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PEOPLE;|;CULTURE;|;BOOKS;|;SPOR TS;|;MEDIA;|;BUSINESS;|;EN TERTAINMEN T
A Passion for Parrots
;;;; ;; ;;;;; for the eight exotic birds
residing at Parrotopia. That’s the name
Bonnie Mano has given to her home
in the Passaic County community of
Haskell. In her backyard: an ;;;-square-foot outdoor aviary outfitted with lush
plants, colorful toys and hanging ropes
for perching. It’s a parrot paradise.
“I love tropical environments,” says
Mano, a mainframe programmer. “My
aviary, yard and home is the New Jersey
version of that for me.”
The two-level aviary was completed
in August ;;;;. Inside her home, just
o; the kitchen, are two additional cages
where her pets perch in cold weather—
As Mano, ;;, enters the aviary, the
birds fly or slink toward her along the
cage’s walls and roof. Perching on her
shoulders or a nearby table, they ru;e
their feathers in excitement and caw as
she kisses their beaks and talks to them.
Growing up in Pines Lake, a small
community in Wayne, Mano always had
pets. She also enjoyed her annual family
vacations to Florida’s Parrot Jungle
theme park (now Jungle Island). She
bought her first bird, Mia, a cockatoo,
in ;;;;. (Alas, Mia died last year of a
heart attack.) Currently, Mano’s flock
ranges in age from three to the late ;;s
● PET LOVER and stretches across parrot species from
African Greys (Gigi, Rocky and Tupac)
to macaws (Dino, Bentley and Rico) to
Amazons (Frootloops and Polly). Mano
and her husband, Rick, also have a
;-year-old Bouvier des Flandres, Bene.
Rico is Mano’s favorite. “If you’ve had
a pet before, certain ones sometimes,
you can look in each other’s eyes and you
have a relationship that transcends the
species,” says Mano.
Mano dedicates most of her time to
caring for her flock. She spends about
;;;; per month on the birds’ feed, a mix
of nuts, pellets and produce, including
zucchini, kale and papayas. She vacuums
and hoses down the cages daily.
Mano’s passion has grown with her
flock. “When you do a good job and you
give them everything they need, they
thrive,” she says. —Jacqueline Klecak
JERSEY
JUNGLE
In her custom-built
outdoor aviary, Bonn
Mano feeds some of h
parrot flock. Clockwi
from top: Rico, Bentl
Frootloops, Dino an
Rocky.
