial investments in the veterinary care of his birds. Anyone who’s seen the line item on my company’s veterinary care in our monthly budget realizes how much I can empathize with that.

I’m so honored to look back at all these friendships. I’m going to tell you that each of these special connections have truly brought a wonderful addition to the company and the culture. I have so many people to be grateful to. So many true friendships that are made and respected. There are so many others I can shout out here today. Believe me their time to be shouted out will come, these are just a few I thought I would highlight these guys to remind you that EPBI is special because of its friendships. We believe friendships are the route to everything positive we have here.