Horror story/close call

Well....
I have a horror story to tell. I could have lost Cytrynka forever.
My fault, lesson learned. Luckily, not the hardest way, but it was a close call.


Yesterday I had to work around the house. It's winter season here, so it gets pretty dark and nasty as soon as 4PM. I was getting in and out, and in and out... Cytrynka, as usually, was free-flying inside the house, spending time with other family members.
I was sooo focused on my duties, I haven't realized Cytrynka sat on my shoulder at the moment I was IN (I was wearing a winter jacket, so it was un-noticable to me). And... I went out carrying her, not even knowing that.
Suddenly she squeaked, and in this moment I've realized she's ON ME and I was OUT!
WHAT AN AWFUL FEELING!

In this moment, I've made my second biggest mistake. And this was, instead of being calm, I've instantly panicked and made a rapid move. This was the trigger for her to FLY AWAY! Not far away, but it was dark and ugly and I was scared I will loose her. I kept calling her, and kept watching her. But probably she couldn't see me well enough. It was seconds, but felt like it was minutes or hours to me. Fortunately after a while she sat down on the roof of my house. I kept calling her, I also tried to get her back offering her favourite treats (cashew& power treats), to no avail.
Then I've found an idea, to reach her from the 1st floor window. I took the cashew, left the family support down with treats to keep an eye on her. I went upstairs, opened bathroom window and have tried to reach her. It was close.. 10 cm from her beak. She spotted the cashew, grabbed it and stepped up on my extended finger. I gently took her in, closed the window.
For these few moments (it took no longer than 3-5min total), I realized how badly I need her and I love her. I could't imagine being without her. And in some stupid way, I could have lost her forever.
Lesson learned. And few more: to keep the treats handy, just in case of an emergency. To keep as calm as possible, when I will realize I went out with a parrot sitting on me. And, most important, to double-check if she's safe and secure IN.

Pffffffieuw.... glad to know this story had a happy ending.
One of my biggest nightmares: being so used to a parrot just sitting there (shoulders etc.) it ends up at places you never wanted that bird to go.
(I almost ended up getting in my bed with one of them still just quietly sitting on my shoulder)



Good thinking and quick acting!

omg, I glad to see a happy end

Yikes - my biggest fear! It’s so easy when they are small and lightweight - not to notice that they are with you.... Very glad there was a happy ending to this story!

Close call, thankfully Cytrynka stayed close and responded well. Thanks for posting this timely reminder for others to see!

This happened to me once too, only it wasn't me but my roommate who accidentally let her out. I was about a hour away from home, and was absolutely horrible knowing she needed me and I wasn't there to help her. Luckily, with the help of some very good friends, they got her back in the house. As soon as I got home i made a sign to put on the door saying "check for mango!"

So happy to hear you got her back. Years and years ago when I had Wally the budgie. I was just fourteen or so. Mom was going out for the night and Wally was with me as I did my homework at the kitchen table. Well Wally flew and landed on Moms coat as she stepped out the back door. Wally ended up in a neighbors tree high up. No amount of coaxing,treats,bringing his house out to him got his attention. He was singing and chattering and flying from branch to branch. We never saw him again


Jim

What a scary story!!!!!! So glad to hear that you were able to get her back to inside. I lost a sulphur crested cockatoo that way many years ago. I was spring cleaning and she flew out of the house when a large jet flew overhead. For weeks we couldn't find her. Two years later my parter who was a real estate agent listed a condo two buildings away from where we were living. When he went to this ladies condo for her to sign the listing agreement he saw a picture on a table of this woman's family that lived in Chicago with a beautiful white sulphur crested cockatoo sitting on her grown son's hand. My partner explained that we once had a bird exactly like that picture. I should tell you that we lived in Miami Beach. This woman explained that two years before she had the balcony windows open and that very same bird walked into her living room on the tenth floor and not knowing what to do she put the bird in the bathroom and then called her son and his wife and asked what she should do with the bird. They said that they wanted the bird and see if it could be shipped immediately to them. As it turned out it was our bird, identified by her leg band, all they way in Chicago, living happily with her new family. I had already grieved the first year not having her so it wasn't so difficult to hear the news because I was so happy that she had survived. The family offered to give her back to me but I said that I think this may have been fate and that they had children that loved this bird so much and I didn't have the heart to take her back. It illustrates how we can forget to mind the birds we have especially such a small bird. Screens on windows and balcony doors and going in and out we need to check that the bird is in it's cage or some kind of confined area. Difficult to remember when we get so used to they flying around in our homes. Once again so thrilled to know that you were able to get your bird back!

@Alehner529
Great idea, about the door sign. I will definitely do that, too, as a "last resort" attempt to "Mind the Conure"...


@Rudustin
Really incredible story about your Too. I'm glad he found a loving house, if I were you I think I'd also have a really tough problem to solve, whether to get my bird back or to leave the bird with his/her new, truly and deeply loving house. But what's most important, was to keep the Bird happy and I believe you've done the right thing.

That's such a scary situation when you suddenly go "I'm outside. The bird is on me. The bird is outside!!!". Been there, done that. Luckily I haven't had any of them fly off of me, knock on wood...

It's so easy to do, it's the same thing as propping the screen-door open because you're carrying something large inside, and you just don't think about the fact that the bird is loose in the house and could fly out the door...We've all done it, some of us get lucky, some not lucky at all...I almost feel like we should all put a sign right next to the front door of the house that says "Are all of the birds in their cages? Are any of the birds ON YOU right now?", and then a sign on the outside of the front door that says "Are the birds in their cages? Can they fly out the door if you leave it open?"

Honestly, it's not a bad idea at all...

Absolutely terrifying!

I'm SO glad that ended well!

I lost a yellow-naped macaw many years ago to an opened door. My older daughter was about 5 and we didn't have Mac for very long. She forgot to close the garage door from the kitchen to go out and play.

Our landlord gave him to me when the owner went back to prison after violating parole, so we were still getting used to having a larger bird than a budgie around.

Emoji is partially clipped. He can fly short distances. We go out to the back patio and no farther. He hides under my hair. I think now that he's settled in after his being lost out in the wilds of FL, he has no desire to return to that!



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Rudustin said:

What a scary story!!!!!! So glad to hear that you were able to get her back to inside. I lost a sulphur crested cockatoo that way many years ago. I was spring cleaning and she flew out of the house when a large jet flew overhead. For weeks we couldn't find her. Two years later my parter who was a real estate agent listed a condo two buildings away from where we were living. When he went to this ladies condo for her to sign the listing agreement he saw a picture on a table of this woman's family that lived in Chicago with a beautiful white sulphur crested cockatoo sitting on her grown son's hand. My partner explained that we once had a bird exactly like that picture. I should tell you that we lived in Miami Beach. This woman explained that two years before she had the balcony windows open and that very same bird walked into her living room on the tenth floor and not knowing what to do she put the bird in the bathroom and then called her son and his wife and asked what she should do with the bird. They said that they wanted the bird and see if it could be shipped immediately to them. As it turned out it was our bird, identified by her leg band, all they way in Chicago, living happily with her new family. I had already grieved the first year not having her so it wasn't so difficult to hear the news because I was so happy that she had survived. The family offered to give her back to me but I said that I think this may have been fate and that they had children that loved this bird so much and I didn't have the heart to take her back. It illustrates how we can forget to mind the birds we have especially such a small bird. Screens on windows and balcony doors and going in and out we need to check that the bird is in it's cage or some kind of confined area. Difficult to remember when we get so used to they flying around in our homes. Once again so thrilled to know that you were able to get your bird back!

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A beautiful story! If only they all had that sort of redemption.

The best life lessons are the ones that avert tragedy, teach the lesson and prevent future tragedy. Been there, done that, lesson learned. That's important. You learned from it and averted tragedy. I'm so glad it worked out happily in the end. I'm sure that was very scary!

My Skittles is free-flighted too. Unfortunately, unlike most people here, I have no life. lol. It's just me and Skittles. I don't have chaos in my home and I RARELY have people over and if I do I tend to wait til Skitty is in bed. He's the perfect excuse to keep people out of my apartment, lol.

That being said, it doesn't stop people from knocking or ringing the bell. Whether it be a neighbor or a delivery. There were several times I went to answer the door and go out

The good thing is, Skittles goes off when hears a knock or doorbell so its impossible to not know where he is. lol. But if I step out, he'll no doubt fly over to me and won't want to let me go. So what I do when someone knocks is I say "just a minute" and put him in his day cage and go answer the door. If its a doorbell, I do the same.

But I had to figure this out after trying to leave the house without putting him away. While I never had a close call with this, I would have had one no doubt if he weren't so dang possessive of me. lol.

I learned another hard lesson with the windows. He flew into the window once and seemed fine. The second time it happened he looked disoriented and his foot went limp. I took him to the vet that afternoon and luckily he was fine, but it scared me enough that now I always have the venetian blinds drawn down and open instead of up. Less light, but safer.

If I could just make one suggestion. IF Cytrynka was out in the cold and it was well below 50f, you might want to have her looked at just to make sure she didn't catch a cold. At the very least though, keep a close eye on her eating habits, sleeping habits and especially her droppings.

Wow my heart was pounding upon reading the title of the thread! So glad all is well.

Skittys_Daddy said:

If I could just make one suggestion. IF Cytrynka was out in the cold and it was well below 50f, you might want to have her looked at just to make sure she didn't catch a cold. At the very least though, keep a close eye on her eating habits, sleeping habits and especially her droppings.

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@Skittys_Daddy

Thanks for pointing that out, indeed it was quite cold that day, closer to 40F. She was out for no longer than 5min, but she's definitely not used to such low temperatures. Although she seemed fine, I immediately allowed her to dive under my shirt to warm up. Just after the accident she acted normal, and still acts normal, eats normal, sleeps normal, no nose discharges, droppings normal, but will definitely keep monitoring her behaviour.

Yeah, be sure to do that. I don't want to frighten you, but just keep in mind birds are masters of disguise and will hide illness as long as they can. So keep an eye out for the smallest signs.

In the meantime, if you just make sure she's kept in an area where its at least 70f, IF she caught something, her system might well fight it off if she is in otherwise good health. A LOT of whether or not a bird can survive a cold(er) climate depends on their health aka diet.

A bird fed a healthy diet consisting of all necessary nutrients is obviously much less likely to get sick than one thats fed all seeds. Given how well you take care of Cytrynka, I'm sure she'll be fine, but its always good to be extra cautious anyways.

Whoahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Such a relief to get to the end of your tale!
Yep, a good scary story is a helpful reminder to newbie and oldie alike.

Thank you for sharing!

I once had a scare when I first got Ollie and didn't know a clipped bird could get lift from wind and fly away on accident. He ended up on the room and my babysitter and I got him to step up on to a broom handle. The rescue took about 3 minutes and I never took a bird outside without a harness again.

@Sunnyclover That is sadly a lesson too many learn the hard way.

A lot of people don't realize that a clipped bird in the house vs a clipped bird outdoors are two VERY different things. In the house, there are walls and ceilings which prevent birds from obtaining too much lift or distance, whereas outdoors there are no limits.

What I tell people is that a clipped bird can fly outside the way an unclipped bird can fly inside. Because of the wind, even if their feathers are clipped, they can glide LONG distances. Also, the windforce provides them with lift they would not get indoors. Indoors, they just drop to the floor, outside that doesn't happen because of the lift from the wind.