How would you catch a parrot that has flown out of the window?

Question

My in-laws have three, and my father in law was changing out the screen and putting glass in the door as my mother in law was cleaning the cage, and one got out of the cage and managed to fly out of the window before they could catch it. Any ideas?

Answer 1

OMG How Awful. No doubt your in laws are heart-broken. You didn't mention where you live and unfortunately this time of year is deadly to them as they are from a tropical climate. Unless of course you live in the tropics. There are alot of parrots in Los Angeles that are escapee's & able to survive due to the climate there. Southern California is the only area in the USA (I'm aware of) in which a parrot can survive on its own all year round. Slim chance of it making it through a night or two outside anywhere else.
Here is what I would do no matter where I live:
Every hour or two I'd whistle, yell, call his name, make noises he's familiar with including all his favorite food like "Polly want a cracker" (Sorry, just could'nt help but saying that!) If the elements have not taken him he will be Very hungry and the person he loves most/closest to is the one he will hear and would come to when he is hungry. Be sure to check the tallest trees as they feel more secure the higher up. Also call the local animal control people to let them know in case someone finds him/her.
Good Luck & hope you find the little Gal or Fella.

Answer 2

I have an african grey- not the same species, but it is of around the same size so I sympathise about the biting. Any parrot takes a fair while to get used to their new owner- it's not really a baby either as it's approaching the 'brat' stage which is equivalent to the 'terrible twos'! Birds can get pecky during this phase which is equivalent to puberty. Patience will be the best way- most parrots generally aren't vindictive and they'll bite as a defensive mechanism. However a small percentage of birds are biters that bite for the heck of it. You'll need to establish under what conditions your bird bites in order to determine this. Is the bird only biting when approached, or is it actively seeking to bite? You can try a few psychological tricks on the parrot. Firstly, lower the cage as a dominant bird will naturally go higher than its subordinates. Lowering the bird tells it that it has a place in the pecking order and it's below you. Then entice it out of the cage. The cage is the bird's territory and if the bird is unfamiliar with you, it will defend its cage and itself. A small t-perch is ideal for this, or a small parrot table-top gym which are available from pet shops for around the £30 mark. It's a good investment as the more time the parrot spends with you, the more confident it will become. Next it will be a case of gently and slowly introducing yourself to the bird and showing it that you and your hand is no threat. Expect to get bitten during this phase. The bird does not know you and will peck to establish itself- 'pecking order' is where the phrase comes from. Make slow deliberate moves- preferably after sitting near the parrot for a while so it gets used to your presence. If it goes to bite,do not back down, instead give a firm command. I used 'Step Up' or 'Up' to signal to my bird that I was boss. Don't put it back into the cage in its comfort zone if it bites. If my bird is on my hand and goes to peck, I will shake the hand lightly or drop it. This destabilises the bird and they will let go. They soon get the picture that biting= a scary drop and link the two. My parrot doesn't particularly get on well with my husband- however he's gotten around the biting problem by wrapping a hand towel round his hand and getting the bird to 'step up' onto that. If he bites, hubby doesn't feel it and doesn't back down in front of the bird. All parrots will bite at some point. Even my bird who is pretty docile will chuck a strop (usually when it's time for bed!) and sometimes peck. He gets a strong 'bad bird' command and is placed back onto his play perch and ignored for 10 minutes. As he's a very social bird, ignoring him works. They may also peck unintentionally- the tongue is a tool they use to explore- they may test with their beak as to whether a perch, arm or hand is safe enough to step onto and can sometimes test too hard. I've developed an 'ouch' signal for my parrot if this is the case. I say 'ouch' and he releases my finger and repeats 'ouch' back to me. Lastly, bear in mind that the parrot's history is unknown to you. As it is already a year old, it may already have some negative experiences or feel very unsettled by the change. It may also need time to bond with you, the new owner as it bonded with its old owner. Be patient, persistant and confident. It will get there eventually.

Answer 3

I caught a loose lovebird. I had my birds cages out on the back porch and along came a lovebird who heard my birds. I put an empty cage with food and water in it and left a door open. I kept checking it periodically, and when the bird was in, I closed the door. He was apparently familiar with cages and knew that was where food and water would be. And with the other birds out there attracting it, it just did what was natural to it.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Have to tempt it back with food - put the cage in the garden where it can be seen and put some treats on it. I have lost a few birds this way, very sad - only managed to tempt one back so far so good luck!

Answer 5

Put his favotite food/water in an open window. When he flies in seal the window from the outside to scare him inside...

Answer 6

By performing actions that will inevitably look hilarious to any viewer. Hope I helped.

Answer 7

if it is tame and comes to ur call u could try calling it. or if it isnt just put some food in it cage and leave it somewhere that it can seen easily

Answer 8

IMPORTANT to do - As Soon as Possible.

- If the Bird has remain close and If you have other pet Birds - Have two cages available (even if one is 
a smaller cage with the other birds in it that can be put into the larger cage so you can leave the door open on larger one and the others won t escape. It will be attracted by its mates presences and calling and lured into the cage.



- Leave all Lights ON – It Will be attracted to the light and more likely stay close and come down if it can see You , its Food, Cage and its Bird Friend - if you have one.

-When or if its not possible to have the cage and other birds outside use the same cage set up as listed above and put them near an inside window- take screen out of it is possible and lights on inside and out.

. 

-Objects of famaliarty – Cage, its toys, feeding bowls etc.. (We have 
a coupe of the large wired Colorful ropes -that they perch on in there favorite spot) Is a seconday 
thing to land on to lure it as close as possible to the house/cage.


- A recording of the Type of Birds you have (mine couldn t keep
calling out all the time - when needed) When Escapee 
was nearby - its companions Call was the most compelling thing to keep it close and encouraged him to come closer.

-For chance of longer survival to keep trying-I needed
 to get it food. For the future I going to get a regular small outdoor 
birdfeeder (inside) so that they would be use to going 
to one. I could have put it outside to lure it.. 

And if it would have ended up outside our area –many people have birdfeeders-and therefore more chance of someone else catching it
.
- For next time also - check out the possibility of clipping their wings. Mine weren t and it was amazing how high he flew and pretty much stayed at that height - on top of 100 year old pine trees. They try to be hight as possible for safety I assume. I have checked into clipping them some so they could gain some height-for safety from ground animals but not so high to make it harder to reach them and for them to keep the famaliar things in sight for them to recognize to attrack them back.

- And if you lose sight of it - Contacting the local animal shelter (SPCA is a major one) would be at the top of my list if I found any kind of Pet Animal - to check to see if someone reported it missing. And any number of other ways – post Lost Posters in the Area, Advertise in Papers-Local TV Stations and Radio to get the word out



When my bird escaped others came up with most of these things to help me out-constructively and emotionally.

I hope this helps you - Good Luck!

..

My Story: My Birdies hardly EVER (a couple of times) come down from the top floor of this cottage- to the second floor. The few times they did come down is when I didn t freshen their food. Because I had just freshend their food 10 minutes before and they were upstairs at the time -And with me watching when I did open the door to the deck on the second floor - I AUSUMED it wouldn t happen. They didn t follow their normal habits and it DID happen-he came down and out in a flash.

..

It happened on Saturday afternoon -When Alfie flew out the door I went in and got the other bird (Boo) in the cage and brought it outside on the deck under the tree it was in. (The problem is-even if he came down-I wouldn have had a way to catch him without a second cage) It was probably distracted by the other birds (even was following a finch going from branch to branch) and Boo would call sometime- but not often enough and then stopped calling out. It stayed for about 20 minutes then at one point flew and into the tallest pine tree ever. I followed it calling and later it flew back towards our direction but overflew again way over to the other side. By this time it was getting windy and I placed the other bird again on the deck and it started calling and Alfie would respond back and this is when Alfie flew to the tree closer to Boo. The wind was heavy so when Alfie looked like he was going to fly down he but ended up way on the otherside again. But it was now dark. I went to see if I could find him again but didn t find him until I went out again the next morning (6:00am). It did start raining. I went out a million times a day with constant calling. It seems as if this might of helped to keep him in the area. One time later in the day Boo was calling again and Alfie answered and came closer into a tree across the street and at one point flew across towards us -but it was getting dark again and a car went by and he flew off again. That was at the end of the 2nd evening. After one cooler evening and a full day of rain - continuing on into another night- even though there was a rain free and warmer day ahead...... I could not locate him the next day-unlike all the times I had before. 



Today I had to let Boo do what he is use to and fly free within the space. Now it is chattering away. And only one friend left here to listen and respond to it. I will stay til the end of the week- just in case.........

Answer 9

Fly after it? :) LOL!!!