This story began with a phone call from my ex-husband, Joe, requesting bird seed from me.  I was very puzzled by this request since I knew he did not have a pet bird and that you do not give parakeet food to wild birds.  When I questioned him, he told me he would be right over to get some.

Not long afterwards, I hear a knock on my back door.  As I opened the door, I see Joe with this beautiful bird sitting on his shoulder.  I was truly amazed.  Joe explained to me that he found the bird perched on a tree in his front yard.  It was so tame and friendly that he was able to coax it onto his finger.  He said “the Conure sounded exactly like a young, distressed robin in my front yard – that was the thing that attracted my attention on the late spring-time Saturday morning”. Joe said that his 2 cats, Hank & Perth, were very, very interested when he came in from his front porch with the “beauty” on his shoulder! Joe also stated “He did stay on my shoulder for the whole trip to your house.”  Since I had parakeets and I happened to have an extra bird cage, he asked that I “house” the bird whilst he decide what to do about finding the owner.

The two days we spent with the conure parrot were great!  He was so sweet and apparently “hand trained” since you could rest him in the palm of your hand lying flat on his back.  From my phone call to Pet Smart, I found out that these birds cost around $400 – $600 or more.  His favorite “hang out” while staying with us was our ceiling fans.  Our wonderful neighbors delighted in holding the bird.

Joe put an ad on Craig’s List in search of the bird’s owner.  Unbelievably, he got a response!  The owner had explained how he and his wife were taking the conure bird to the Vet when the cage came apart & the bird got loose.  The owner also shared with us that his colorful conure parrot’s name is “Winger”.   We were quite happy to return the bird to its’ rightful owner, but sorry to see him go.  

By Ruth Carter