Pets and perfume...PLEASE HELP!

I hope that this post will not be too inappropriate, but I need HELP quickly...

A small parakeet/budgie (domestic pet bird) flew into our yard yesterday, obviously frightened, lost and hungry. Someone must have let him out of his house and he got loose. These birds can fly for literally miles. No neighbour came by looking for a lost bird and no signs were posted in the area. He landed on my head...I thought I was being attacked by a crow! He bit me and my DH got out his welding gloves to hold him until he placed him in a vented cardboard box. We hurried to the pet supply (we had to buy dog food) and bought a small cage just to keep him safe with a seed and water dispenser.

I know small birds are sensitive to strong fragrances (PERFUMES?) and smells, and some birds can even be killed by the scent of new Teflon cookware burning off in the kitchen.

We are pondering keeping him as a pet (even with the knowledge of a 20 or 30 year commitment) but I want to know about my perfumes. Does anyone with pet birds here know of perfume effects on pet birds?

We offered him to a friend with a bird but sometimes fights can occur and many are solitary. (Then again, like cats or dogs, some like the company.)

(P.S. The Comte d'Orsay had an indoor aviary and he was a huge bird lover who owned a talking crow--in spite of the fact that he was a skilled bird marksman with one trap shoot at 92 kills in 108 shots in one day. This indoor aviary was kept warm even in the cold London winters with its own coal heater...)

Please advise and thank you in advance...I want to do right by this little guy. I add that I do not have a fowling piece...

--Primrose

Thank you, Heartwood and Monsieur! (hugs) I do not plan to spray in the same room and allow the drydown in another part of the house. I understand it's the spray or the aerosol that is harmful.

We do not use room sprays, only perfumes.

Thank you all for the support! If I adopt this little man (yes, he is a male), I will be prepared to change my perfume habits. BTW, DH also dislikes the atomiser after I apply...

I have a solution with sprayers that I have used to keep DH happy, and that is to apply a small dollop of unscented lotion in one hand and then cup the hand; I spray the fragrance into the cupped hand and apply to the skin. This seems to keep the particles down and may even prolong the scent. Of course, I also apply only in the bathroom with the fan running and then keep it running.

I am agonising over this little man. I want to devote myself to all my pets that I adopt--it's a lifelong commitment and I want to do justice. They are not so much pets and little people.

Again, thank you all for the support. Having a pet is a lifelong commitment and I do not take decisions lightly. Having a bird will be a permanent change in the way I apply scent. Dogs and cats don't seem to care, yet it can be a serious health issue for small birds.

Roses, we contacted local avian vets and checked news listings and nothing turned up. The local bird rescue is full. We have enough to foster this little guy and have a friend with an identical breed. These birds are like dogs and cannot always get along with just anyone like an aquarium fish, so my friend declined to foster him. I know his family must miss him but he is not banded. We will keep daily looking and posting to see if anything turns up.

There are hazards to fostering pets (cats, dogs, birds...): falling in love with them and ending up keeping them. My sister has three small dogs and is fostering a fourth... (She also has two cats, one chinchilla and one tortoise...)

We have a wild hummingbird in the yard and he stays all year even in the middle of winter. We keep the feeder full all year of him. He sits at the top of a large tree like the king of the yard and chitters away announcing that *he* rules the realm. He is adorable.