Find That Bird!

Missing from the Philadelphia Zoo: a sun conure parrot that made its escape at the end of the "free flight" performance on Wednesday, July 22. Apparently this parrot figured out the difference between the great outdoors and the aviary in which it lives (although I will say the aviary is brand new, very spacious and beautiful) and took off for the great beyond.

Now zoo officials are trying to track it down. This particular species of bird is hard to miss. It has a bright yellow head, an emerald green rear and orange around both eyes. Zoo officials believe that it got lost at the end of the show but we will, of course, never know if the parrot chose freedom over stardom.

The birds that participate in this free flight show go through months of training, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, and "are supposed to come back." Not so this particular parrot who is young, about five or six months old. "We want to do everything we can to search for it and bring it back safely to its zoo family," said zoo spokesperson, Bill Larson.

Meanwhile, the bird should be fine on its own in the "wild" until the winter. Richard Farinato, senior director of animal-care centers with the Human Society of the United States speculates that the bird could survive on seeds, bugs, bark and even bird seed from a bird-feeder. It has a band around one leg but no other identification and no implanted GPS.

So, depending on your point of view, either wish him a safe trip to the southern hemisphere or hope he lands on the grounds of a birder who will alert the animal rescue team at the zoo. So far, no parrots to report on the dog-infested borders of our backyard!