Found/Captured a parrot in Belgium and need help

[JHolmes763]

Hello. I'm taking a shot in the dark for help here.

I captured a parrot (or what I think is a parrot) in the back yard here in Belgium near Brussels.

Picture: http://www.bigredspark.com/bird.jpg

I thought maybe someone local had lost him. He started landing on people's shoulders while we were standing out in the backyard and was taking food from our hands. He hung around for several hours before we caught him. He has a metal band around one foot, but I haven't been able to read the numbers. We canvased the neighborhood, but no one had lost a bird. So who knows where he came from.

I say "he", but I have no idea, really.

He's also been injured sometime in the past. He has no upper beak and has a scar on the top of his head. Neither wound looks recent, though. He gets around quite well without his upper beak and as a plus, he can't bite. He's eating some seeds, bread and soft fruit right now.

The kicker here is that I can't keep him. If I can't find somewhere to take him, I'll just have to let him go outside again. The local vet and pet store have been no help. Is anyone out there local in Belgium? Any advice on who I can seek out that might be willing to take the bird?

Thank you for any help. I'll try to check in back here or you can email bird (at) bigredspark (dot) com if you can help.

-John

[marie83]

Please please do not let the parrot go again, it will probably die. Take him to an animal rescue if you cannot keep him, preferably one that specialises in parrots but if not any rescue will do.

Contact John Hayward, he is closely assosiated with parrots magazine and he runs a lost and found register nationwide. http://www.parrotmag.com/lost-and-found-register

Also parrots can fly for miles so is there any chance you can get local papers and radio stations putting an alert out. You could also try Radio stations further afield or nationals although I doubt the bigger stations will put an alert out as they will get requests like that all the time. Still worth a go though if you tell them how desperate you are to trace the owner because nobody can have him.

Best of luck and keep us updated please.

[liz]

I agree with all of the above.

Who ever did such an awful thing to that parrot should have their arms broken so they can't feed themselves.

WHO IS IN BELGIUM WHO CAN HELP THIS PARROT?

[laducockatiel]

Who ever did such an awful thing to that parrot should have their arms broken so they can't feed themselves.

MIght have been a wild bird.

Definitely don't let it fly away, as Marie said, it will die.

[JHolmes763]

Marie: I emailed John at the Lost & Found registry and told him the same story I posted here, along with my phone number. Hopefully he's still active at the email given and can link me up with something. We're following a couple of other local leads to folks that might be willing to take him/her, too.

Liz: I'd like to think that something like this happened as an accident or that something happened to him after he escaped.

I need to find something soon, though, as we leave for a week in Switzerland next weekend.

As a non-bird owner before this, how do you guys deal with keeping these guys in cages? It pains me to see him locked up in the kennel every day, although I know it's better for him at this point. I'm kind of the same way with fish, too. I hate seeing dogs tied up on chains all the time. Do most of you guys let your birds roam around the house or have large rooms for them? That's the only way I could see myself keeping one of these guys.

Thanks for any other help you can provide.

[marie83]

I think most people here let their birds out of the cages as much as possible because they know keeping them as caged pets isn't good for them, or they have a parrot proof room so they can be out all the time. Alot of us also have outdoor aviaries, travel cages or harnesses so our friends can experience the outdoors with us too.

Hope you have some luck with Mr haywood, he is really well respected regarding parrot security etc.

I meant to say in my original post to contact as many police stations as you can to see if anyone has reported him missing there. It sounds like whatever happened to his beak happened a long long time ago otherwise he would be in pain and wouldn't eat, it is likely due to an accident or deformity rather than a human hurting him as he seems pretty trusting from what you've said.

I wish I was close enough to have him until his true owner is found. Thank you for trying so hard for him.

[JHolmes763]

My wife told me he did get out of the kennel once while I was gone. They couldn't catch him, but he eventually went back in on his own, so that's a good sign (I think).

He's pretty noisy, too, which isn't bad unless I'm trying to watch a movie or something. He definitely let's you know when he wants some attention or is hungry. I gave him a piece of banana today and he jumped down and grabbed a hard piece of bread on the bottom of the kennel as if to say "actually, I'd like some more of this, please". So he got a fresh piece.

[JHolmes763]

The Parrot Society UK thinks "the bird is a colour mutation of a Stanley Rosella", btw. They've referred me to someone in Belgium, but I haven't heard back from him, yet.

[liz]

JHolms you a man after my own heart. Bless you. I would help but I can't swim that far. You could also post in the REHOME thread.

[terri]

Hi just trying to help.Heres a thought [it seems like its getting desperate].In the states they ship alot of birds by plane [and their fine].Like I live in NY there would be no way I would drive a parrot to California ,I would ship him .If it was a situation like this.Normally I wouldnt even consider doing that.Would the bird be affected [maybe] but I think whatever happends the bird is going to go through alot.The price to do that here is not inconceivable.Do you have anything like that there? I know some people on this forum are from the UK.Maybe if this was a option .I would help.