been employed there for the past five years. Her love of birds even followed her to the softball field one day during the fall 2025 season; during practice, Sarah rescued a stray parakeet from the dugout and named him Boomer in honor of PHSC’ s Bobcat mascot. Since then, Sarah has provided Boomer with a loving permanent home in the Tipton household.
Sarah Tipton holding her parakeet, named after Boomer
Drawing of a sun conure by Sarah Tipton
A collage of Sarah Tipton’ s drawings depicting animal welfare
In her downtime, Sarah’ s passion for birds fuels her artistic expression. Her work focuses on how human impact affects the environment, but what began as a passion project has since evolved into a mission of advocacy. Today, Sarah sells her art at the Sanctuary, with all proceeds donated directly to caring for their avian residents.“ It not only shows people how we can do better, but it also brings in money for the birds we are taking care of at the Sanctuary,” said Sarah.
Once Sarah earns her degree in the spring 2026 term, she plans to finish her remaining prerequisite courses at PHSC by the end of the fall 2026 term. Post-graduation, Sarah will be on track to transfer to the University of Florida( UF) to enroll in their Animal Studies program. Once she graduates from UF, she plans to pursue a career in Avian Veterinary, where she will specialize exclusively in the care and medicine of birds. Transforming a lifelong passion into a career has been Sarah’ s ultimate goal. As she embarks on her journey toward a promising future in avian care, she is determined to make a difference, one bird at a time.
Interested in making a difference in the bird community like Sarah? The Florida Exotic Bird Sanctuary is always looking for passionate volunteers to help care for its residents. To learn more about their volunteer program and apply, please visit their website at www. flabirdsanctuary. org / volunteer.
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