• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Missing Rosebreasted Cockatoo

rocky'smom

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/14/14
Messages
17,445
Location
minnesota
Real Name
laurie
Don't give up hope keep searching. I've a friend years ago who lost her female cockatiel Tilly. Tilly flew out the door in a fright and landed in her neighbor's yard. By the time she got into the yard, Tilly was up in huge oak tree. She put out a cage with Tilly's favorite treats ; water, use contact calls that she had recorded on her cell phone with external speaker. Tilly would call back and come close but never close enough to get her. She did everything she could. She would put Tilly's love out on her sunporch every morning. George would call to Tilly. Tilly would call back and fly to the roof, but no further. After 2months, she had about given up hope. She put George out on the sunporch one last time, leaving the screen door open as she always did. Tilly flew into the sunporch full blast screeching the whole time. She landed on George's cage. She closed the screen door. Tilly was home. Skinnier, had bird lice but she was home. Hopefully this will give you hope to never give up looking for Money.
@Dartman
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
I hope you are ok @Kuzey

One of (my) birds is lost, we search for him always.
(We lost 2, got one back the same day.)

Stay strong ❤
 

Dartman

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
10/20/12
Messages
9,254
Location
Portland Oregon
Real Name
Terry
Lurch escaped close to two years ago now. I climbed two trees trying to get him but he got scared into a much higher tree and we watched over him and hung out on the roof with his old cage. He too was afraid to fly down and after a couple of days he got chased away again and couldn't find him again. I put him on lost bird alert, paid a pet finder company to publish his info and send alerts everywhere and I posted him on Craigslist. I renew his ad every week in case someone has him and decides to find out if anyone is looking for him. Your early yet and he has good places to hide so keep looking for him and put a cage out with his favorite toys and food water. Lurch reacted loudly when we rang his favorite bell or I called to him once he knew we were around. If you're lucky and find him again maybe this time he'll figure out how to fly down. If you can climb the tree he's in safely with something to put him in safely he'll probably hop right on you. I actually touched lurch about 30 feet up in hus second tree as he heard me coming and waited for me. He reached out and dropped his head for a scratch and just as I barely touched him crows flew by and he bolted away :( Hang in there, sounds like your guy flies pretty well and he's pretty big so many birds won't mess with him. Hoping for the best, birds have been found years later.
 

Kuzey

Meeting neighbors
Joined
6/16/19
Messages
22
Location
New York City
Real Name
Kuzey
I got Money back!! A man have found him on a roadside nearby where he was lost and picked him up while he was foraging for food!! I’m so happy there are still good people out there!!❤

2 days after I had lost contact with him, multiple people every day has contacted me about sighting him. He would be spotted in 4 different towns nearby on the same day. He has flown 3 miles in each direction everyday to search for us and returned to the town he was lost. Flying 12 miles per day definitely improved his navigation and flight skills and his fitness. I’m so proud of my pink pigeon for surviving 9 days on his own in such a predator-dense area!! He gets an A+ for the real-life challenge!

I took him to vet the same day. Aside from being dehydrated, he was in great shape! I have so much more confidence in continuing his free-flight training. I am hoping that if I dont do the same mistakes in evaluating his motivation and the location of where I fl him, upping his recall training and tweaking the appetite management will prevent this to happen in future 68937463_10156987711207479_2096065785590972416_n.jpg .
 

Attachments

Shezbug

ASK ME FOR PICTURES OF MY MACAW!
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/28/18
Messages
25,823
Location
Vic, Australia
Real Name
Shez
What an excellent outcome!

I am so overjoyed for you...... I got goose bumps reading this, I can only imagine how relieved you must feel to have Money back home and safe :)
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
:yah::yah::yah::yah::yah::yah:

I´m so happy for you!!! How wonderful that you have been reunited by a kind man. Such a fantastic outcome!!!

:starshower1::starshower1::starshower1::starshower1::starshower1::starshower1:
 

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly
Wow - I would have taken this one as a warning and never let them free fly again!

So glad you got Money back, and that he was not ill or injured.
 

sunnysmom

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/16/13
Messages
28,800
Location
Pennsylvania
Real Name
Michelle
I'm so glad you got him back.
 

Greylady1966

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
3/6/19
Messages
2,687
Location
midwest
Real Name
Carol
IMO your bird was very lucky someone found him since he was dehydrated and looking for food. Parrots are beautiful flying in the wild with a flock learning from them how to survive from their own kind. People think they can replace that and train them to do the same thing. People will never be able to do that with 100%. He didn't come back to you he was found. How much longer would he have survived being dehydrated. People who have free flying for 20 some years lose their birds.
 

macawpower58

Flying along the Avenue
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avian Angel
Shutterbugs' Best
Joined
8/25/11
Messages
1,000,000
Location
Pennsylvania
So happy to hear this news!
 

Hawk12237

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
3/5/19
Messages
5,106
Location
Frankenmuth, Michigan
Real Name
Michael
I got Money back!! A man have found him on a roadside nearby where he was lost and picked him up while he was foraging for food!! I’m so happy there are still good people out there!!❤

2 days after I had lost contact with him, multiple people every day has contacted me about sighting him. He would be spotted in 4 different towns nearby on the same day. He has flown 3 miles in each direction everyday to search for us and returned to the town he was lost. Flying 12 miles per day definitely improved his navigation and flight skills and his fitness. I’m so proud of my pink pigeon for surviving 9 days on his own in such a predator-dense area!! He gets an A+ for the real-life challenge!

I took him to vet the same day. Aside from being dehydrated, he was in great shape! I have so much more confidence in continuing his free-flight training. I am hoping that if I dont do the same mistakes in evaluating his motivation and the location of where I fl him, upping his recall training and tweaking the appetite management will prevent this to happen in future View attachment 312063 .

Great out come!! I've had a few in past fly off, mainly because someone left door to outside open. ( happens when you have kids back then)
But gotten all mine back. the Most one was gone for was 3 days, a senegal.
But great news you got it back!
 

rocky'smom

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/14/14
Messages
17,445
Location
minnesota
Real Name
laurie
So glad you got him back.
 

MahaSarah

Sprinting down the street
Joined
6/23/18
Messages
325
Location
Florida
Real Name
Maha
I am so happy to hear he is finally home!:fairy2:
 

Kuzey

Meeting neighbors
Joined
6/16/19
Messages
22
Location
New York City
Real Name
Kuzey
Thank you so much everybody! It is a huge relief!!

@finchly this was a huge wake up call for me to re-evaluate my knowledge on free-flight. This was not his fault! I will keep training him but I will have an experienced friend (a mentor) to check my decisions before I put them in action. The reason this happened because I made the mistake of flying him at a level that’s too advance for his flight skills. He did not took of at the first recall. After couple of recalls, I missed the signs that he was too tired and distracted by other birds. He couldn’t come back to us because he was flying high, getting chased by other birds and ran out of energy. Regardless of how he was found, the first 3 days I went to the location, he tried to come back to us multiple times but couldn’t descend while other birds were chasing him. Again, that’s my fault for flying him at that location! If I had flown him at a wide open farm field with no trees or powerlines (which would be a level 1 location), this wouldn’t happen. I have flown him at a level 3 location,(hills and valleys, tall and dense trees, many local birds and distractions). My conures can fly that level and I thought he could too. It’s completely my fault!

I would feel terrible to keep my birds away from flying. I understand people have different views on free-flight and I’m not trying to change anybody’s mind but I won’t quit just because I made a mistake. I will be carefully to not make that mistake again, and if it happens, now I know that my birds can survive on their own while I look for him.

So I will continue the cockatoos’ training in batting cages, until they are further desensitized and their recall is close to perfect!

@Greylady1966 Yes my bird was lucky that someone has found him. I’m thankful for that. Just be to clear, he was not incapacitated, just like a wild birds he was looking for food. After seeing my lost flier, a human approached him, put his hand forward and Money stepped on it. He is trained to do that! In respect to dehydration, this was one of my biggest fear as well but a friend pointed out how much water condensate on leaves every morning. I’m sure he’d figure out how to find the water source too as there are tons of bird feeders and bird baths in the area, plus morning dew would give him the opportunity to drink water off of leaves..

As you pointed out, birds are great social learners, and cockatoos are pretty smart. So I do believe he’d survive on his own longer, not that I want him to get lost and do that but they are built with instincts that would help him survive.

I totally understand those who are against or skeptical about free-flight. Yes it’s risky but in my opinion it’s worth the risks. I don’t see my pets as my property but I see them as my companions. I want to provide them with the opportunities that they would have in the wild. That ranges from free flying to learning how to evade predators. If they don’t encounter a problem, they won’t learn how to solve it! I can not alway keep them protected by keeping them enclosed. There could be times that is not possible. Accidents and disasters happen unexpectedly so I want my birds to have the bare minimum survival skills if that happens and I’m not able to protect them. I’m taking about things like, if someone to break in my house and my birds get out, if there is a fire and I can’t get them all in cages, if I make a mistake and one get out of the house, if there is an earthquake and I cant cage them all up, things like that. Unlike my over-protecting mother which I love to death, I am aware that allowing youngsters to encounter real life risks is essential for their long term survival skills.
 

Cat The Great

Sprinting down the street
Avenue Veteran
Joined
2/23/17
Messages
375
Real Name
Caitlyn
I am so glad that Money is back!:)
 

Kuzey

Meeting neighbors
Joined
6/16/19
Messages
22
Location
New York City
Real Name
Kuzey
He didn't come back to you he was found
I disagree on this. He flew miles everyday and returned to the rally point everyday. He wanted to comeback to us but we kept missing each other. I had to cover an area with 4 miles radius. If we would be in the same are, I am 100% sure he’d try to come back again. Otherwise There is no reason why he’d stay in the same spot for 3 days then circle around the area all day long!

People who have free flying for 20 some years lose their birds.
This is very true. No matter how advance the bird is there is always risk for losing the bird. The bird might be chased by a predator, flown away by strong winds or any other unforeseen factor could cause them to get lost. Most people who lost their flighted parrots get them back. When the bird is free flight trained that chance is higher because the birds learn rally point fidelity, gain navigation and flight skills and build confidence in flying.
 

Kuzey

Meeting neighbors
Joined
6/16/19
Messages
22
Location
New York City
Real Name
Kuzey
Great out come!! I've had a few in past fly off, mainly because someone left door to outside open. ( happens when you have kids back then)
But gotten all mine back. the Most one was gone for was 3 days, a senegal.
But great news you got it back!
That’s amazing!! I became interested in free flight because I have had similar incidents with my conures. My sun Nikki was partially clipped and flew off my shoulder (my mistake for thinking clipped birds can’t fly) and flew on to the roof across the street at 1am at night. I turned my flashlight on and pointed on me so he’d spot me. I was very very luck that he flew right back. It’s that sunconure bond. Also due to my mistake again, my greencheeked conure Misshy got outside of the window nibbling on the mint and greens I was growing out on my window. Luckily noting spooked her and I was able to lure her back inside with sunflower seeds.

Right after that I decided to train them for free-flight. Even if I don’t fly them everyday or every week it’s assuring to know they are capable of flying outdoor
 

greys4u

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
12/30/14
Messages
4,890
Did you ask the vet about micro chipping your birds?
 

Fuzzy

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
10/30/10
Messages
4,331
Location
Jersey, Channel Islands
Real Name
Roz
So relieved you got him back!
 
Top