ABOUT THE OWNER, Gail J. Worth

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Gail J. Worth has been breeding exotic birds since 1973. After graduating with a B.S. in Biology, she relocated to the Los Angeles, California area where AVES INTERNATIONAL was founded in 1977. For five years she operated an import quarantine station and imported mostly soft-billed species of birds and concurrently maintained a small breeding operation. The import facility supplied many birds for U.S. Zoological Parks including hummingbirds, tanagers, cranes, thrushes, motmots, woodpeckers, and many other species. After selling the import facility, she concentrated on domestic breeding. The collection currently numbers over 300 pairs of mainly larger psittacines.

photo above- Gail with first large parrot, a Hispanolian Amazon named Traveler, and a cockatiel, circa 1973; photo below: Gail with a few hand-raised baby parrots in 1986

photo above- Gail with first cockatoo, a Moluccan Cockatoo named Puff, circa 1973; photo below: Gail with a Toco Toucan in 1977, the year Aves International was founded

Since 1986, Gail has produced the Baby Bird Calendar featuring her photographs of adorable baby birds. In 2002 production of the calendar ceased due to family illness. Hopefully it will be published again in the future! She contributed to a monthly column for Bird Talk Magazine called "Ask The Experts" for a decade (1990-2000) and has written a number of articles for national and international bird periodicals. Birds raised at Aves International have been featured in the movie "Paulie, A Parrot's Story" and on the television program, "Wild Things" on the UPN Network, as well as in television commercials (remember the hornbill on the Yahoo commercial?). One of our baby Blue & Gold Macaws appeared on Survivor Amazon on CBS in 2003. Gail has been a speaker at many national and international avian conferences including those of the American Federation of Aviculture, International Aviculturists Society, Canadian Parrot Symposium, the Midwest Avian Research Expo, Avicultural Society of America, the AVES Conference in Grafton, Australia, and the World Parrot Congress at Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain. Her photographs have appeared in many national and international publications and in the Baby Bird Calendar for eighteen years. Some of these publications include Bird Talk Magazine, American Cage-Bird Magazine (now defunct), Parrots Magazine (United Kingdom), Avicultural Society of America Bulletin, Wirtschafts Woche (German), Scientific American, CNN.com/money, and USA Today. Her images have also been featured in educational materials for children and in advertisements for avian products. Stock images are available for commercial purposes; please enquire if interested. Gail is a long-term member of a number of several conservation groups that protect natural habitats of animals and plants such as The Nature Conservancy & the World Wildlife Fund. She has also supported Greenpeace and The Cousteau Society in its campaigns to protect oceans (whales) and other natural habitats. She contributes to many wildlife habitat protection entities, both private and public ones. She does not, however, support nor respect animal rights groups that would take the rights away from people who wish to keep and breed birds. Gail's beloved mentors in aviculture, botany, and ornithology, Stephen G. and Lelia J.Worth & Pauline Longest of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Don Bleitz of Hollywood, California, and Ken McConnell of Red Bluff, California have all passed from this earthly plane. They are all sorely missed. They were all wonderfully knowledgeable, kind, and sharing and a great debt is owed to them all! If not for the support of Lelia Worth, Gail's mother, Aves International might not have existed. http://www.photocean.com/   Gail and her late husband, Dave Venanzi in their Nirvana, Mother Ocean. Photocean, featuring underwater photographs by Gail Worth, offers stock images. Please enquire for rates.

(Tari Gap, Papua New Guinea highlands, 5/95) photo by David A. Venanzi
"Darnit, every time a party gets going I have to go home to hand-feed!"

Gail Worth with husband, Dave Venanzi ~ 5/00 In 2/01, my beloved husband was diagnosed with Stage 3b Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood plasma cancer. He died on 7/11/08 after a protracted and courageous battle! PLEASE support blood cancer research! International Myeloma Foundation Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society If you are a physician reading this, please know the symptoms of Multiple Myeloma. So many people are diagnosed late after much bone damage has already been done! Ask me about Cyclopamine- a potential cure for many cancers!

PHOTOCEAN underwater photographs by Gail J. Worth   Dave in 8/00

Photo Tribute to Dave Venanzi

Dave Venanzi (above) on 8/1/01 in Palos Verdes, CA. He had an autologous stem cell transplant at UCLA in 8/01 and achieved remission for 16 months. This procedure is not a cure for Multiple Myeloma. At present, there is no cure. Dave's remission ended in 12/02. Dave died after a valient fight on 7/11/08, surrounded by many friends. update 1/11/07 It has been almost six years since Dave was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. At diagnosis, I was told he had less than three years still to live, so we treasure every day together. He was in remission for sixteen months after his stem cell transplant, but the cancer returned in 12/02. He had been taking a low dose oral chemo regimen for many months, but his measurable disease level began rising in '05. He began Velcade, a chemotherapy infusion, in mid-April '05, but this failed to help him, as did higher dose Thalidomide and Decadron. Dave was becoming transfuion dependent and we had few options still. In October of '05, we were thrilled to be told that Dave's sister, Amy, was a 10/10 HLA match for an allogenic stem-cell transplant! She was deployed as a Major in the US Army Reserves and returned to the U.S. from Iraq to donate her stem cells for the procedure on 11/14/05. Thank-you, Amy! Dave entered UCLA Medical Center on 11/14/05. He was released home in 12/05 after 32 days of hospitalization. Dave fought hard against an escalating tumor burder in 2007. He tried several chemotherapies and finally one suceeded (VDD) really well to bring the cancer level down in 8/07. He suffered a set-back in 8/07 and nearly died with severe bilateral fungal pneumonia, (Pneumocystis jirovecci). After two month of recuperation, he responded well again to Vincristine/Doxil/Dex chemotherapy until 2/08. update 8/6/08 Dave's cancer escalated very rapidly in the spring of 2008. Chemotherapy had ceased working again and we had few options available. Our hemotologist told us there was nothing more he could do for Dave in terms of treating the cancer. Dave was hospitalized for ten days in May '08 for hepatitis. He fought hard to regain his strength so he could take an experimental compound, cyclopamine tartarate, that we felt strongly would help him. Read this about cyclopamine! Unfortunately, his immune system was severely compromised by the huge tumor burden in his bone marrow and he was unable to fight off a massive septic pneumonia. Dave died on 7/11/08, surrounded by many friends who chanted "om mani padme hum" as he passed, as he wished. Dave was an inspiration to all that knew him and we are so thankful for the time we had with him! He was my teacher and life guide and I will always remember the very true love and passion for life that we shared! Photo Tribute to Dave Venanzi see more about Dave's allogeanic bone marrow transplant Thanks so much for all your kind wishes through all these years Please support blood cancer research! International Myeloma Foundation IMF- Bank On A Cure Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Multiple Myeloma Resource Line for Physicians Multiple Myeloma Support Myeloma Friends Myeloma Honor "Chia" Dave on 1/13/08

Dave and Gail at UCLA Medical Center on 8-25-01 during his auto stem cell transplant. Dave and good friend, Tom Vegors, in 3/03 Dave and Iris 7/28/05 Dave and Gail 1/21/06

Dave with his sisters; Amy on the left and Christina on the right- 11/6/05

Dave in camouflage in Singapore on 11/27/01 He had two stabilizing surgeries on his spinal column called kyphoplasty on 4/3 and 4/10/02 and we were able to scuba dive again in Papua in 12/02 and in Bali and Komodo National Park, Indonesia in 4/03!

Dave in Tampa, FL on 8/11/02 at the American Federation of Aviculture Annual Convention.

Dave in Komodo National Park, Indonesia 4/03.

Click here (page four) to see a clip of Dave Venanzi's underwater video, "Diving Into History: Wrecks of The South Pacific" that was shown at the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition on 10/18/02 at the San Diego Natural History Museum Theater in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. In 11/02/02, Dave received two Honorable Mentions in the Los Angeles Underwater Photo Society's International Competition for two of his digital videos!

Gail and Dave in Uvita, Costa Rica on 11/26/03; photos by good friend John Goss   Gail with new Costa Rican friend 11/03

John Goss and Dave in Costa Rica in 11/03 Above, another friendly Costa Rican pig!   Gail and Dave, Costa Rica 11/03

Dave and Gail in Fiji 12/04; photo by good friend Steve Neuerburg Dave and Gail in Fiji 12/04; underwater photo by good friend Steve Neuerburg

Dave, by the ocean in Palos Verdes, California on Easter Sunday 3/27/05

Dave on 10/20/07 on Santa Rosa Island, Florida

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