A few feathers have been ruffled at Dublin Airport this week as the search to find a parrot’s missing owner has entered its second day.
The African grey parrot was discovered during a runway inspection on Tuesday, prompting the airport to launch a social media appeal for her owner.
View image on Twitter
Dublin Airport ✔@DublinAirport Our firefighter Craig Wade found this African grey parrot during a routine runway inspection earlier this week. She’s being given specialist care & is calm & doing well. We’d like to reunite her with her owner. Please RT to help us find them & DM us if she is yours. 470 6:17 PM – Feb 19, 2019
Dublin Airport
✔@DublinAirport
Our firefighter Craig Wade found this African grey parrot during a routine runway inspection earlier this week. She’s being given specialist care & is calm & doing well. We’d like to reunite her with her owner. Please RT to help us find them & DM us if she is yours.
470
Among the responses came help from an unlikely corner as Lidl supermarket posted a tweet, saying a “missing parrot” poster had been seen in one of its stores situated nearby.
“We called the number [on the poster] to check, and it’s his parrot!” the supermarket chain told the airport, promising to send along the person’s details.
Lidl Ireland ✔@lidl_ireland Replying to @DublinAirport Guys this is going to sound unbelievable but there’s a “Missing Parrot” poster in one of our stores, so we called the number to check and it’s his parrot! We’ll drop you a DM now 499 6:44 PM – Feb 19, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
Lidl Ireland
✔@lidl_ireland
Guys this is going to sound unbelievable but there’s a “Missing Parrot” poster in one of our stores, so we called the number to check and it’s his parrot! We’ll drop you a DM now
499
But the saga did not end there.
Dublin Airport said the following morning that the parrot had not been reunited with her owner as “several people” had, in fact, come forward to claim the critter.
And by Thursday afternoon, there appeared to be no more progress made.
“Several people have contacted us following our Twitter post and Facebook message, saying they had lost an African grey parrot,” Paul O’Kane, the airport’s chief communication officer, told Euronews in an email.
“The parrot is currently in the care of an expert and, with their help, we are trying to reunite her with her rightful owner.”
Many people watching the drama unfold on social media over the parrot’s many possible owners, turned toward the looming question — how often do people lose parrots?
Euronews spoke to Birdline Parrot Rescue, which suggested such escapes aren’t that uncommon.
“We usually have birds escape in spring or summer when people leave their windows open and forget their bird is out,” the group said.
But “African greys are highly intelligent and have the brain power of a five-year-old.”
“Intelligent birds can even open their own cage doors, especially cockatoos who are equally intelligent.”
The highly-intelligent birds are popular due to both their ability to repeat sounds and their “most charming character,” according to a number of experts.
“Because of their intelligence,” Birdline Parrot Rescue added, “We get a lot of greys in where people haven’t appreciated that they have taken in a five-year-old child that can fly and has a tin opener for a beak.”
There have been many high-profile cases in recent years of escapes, such as Nigel, the escaped British parrot that returned after four years and began speaking Spanish, or the Monty Python-mimicking Charlie, from Lincolnshire.
Speaking of its own experiences, Birdline said: “When we take in lost birds and ‘owners’ come forward, there are a number of ways to prove ownership, e.g. the ring number, or more and more people are micro-chipping their birds at a specialist avian vet.”
“Technology has made them no larger than a grain of rice,” the group added.
Dublin Airport ✔@DublinAirport The parrot found at the end of our main runway is getting expert care & is doing well. Several people who have lost an African grey parrot have contacted us & we’re working to reunite her with her rightful owner. We’ll update you when we do. #runwayparrot #runwawayparrot
The parrot found at the end of our main runway is getting expert care & is doing well. Several people who have lost an African grey parrot have contacted us & we’re working to reunite her with her rightful owner. We’ll update you when we do. #runwayparrot #runwawayparrot
