Bird That Flew the Coop Back Home with Owner

A rose-breasted cockatoo owes its life to a man who lives in the Tidwell Road area who rescued it from his backyard three days after it went missing.

The bird went missing on Feb. 9 when its owner had it outside, but not in a cage. That hasn't been a problem before, but something spooked the cockatoo and it flew and hid.

Three days later, in an area where hawks are seen regularly, a homeowner living about a mile away saw it when he was taking out the trash. After putting some wild birdseed in his hand, the cockatoo hopped on his finger and he was able to bring it inside, putting it into a box with holes for air.

It took five or six hours and a few phone calls to pet stores before the rescuer found Sara Oceguera of Sandy Springs, who was willing to take the bird in while searching for its owner. Nine days later, Oceguera was able to reunite bird and owner.

Oceguera was equipped to take care of the bird until its owner was found. She and her two sisters have 14 birds at home–five finches, five parakeets, two cockatiels, one barraband parrot and one red bellied parrot.

"We are no longer just dealing with parakeets we have a few larger parrots now. Larger parrots are higher maintenance, which is why I felt we would be equipped to take care of an even larger cockatoo," she said.

They networked with the local birding community online, plus had the computer skills and printing skills to spread the search for the bird's owner.

Oceguera first searched Craigslist and Twitter to see if anyone had put a listing for a missing rose-breasted cockatoo. When those searches turned up empty, she posted her own "found bird" listing on Craigslist and waited for replies.

After a trip to a local vet revealed the bird wasn't micro-chipped for identification, she printed "found bird" fliers. Oceguera created Tumblr and Twitter accounts, but she knew she needed something to make them stand out.

"And online I figured I'd have to do something crazy to get people's attention," she said.

That was accomplished by putting the flier and the Twitter account in the bird's voice, not her own. The flyer was posted online as well.

She targeted the 30004 ZIP Code, posting online and calling vets around the area and then e-mailing flyiers to post.

Oceguera drove from Sandy Springs up to the South Forsyth/Alpharetta area to post fliers at local grocery stores.

"I drove up every few days to make sure the flyer was there, and it worked," Oceguera said.

The bird's owner said he had missed the flier earlier in the week because it must have been taken down. But on Sunday, Feb. 20, 11 days after it disappeared from his home, he spotted the "found bird" flier at a Kroger near his home.

"I was surprised that it lived that long and the fact that in fact I had seen [the flyer] in Kroger," said Brett Wilson, the bird's owner. "I thought I was seeing things."

It's a good thing for Oceguera, because she had big plans for this week.

"I printed really large fliers to up up in major intersections and the on and off ramps of exit 12," Oceguera said.

Wilson said he won't be taking the bird outside out of it cage anymore.

" It was an expensive mistake I thought when I lost it," he said.

Oceguera had planned to post signs and even herself at GA 400 entrance and exit ramps starting Monday, but luckily for her and the bird she got an e-mail from the bird's owner.

The two met on Monday, and the bird was reunited with its owner.

"I'm glad she was passionate about it, helped me get my bird back," Wilson said.