Rhea looked like a "healthy" lovebird for the first two years of her life. But it was unlucky to be born with an incurable viral illness — Psittacine beak and feather disease. Around May 2016, Rhea started to lose her feathers, and in about two months the birdie ended up completely bald.
Unfortunately, Rhea's feathers won't grow back. More seriously, the disease will shorten its lifespan pretty drastically.
But luck finally turned for Rhea in June 2016, when the featherless lovebird found a new caring family and many thousands of fans around the globe. There are over 92,000 followers on the birdie's Facebook and over 269,000 on Instagram.
Isabella Eisenmann, an animal lover from Boston, Massachusetts, stumbled upon a Facebook post of her dog's vet about this unusual birdie, and she called to adopt it. In about a month she was chosen from a waiting list to become Rhea's new mom.
"The picture of us two above was taken the moment we saw each other for the first time. As soon as she saw me, she jumped right onto me, it was magical. We became best friends," Isabella wrote on Rhea's Facebook.
Little Rhea can't fly and gets cold easily because of her disease. But Isabella always makes sure the birdie's ok and takes her lovebird to check-ups at the vets. The birdie's kind-hearted fans send a lot of cute sweaters to keep Rhea warm.
This brave and bold bald parrot is a living example of beauty being different.
