Pat Rudikoff

I was born and raised in New York City and currently live in Woodbury, on Long Island. I earned a Bachelors Degree in Social Work from Syracuse University in 1970. Upon leaving college that year, I took a job with the Social Security Administration where I worked until 1990, first as a Claims Auditor, then as part of the training staff, and for the last ten years was a unit Manager. In 1990, I resigned from Social Security to work full-time with my husband Neal in his Engineering Firm managing the staff and maintaining the books.

Neal and I maintain a fair weather home on Fire Island where I also serve on the Board of the Community Association. I maintain the community data-base, and bi-annually prepare and distribute a community directory for our community of approximately 400 homes. I also work with fund-raising in that capacity, attend meetings, prepare mailings, and promote community well being in a variety of ways - such as building a new and improved children's play ground, helping organize disaster clean-up, etc.

As Secretary of the Oasis Sanctuary Board, I am responsible for keeping the minutes of all Board Meetings and Telephone Conferences, participating in fund-raising activities, and in general working to insure the futures of the inhabitants of The Oasis. My husband and I have addressed the Long Island Parrot Society on behalf of the Oasis and had tables at several of their events. We disseminate information both verbally, and by distributing materials whenever possible. We send numerous packages of supplies and toys for the birds. We visit the Oasis several times a year (3-5) for at least a week, sometimes two, to volunteer our services hands-on to work with the birds, hanging toys, cleaning cages, feeding, and working with the birds individually. We maintain a home in Cascabel and offer housing to visiting professionals and special guests.

Neal and I feathered our empty nest with four wonderful beloved cockatoos, Ajax and Phoebe (male and female Moluccans) and Zeus and Circe (male and female Umbrellas), once our youngest child married. Sadly, we lost our Phoebe in March 2006 while we were out working at Oasis. The Oasis has in fact, set up a fund to raise funds for a female cockatoo aviary entitled The Phoebe Fund in her honor. It will be a wonderful tribute to a most delightful, beloved companion. We have since adopted another female Moluccan, 6 year old Peaches, who is a delight and a treasure - a welcome addition to our flock. These wonderful creatures bear the responsibility for raising our animal conscience to it's current level. We do a great deal of outreach with our Companion Cockatoos, visiting nursing homes, schools, girl scout groups, community groups, etc. We like to think we serve as good-will ambassadors for the birds and for all creatures and the environment of this glorious world. We have traveled extensively and in the past visited castles and cathedrals all over Europe. We now find that the only travel we lust for is to places like Australia, to find the wild parrots and cockatoos, Tambopata, Peru, to see the Scarlet Macaw Project, and to visit the clay licks and see the wild parrots descend, to Indonesia to find the wild cockatoos and parrots, and in general to do nature and eco-touring. This year, in April 2006, we will finally realize our dream of visiting Australia to search out the wild cockatoos and assorted birds and creatures. Every expectation was truly met, we had a marvelous experience and took some unbelievable photos. We will try to chronicle our trip for the website as soon as possible."

We first found the Oasis through a link on the internet through which we requested a newsletter. We loved what we learned, joined as members and signed up to sponsor a cockatoo. We then decided to make a physical visit since neither my husband nor I had ever visited Arizona. That was in 2001. Obviously, we were duly impressed, and The Oasis and what it represents quickly became a focal point in our lives. It's a selfless existence, living out in the very rural High Desert of Arizona, spending long arduous days caring for these wonderful, needy creatures. We have observed tremendous growth over the past five years, and are proud to have played a part in it. We find ourselves sponsoring quite a few birds at this point because to meet them is to love them, and we find ourselves wanting so much to be able to do something for those less fortunate than our own, to help ensure their well-being.

Our five year old grandson frequently asks me, "Grandma Pat, who's your favorite bird at the Sanctuary?". I have to tell him that I truly don't have one favorite, I have dozens of favorites. Caesar, the earliest of our sponsor birds, a wonderful, Triton Cockatoo, Ziggy, the footless hybrid Macaw, Ruby, another hybrid Macaw, both of whom fight over me when I visit, Wee Wee, the cuddly Umbrella boy, or Scooter, the lively little Umbrella Girl, Fandango, a Scarlet girl with the most gorgeous head and a plucked clean little body, or Miss Ellie, a one winged Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, or Friday, a magical crippled Yellow Nape Amazon who cheerfully sings "Happy Birthday, Friday, Merry Christmas" from his customized cage, or BJ, a crippled Moluccan Cockatoo, whose spirit amazes me after all he has been through, or his next door neighbor, Ozzie, also a male Moluccan with nearly no feathers, one wing, and the most beautiful majestic head and face and an unbelievable energy and grace. Then again, perhaps it is Peaches, a beautiful, high energy Moluccan Cockatoo whispering to me, "I love you Peach", or Skippy, the tiny Sulphur Crested Cockatoo asking for "Skippy, Kiss, Kiss??", or Rainbow, The Scarlet Macaw dancing to my rendition of "The Rainbow Connection", or Sybil's girls, Sassy and Cosmo, two beautiful Moluccan Cockatoo girls, who have no idea that they were born with handicaps and just love everyone who comes to say hello. And that's only to name a few. Each has a story, some that could break your heart, yet they're all still willing to give life a chance. I always leave wishing I had more of me - to give them all the time and love they crave and deserve - and I always leave planning my next visit. So our dream has come to be to see Sybil's vision of a World Class Oasis where the birds can have a safe, comfortable environment in which to live out their lives and we hope we can spend many years helping to ensure this for them.