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| Snow and Rain |
The first time it happened was when Rain (male, white and purple, slightly dim witted and handsome) wiggled through a small opening as my mom reached to change his water. The second time was when Snow (female? white and blue, spunky and smart) escaped through a crack when the house door was opened. And lastly, most recently when Moon (male? purple brownish yellow with a yellow face) was found to be missing because someone failed to double check one of the cage doors before putting the birds outside.
The HORROR!!
If you have ever had a parakeet escape before, you'd probably be on par with how I'm feeling at the moment. Rain, Moon! Where for art thou?! Come Baaack!!!! Excuse me while I go cry in a corner.(T.T''')
So, your budgie's escaped. Now what? Well...don't give up just yet. Even though your beloved budgie is out there in the wide world by himself, there are still many things you can do to try and retrieve them again, even though it'll be difficult.
When Rain escaped I had no clue of what to do, but after loosing him the next time it happened I was ready. Asides from a couple hours of lost sleep and looking like a crazy bird hunter in the neighborhood, what have you got to loose?
Today I'm going to share with you some tips that I learned in the hopes that if this ever happens to you, you'll be better prepared to go out there and recover your buddy.
From one parakeet owner to another, there's no time for crying and feeling sad now; save that for later. Good Luck!!
1.) TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY.
In every day and age when a pet bird escapes you can't afford to waste time waiting. The first couple hours and days after a bird escapes are the most important and critical times with the highest chances of you getting them back, so it's suuper important that you take advantage.
When a budgie flees for the first time they don't usually stray too far from the place they took off from. Because they are scared and not exactly built for flying long distances, they usually stay within a 1-2 mile radius in your local neighborhood.
Pack your phone, to call for back up, it's much easier to locate a bird if you have more people helping you, treats, keet recordings, whatever else you think will aid you in your search, and GET GOING!!
Parakeets are not wild birds and therefore have very little homing instincts. It's very rare that they are able to find their way back home to the place they flew off from because they aren't able to distinguish it from the rest of the landscape. You can give up and wait for them to return, but that's basically like saying that you don't care about whether they perish out there or if you'll ever see them again. Time is of the ESSENCE!!!
2.) STAKE OUT TREES.
You can guess where a birdie will go the minute it's free. Try to remember and note the direction the bird flew, I found that when my budgies flew the coup they usually flew with a straight and sharp turn pattern and ended up behind the area where I was originally searching.
Stake out all the trees in your local neighborhood and listen for the sound of it's chirp. A parakeet's chirp is very distinct from other birds, sometimes it will chirp or sometimes it will be silent. Be vigilant and eventually unless your budgie went out of range, you will find where it is located.
3.) BRING BACKUP.
Once you locate the tree where your bird is perched at here comes the hard part. I recommend having at least 2-4 people with you to make the job easier. Spread out and make sure you have one person stationed at the front of the tree and another at the back watching at a distance, where they can see the whole tree and some sky, so they can see where your budgie goes should it decide to fly off again.
Position yourself near the tree and and see if you can spot your bird. After you spot it, especially if it's up really high, there are a limited number of things you can do in order to try to get it down. For small birds, especially parakeets, there's no animal control officer that will help you, so you'll have to do it yourself:( If you're lucky, you may also find your keet on the ground somewhere and be able to nab it also, but that's rare:p
4.) THINGS TO TRY.
If only humans could fly. Tall trees are the enemies of bird owners. Here are some things I learned that you could try in order to help coax your bird down.
CLIMB THE TREE. If your bird is easily scared I don't recommend this option. When I found Rain we had my dad use his long ladder to try and get him, but in the end the ladder spooked him and we haven't seen him since. If you think you can get to the bird by climbing, do so but bring a treat and an empty pillow case or cage up there with you. I read that you can get the bird to hop on your finger and then cover it with a pillow case quickly to recover it but idk.
SOAK IT WITH A HOSE. If the place where your bird is perched at is within reaching distance of a hose's spray, you could try soaking it to dampen it's wings. This approach would have to be done pretty quick though and carefully in order to avoid hurting the bird with the strength of the spray. If a birds wings are wet it is not able to fly well so you have a better chance of securing it as it sinks to the ground. Should it fly off however, your watchers should be able to tell where it went so you can follow.
LURE HIM DOWN. If your bird is not tame, it could pose an even challenging problem to secure it if it gets scared easily. Call someone and have them bring your birds cage and place it in a place easily view able by your bird so it can come down if it wants. A cage is the safe place for a budgie and home so it should naturally want to be there.
(Snow my first parakeet is such a homebody that when she escaped a couple of weeks after Rain, she somehow found her way back to the cage we set up in the backyard after hearing her other cage buddy, Ice's, chirps.) Fill it with fresh food/water and put strings of millet on the outside of the cage. Watch the tree and maybe call your bird's name. It'll take a while but hey you never knoe, he/she may get tempted and come down!
WAIT IT OUT. Keep following your bird as best as you can and wait till it gets tired. Eventually it will run out of steam and end up on the ground somewhere where you can pick it up.
HANG STRINGS OF MILLET FROM YOUR HOUSE. This tip I didn't actually read about anywhere and is a bit creative, but when you're desperate....whatever:p I thought hanging strings of millet from a pole, high place, or outside your house might help get your bird to come down or make it's whereabouts known. Millet is like junk food to parakeets and they have a tough time resisting it, so it may be good to put some out, especially around your neighborhood. If you don't mind getting some seed shells spilled here and there and sacrificing a bit from your store to wild birds, you just might see your buddy again.
KEEP SEARCHING. If you have tried all these things and still no bird, don't give up and keep on searching; it's only the first day! Come sunset your bird could be in a tree safely roosting for the night.
Resume your search the next day, preferably 30 mins before the sun comes up as this is when they are waking up and making the most noise/looking for food, in between there, and 30 mins before the sun sets where they will fly again to search for a final roosting place. (This is when I spotted Rain and Moon making a last flight towards some unknown tree that I couldn't pinpoint when they were lost. Though I couldn't get to them, I was happy to be assured that they were safe at least for the time being.)
When you are looking, also be on the lookout for traces that your parakeet has been somewhere. ex.) Parakeet down feathers below a certain tree or on a neighbors lawn, poop...etc. These things can tell you a great deal about your parakeet's adventures during the night or where they might come back to play at during the day.
If 2-3 days pass or more and you still have no idea where your bird is, try these tips and pray.
CALL ANIMAL CONTROL. Find out which organization handles your area and tip them to let them know that your parakeet is missing. If someone on patrol spots a parakeet or someone brings one in to the animal shelter, they can call you to let you know.
PRINT OUT/DISTRIBUTE FLIERS. Print a bagillion fliers using recycled paper and post them around the neighborhood on telephone poles, trees, pet stores, and anywhere else you think might help. Give them out to your neighbors and let them know about your situation so they can keep watch and report to you if they should find your bird. Offering a reward gives people incentive to keep a lookout and be a good Samaritan, so make sure you do that.
I've heard of most instances neighbors finding lost parakeets in their yards, exhausted from lack of food and flying, and are easy to catch. If you have honest neighbors they may return them to you, but if you don't they probably kept them thinking it's a free bird. (I hate the last idea but better to have them living healthily with someone else then in danger out there.)
CHECK LOST PET ADS. There are literally tons of lost pet ads everywhere, online, in your local newspaper, and other places. When Rain was first lost I just kept checking the local ones to make sure, and if you want, post your own lost pet ad for your birdie.
PUT THE CAGE OUTSIDE. Put your parakeets cage outside in a visible place with the door open and food/water. If you have an extra cage or even a sparrow trap put that too in a different location, ie front yard/back yard. If your bird should fly by accidentally he/she might see their cage (the reason why it's brightly colored might not only be for decoration) and stoop down thinking "Home," "Safe," or "Food." Have your neighbors help too if they have a cage and continually check it.
NEVER GIVE UP. Though your buddy's gone, don't ever give up. Just keep praying and trying. Who knows, there might come a day when someone calls you to tell you they found your bird, or he/she randomly swings by your house and sees the cage. Miracles do happen.
In the meantime take care in preventative measures to ensure that an accident never happens again. Let people in your household know the birds are out so no doors or windows are left open, and twist tie cage doors before putting them outside. You can also get your birds wings clipped ,they can still escape even if you do that so be careful, or get them micro-chipped if you don't mind spending the money.
My parents are extremely careless when it comes to our birds, especially in the mornings as you can see by what I reported, so it's hard for me to keep tabs on them as I go to school. But, whatever the situation, make the most with what you have and LOVE LOVE LOVE your Budgies everyday. You never know when the day will come that suddenly you won't be able to see them anymore, so let them know that you care.
CLOSING THOUGHTS/RANT:
To conclude, when you think of a parakeet as a pet, do you only think of the $20 you spent to get it in the first place? They are very popular pets for their beauty and sociability, but just because they are affordable doesn't mean they are DISPOSABLE.
I know in our society it doesn't make much sense to fuss over a "$20" bird, it's definitely not worth as much as a $500 dollar parrot or $1000 dollar dog, and you can always get a new one, but that way of thinking is just WRONG.
Budgies, are NOT, nor should they ever BE considered disposable. The minute you bring it, or any pet for that matter, home, it becomes part of your family, and deserves the same kind of love and care you give to your children or any other valuable animal.
Though people unspeakably keep telling me to give up the search for little Rain and Moon, and my parents keep buying replacements, they are NOT just some $20 momentary entertainment I picked up from a store.
They're part of my FAMILY, and when I think of the fact that they could be lost out there starving and alone, and how I may never get to see them again, I feel like I have lost my children. No words can compare to the amount of sadness and loss that I, and Snow, their companion, feel with their absence.
It's the same way with mourning a person who died. Animals are people too. They can feel pain and get scared and want love/companionship same as anybody else does. Pets in particular need to be cared for properly; especially the ones you buy from a pet store.
As they are bred by man, all they know is life with the breeder, then at the pet store, and finally with you, the individual who made an unspoken oath to care for them the minute you picked them up. (Yes, you should spend that extra money on a vet visit if they get sick or devote time to go out and look for them if an accident happens.)
You know how many animals are abused and abandoned when their owners get tired of caring for them? The pet shelters are literally overflowing with them. And when they don't get adopted they get put to sleep to make room for other FORGOTTEN pets. Some people I know purposely let their parakeets go after only a short time of caring for them. I'm sure they each have their reasons, but WHO DOES THAT?!
We're all busy people and stuff happens, but there were plenty of other things they could've done to get rid of their parakeets. PLEASE, don't let this be you.
Buying a pet is like having a child, if you aren't prepared to assume full responsibility, don't buy at all.
What are some other tips you would recommend to try when trying to recover a budgie? Leave a comment below, see you next post!