Missing canary

[FiatLux]

Moderator: please repost on preferable thread if this not the right one. Our canary Francois has gone missing today. I let him out of his cage to fly every 2-3 days but had kept him longer this week. He had not been out in 6 days. Not sure that contributed to his disappearance. He usually stays in the living room on a shelf I built for him or hides in the pigeon’s cage (the pigeon is out on a windowsill or following me around during the day) I did not notice that he was not there until a few hours ago (so I had not seen him for at least three hours) when it started to get dark. He usually goes back in by himself at night. He’s only ever gone upstairs once in the last year The family has looked everywhere and in dreading the worst; that I will find his lifeless body somewhere or that he somehow flew out the front door when I picked up a package. I checked the camera and don’t see anything but perhaps it was just too fast. Any thoughts on how to entice him to get back to his cage if he is in the house?

 

[flyzipper]

Assuming he's still inside, you could try playing some canary sounds from YouTube to see if that motivates activity.
Turning on the lights in the house can also elicit action if a bird is hunkering down somewhere in the dark for the evening.

I forget whether you have cats or dogs, but if so, check near their usual hangouts to see if a visit occurred.

 

[Shezbug]

Oh boy how terrifying and stressful Hard to know where to focus when you can't be sure where he could have gone but a few suggestions are better than none I guess

Have you checked:- in and behind all cupboards, under behind and in all furniture, toilets (if lids are kept up or doors open), behind and under back of fridge and stove, same for washing machine and dryer, exhaust fan vents if you have any, inside shoes, handbags or other bags out in the open, behind all curtains, in bins.

I am sure I will think of more places soon where I have seen small pets hide and find themselves in strife.

 

[Zara]

Thread moved to highway home forum - though he very well could in the house, simply, the 911 forum is restricted, so here more members will be able to post their suggestions.

I don´t know about canary care, but the canary video idea sounds good, hopefully he´ll call back... ?

Keeping my fingers crossed he turns up soon

 

[Sparkles99]

If you have predatory animals, thoroughly check a small, empty room & shut them in it. Keep the other birds caged. It won't kill them. Put out food & water in all rooms. Level the food off. Then see if any disappears/becomes unlevel. Meanwhile, get a really good flashlight. You need to check under furniture & then slowly move it all.

When I was a teen one of my babysitting clients had a hamster whom he adored. Unfortunately, he escaped. He was found months later, dead, sandwiched between the fridge & the coils at the back of it. Such a thing could happen to a canary. You'll need to thoroughly & painstakingly check your whole house. Act like you're moving out & doing a last sweep of the house.

I hope he's still inside. If not, notify everyone (pet shops, shelters, vets, online classifieds, by-law, etc.). You should probably do this in tandem with the above. Good luck!

 

[FiatLux]

Thank you all for your thoughtful suggestions. No signs of Francois so I can only blame myself and grieve. I am keeping this short to manage my mental well being but I am grateful.

 

[Zara]

No signs of Francois

Aww

I would still be careful in the coming days going in and out of doors, and opening windows, just in case he´s still around hunkered down somewhere

 

[expressmailtome]

I am very sorry to hear about Francois. While the website is called ParrotAlert, they have options for lost finches, canaries, doves, etc. as well. It is checked by many people daily, so on the off chance that he escaped, you could post on Lost and Found Parrot / Bird Reporting and Alerting Register .

 

[April]

I'm so sorry to hear that he's missing,I hope he's able to be found safely soon.

 

[Lady Jane]

Did you check in sofa and under pillows?
Dont give up!

 

[FiatLux]

I am very sorry to hear about Francois. While the website is called ParrotAlert, they have options for lost finches, canaries, doves, etc. as well. It is checked by many people daily, so on the off chance that he escaped, you could post on Lost and Found Parrot / Bird Reporting and Alerting Register .

Thank you. I’m waiting on admin approval for my post. I appreciate your suggestion.

 

[FiatLux]

Did you check in sofa and under pillows?
Dont give up!

Yes everywhere. To no avail.

 

[FiatLux]

 

[FiatLux]

View attachment 423895

My shame at losing Francois through my own fault (I opened the front door while he was out of his cage) kept me from posting a follow up. We never found Francois and I miss him and his bold singing and joie de vivre. I will not have another canary as I do not have the skill and patience needed to train one to return to his cage without the use of a towel and do not have the temperament to use a towel regularly without getting sad and flustered but I will always be grateful for the time I got to spend with Francois and hope in time I can balance out the harm I caused with my inattentiveness.

 

[April]

I'm so sorry that you never found him. You gave him the most amazing life and he loved you. I hope your happy memories of him will give you comfort.