The last time I visited Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park – a true hidden gem north of Nine Mile Road − was 2012 and park founder/manager Sandy Kirkconnell was a little bummed that the bird rescue sanctuary was, perhaps, a little too hidden. It was October when I visited, and Sandy had told me only "a handful" of people had visited the nonprofit facility in the previous month.
"I don't understand it," Kirkconnell said 11 years ago. "It's been tough the past year."
"Uncle Sandy," as he was known, would die the following year.
But if he could see his park now, his legacy, he'd be happy.
On this visit deep in 2023, there were already more than "a handful" of visitors, including a family from New Jersey, and it wasn't yet noon.
"It's definitely picked up since then," said Reed Raulston, who began working at the park in 2009, and who now manages the park, which includes a residential home for the manager. "June, July and August − we'll get 150 people a day."
Kirkconnell was a retired merchant marine whose love affair with birds of all kind came while living in Honduras. He began keep the birds at his Pensacola home, taking in birds that were neglected and abandoned, and opened Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park in 2009.
Today, the park has about 170 birds of which 70 or so are macaws − colorful, long-tailed New World parrots. But there are also peacocks, plenty of yapping parakeets and even two emus, Itchy and Gitchy.
"I can get this one to dance," loyal park volunteer Traci Rickard said, rubbing Itchy's long neck. "I love it out here. It's one of my favorite places to be in Pensacola."
There are numerous bird caging areas, some with one or two birds, some with multiple, including a large, 40-by-80 foot free-flight cage.
Guests receive nuts and fruits to feed the birds with warnings not to put fingers in the cages because, as the signs warn, "Birds bite!" (In fact, there were even a couple of naughty cockatoos in a "time out" area away from guests because they were snipping at fingers.)
Maylin Zhu was making the rounds through the sprawling park, feeding birds various nuts and fruits that guests receive upon arrival.
Nearby, her parents Ping and Michael Zhu were walking through the smaller bird areas – a noisy section of parakeets and other squawking birds that make a constant, glorious racket.
"Hello," Ping said. "Hello."
A few seconds later, the Amazon parakeet piped back.
"Hi."
Then, "Hi, Nina."
Who is Nina?
The parakeet.
Walking through a whole area of yapping birds, I heard "What'cha doing?" "Hello," "Oh my God" and "Hi there."
"It's definitely loud," Raulston said. "Always."
He said the growth of the Internet and online travel recommendations have helped the park immensely.
In fact, the Zhu family found the park, like many visitors, by searching for Pensacola area attractions.
"This was one of the first that came up and it seemed fun," Ping Zhu said. "My daughter loves birds so we thought it would be a good time."
Raulston said that the park probably gets more out-of-town guests than residents. Residents, he said, largely don't know about the place.
"People coming into town will search for things to do while they are here,'' he said. "You normally don't search for things to do in your backyard."
But it is here in our backyard. Give Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park, a nonprofit rescue and sanctuary, a try.
It is located at 9513 N. Palafox St. Admission is $5 for 13 years and older, $2 for children 7 to 12 years old and free for children 6 and under. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The park is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Details: macawbirdpark.org.
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Pensacola Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park grows in popularity. - Pensacola News Journal
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