Lost Bird - Advice pls

[Roz]

Hi everyone, (I'll try to cut the story short and get to it)

About 2 weeks ago, our lovebird, Fiji flew away. A few days later, I saw on a facebook page that Fiji had flown to someone's house (3 streets away) on the same day we lost him. We contacted her but she said she had given to her friend as she has allergies. Her friend then called us. The second nightmare begins...She claimed that she brought Fiji to a bird sanctuary (they would keep the bird for 2 weeks and put it up for adoption if no one claims it). There, outside the sanctuary, someone was interested in Fiji and she gave him away!

The irony, the first person do not want to tell the personnel from sanctuary who her friend is and so they cant track anything. According to the sanctuary, it's not likely that could happen as the entrance to the place is small.

Anyway, we got a call from the sanctuary as they have a bird that looks like Fiji. We could not deny the resemblance is there but this bird has no ring, while Fiji has. We brought his toys and stuff but he doesnt react to it/us. The bird was more focussed in trying to get out of the cage (same character as Fiji though).

The question is - How do we know for sure if it is Fiji? Thanks.

[Pajarita]

Oh, geez, I don't know what to tell you. Birds of the same species that have no color mutation do look almost identical to any other one. I am not sure I would be able to tell the difference between two, say, wild phenotype peach face lovebirds or cockatiels... I know that when I had large flocks of them, I had to count them to make sure they were all there and could not really distinguish which one was which unless I observed them together for a while. So, most likely, you won't be able to tell by its looks but, if you spend a lot of time with Fiji, you would recognize certain personal 'quirks' of him (like the way it would approach your finger when he steps up, or the way he tilts his head when you say a certain word or phrase, the way he reacts to a special favorite treat, the way he would burrow under your hair or kiss your cheek, etc. Those are the things that I recognize in my birds - individual personality traits that would have developed while in my care. Is there anything like that about him? If there is, I would ask the people at the rescue to allow you some time -half and hour, at least- all alone with him in a room and see if he does any of them. Because you can't really go by its behavior for a few minutes while in a strange cage, in a strange place and surrounded by strange birds and people. The experience of losing everything that is familiar to them is so traumatic that their behavior is always completely off from what is natural to them.

[Roz]

I wouldnt say that Fiji is a really tame bird. He would fly to us when we have a gadget in our hands - tablets, phones, cameras. He has a favourite programme on You-Tube - he would fly to the laptop. He'd also fly to us when he hears the ruffles of the chips bag. We brought these the other day but we didnt get the usual response. According to the personnel, he was brought there about 4 hours or so before we came and he seemed to be stressed. We will go there again tomorrow. Hopefully he's more calm and used to the surroundings there.
Thanks for your response and tips. We'll ask them if we could have an 'alone time' with this bird and see his responses.

is it possible that a bird would 'forget' what the norms are/were in his surroundings? I mean, he's been away for 2 weeks.

[Pajarita]

No, he wouldn't have forgotten, parrots have looooong memories. But, he wouldn't have gotten 'used' to his new environment in a couple of weeks, it takes much longer than that when the situation is as different as it is between a private home and a rescue.

Good luck! And, if I may make a suggestion? Why don't you consider adopting the one in the rescue? It sounds as if the little one is very stressed out and needs a good home asap.

[Wolf]

I guess that I should apologise to you for not responding sooner as I read this before there was any response to it. In my defense, I was hopeing that someone else might have a better response for you.

Like Pajarita, I don't really know what to say, but based on the events as described in your post this first person did not give the bird to the sanctuary but to someone that also had just arrived at the sanctuary. Also if by ring you are referring to the band that some breeders put on the leg of their birds shortly after they hatch, it is a solid band which can only be put on at a certain size, and if the bird at the sanctuary did not have it then it is not likely to be your bird.

Still, this bird seems to be in need of a home that you could easily provide for it and if this person gave the bird to someone that was not a part of the sanctuary it is untraceable by any means that I am aware of. I would consider adopting the one at the sanctuary.

I wish that I could give you happier advice concerning the bird that you lost, but I have no way of doing that.

[ParrotsForLife]

I would definitely be able to tell the difference between any two birds.Besides if its your one he will know you.

[Roz]

We went to the sanctuary again. The bird was somewhat calmer but unfortunately, it is not Fiji. We have put a 'reservation' for this bird. According to them, the bird would have to be put there for 2 weeks in case its owner claims for it. They did tell us that it would not be as tame as Fiji.

I am still circulating the post for Fiji, citing what had happened and hoping the new owner would see it. We were mad at the person for giving Fiji away. I guess other people were unhappy too and had helped in 'sharing' the post.

At this point, I still have not given up although the chances are slim.

[Wolf]

All that I can do is Wish you well in finding your bird. Part of it may be dependent on what the person who gave your bird away told the people they gave it to, they may not be aware that the bird was not that persons bird to give away. I can only hope that the bird will at least have a good home if you are unable to recover it. I am hopeing only the best for Fiji and you.

[Pajarita]

Yes, same here, I hope you do find Fiji but, if you don't, I hope he ended up in a good home. And thank you for putting up the 'reservation' for the rescue lovie.