Kakariki escaped...it's back to Cockatiels for me!

muso · Regular Member Joined: Feb 12, 2014 Posts: 16

I got him a bigger cage about 70 x 65 x 165 cm so it's kind of a small aviary, he was at the top and I was filling his water bowl at the bottom and as quick as I could wink he was out. He couldn't fly far because the pet shop clipped his wings but boy could he run. I almost caught him with a towel but without a net it was almost impossible, my neighbour and I played chasey games with him on my neighbour's back lawn but he got into the ivy so I've left the cage door open and also set a trap with seed in it...it's actually a yabby net/trap.

I very much doubt I'll see him again, I am concerned that he will be attacked by cats or other birds so I'd love to get him back but I doubt it and as i said I think it's back to Cockatiels for me.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

If the cats what ever get him.. it is because the wings are clipped.. not because he escaped..
We have cover escapees before.
It is a good idea to giver your birds some out door time.. not justb fresh air sun, but they get a familiarity with the outside.
So when the birds escapes... DO NOT yell scream , panic, chase or even try to capture the bird...doing so will panic them , they tend to scare fly some distance then perch and not know where they are or where they came from.
The 1st thing the birds will do is go high and perch.. this is for them to get their bearings, know where they are....let them
Then if a kakariki will simply start to chew on stuff give a few calls etc.
U take their cage outside.. this will be their secure/ safe bedroom (if the owner has done this correctly) and when they are ready, dust , afternoon nap, a feed they will return to the cage.

Kakariki are a very active bird... clipping wings is cruel and the pet shop should bloody well know better.
Also covered in detail with owners describing the results
use Search block on the left

muso · Regular Member Joined: Feb 12, 2014 Posts: 16

Thanks Steptoe, only one wing was clipped by the pet store and even then it was not clipped that much, he was able to fly up high enough to sit on the shed roof and fence. I left his cage outside with the door open with food etc inside, I also left the aviary door open but no sign of him.

We have only had him a week so I'm assuming he has not bonded enough to return, I kept the cat indoors as I usually do at night. Hopefully he may show up, I will continue to leave the cage outside for him with the door open.

muso · Regular Member Joined: Feb 12, 2014 Posts: 16

She came back, she was at the front door in the garden playing hide and seek with my cat who had luckily already been fed.

I had just this morning bought a large fishing net on a pole in case she came back. After a bit of a wild goose chase we caught her and put her back in her smaller cage indoors, she was hungry so she is happily eating half an apple and some parrot seed :)

Amazing I really didn't think she would hang around, I didn't realise that they have homing tendencies or was it simply because she couldn't fly too far away because of the clipped wing?

Anyway very happy she is back safe and well, I will wait a while before putting her outside again in the aviary.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

muso · Regular Member Joined: Feb 12, 2014 Posts: 16

How does one catch a bird which has escaped and bring it back to safety away from predators without causing some distress to the bird?

I left her cage open overnight so she could return if she wanted to.

Without a net I would not have been able to catch the bird at all and a cat may have preyed on her, I caught her and brought her back to safety away from predators...cats, dogs, other birds etc.

Having a clipped wing would have made her far more vulnerable to these predators with no proper means of escape.