upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Thankfully I have not found myself in the position of losing Luna or finding another.

Unfortunately it happens. My heart goes out to Sam who has lost Chibi, and goes out to Mike who found one at a time that was anything but convenient.

A couple weeks back I went to a BirdMart in Ft Worth and met a woman whose co-worker found a tiel and has no intention of trying to find its owner!! The woman I met was very upset with the co-worker but is somewhat powerless to do something about it since they live quite a distance apart. The new owner never had a bird and thinks it's cool to have this one - the attitude is finders keepers!

So, what can you do? If your beloved pet is found by a person with that attitude, there is nothing to do. Then you have the found pet and the owners seem to not be interested in getting it back.

Mike, I hope you find the owners of this little bird although they may not even be looking for it - it flew out the door and out of their lives, they'll just get another, no big deal, heck it's only a bird ( ) I know you will care for it or find a home where it will be cared for and loved.

Sam, it looks like if Chibi was found, he was found be a person with the same attitude as the co-worker in my story. I hope his new home has experience with birds or is seeking advice through the internet, books, vet and what ever source he could find.

Best wishes to all the lost and found birdies out there.

Jo

Very well put Jo. I too have not had the expierence of losing one of my birds, but do know people who have.

My friend Amy lost her tiel Swift Wind when we were kids. After a month, they were lucky enough to find him at the local animal shelter.

Another "friend" that we know now took his budgie's cage outside to clean, left the door open and the bird flew out. He made no attempts to recover said budgie and didn't care to. Needless to say, I was horrified, but they found it funny.

My rescue, Ash came from a bad home. Many don't know his whole story. He was either the fourth or fifth tiel she had. The others escaped when she would open the cage outside. She never made an attempt to find any of these birds, she just would get new ones. I tried to educate her, to no avail.

When I finally took Ash, his foot was broken and had recieved no medical care. He was starving and the food was just a few feet away, she couldn't be bothered to feed him. The water was in a chicken feeder (zinc coated bottom), and was green, and was growing a moss like substance. She couldn't care less about him. I'm sure if it was warmer, she would have just let him go too.

Many bird owners have this attitude. We are the select few on these boards and in bird clubs that do see them as thinking, feeling creatures. Many don't, either because they were raised to treat animals differently in their culture, or they just don't make that connection with animals. Who's to say.

I'm still hoping that Chibi will find his way home. One lovie on parrot 911 found it's way home after 7 months recently. Keep looking Sam.

My heart goes out to those who lose their beloved companions and search high and low for them. My heart goes out to the birds that get away from a bad home and hopefully find a better one.

Photo of Ash's foot

I wanted to share this story with all of you because it has a really sweet ending. A friend on mine came over yesterday for dinner and was telling me about a cockatiel that had flown onto her sister's back patio. Susie has been around Mac and Sammy several times and the way Susie's sister described the lost bird matched what Mac looks like. So Susie told her to take in the bird and start calling a few local pet shops, avian vets and animal rescue groups in the New Jersey area. Susie sent me an e-mail this morning and this is what she had to say:

Also, good news about the bird in NJ!...my sister called today to check up on me and to tell me that they found the owner of that bird I told you about yesterday. The owner was frantic and called all over leaving messages and descriptions of her lost bird. She said all she did was open the front door to get the mail out of her mailbox and he flew out. So she contacted this one animal group and they said "Hey, somebody just called us and said they found a bird just like yours. Let me put you two in touch with each other and maybe you'll get lucky". So the owner called the house and said "you can tell if its my bird because if you sing the Andy Griffith theme song, he will start to dance". The person didn't know the song so instead the owner started to sing the song over the phone. They held the phone up to the bird and the bird started to dance! The owner ran right over and the bird flew right to her shoulder and started nuzzling her in the neck. Isn't that so sweet! I was so happy to hear this bird had found it's owners again. The bird had flown over 10 miles! Isn't that terrific? Another nice happy ending.