Any suggestions ASAP?

EKSM · Jul 8, 2019

Hello all, right now I’m typing while sitting under a tree in my neighbor’s yard 20 feet under my Nanday Gussie, who decided to take off last night around 8 PM as I was taking him out of his little outside cage to go inside.

He is not flighted, and I was of course shocked when he went over our back fence and up into the tree. As it was getting dark we left him for the night but now I need to do something to coax him down. I have his little cage, walnuts, and I am sitting here watching him like a TV calling out every once in a while.

He seems pretty content right now, preening and looking at me, although his back is to me when he’s not hearing noises from me. He was calling out when I first walked up but now just sitting silent.

I would love to just get a ladder and go up there but he isn’t making it easy, as he is in a very leafy thin branched tree that’s over another thicker tree with the whole mess hanging over a garage. I think I could get on the garage but I’d still be about 10 feet away. Also, it’s 6:15 AM here and I’m not going to have help for another two hours because my husband has to take my daughter to summer school.

Does anyone have suggestions for the time being? Should I let him sit, will he eventually get so hungry he comes down or will he get bored and fly, should I try to do this crazy hose thing where I try to get him wet so he can’t fly well?

I would love some real-time advice!

Thanks

EKSM · Jul 8, 2019

Also, forgot to add I’ve been here an hour already and he has moved from his original spot which was over and at least 10 ft higher. When I got here he did climb a bit more over so he could see me so I did try to hide and make him anxious to move again but no dice after the initial move.

charmedbyekkie · Jul 8, 2019

Just stay there and keep calling. Maybe step back a bit in case the angle is too steep.

I guess he isn't recall trained? That means it's a bit harder to communicate to him what needs to be done.

If you've had him for a while, he'll want to keep you in sight. Some people bluff and act as if they're walking away to trigger their bird to panic and try to fly down. Entirely up to you. If he has set perches that he's familiar landing on, try keeping those outside with you. Otherwise, it's really a waiting game, so long as other birds or predators (including humans) don't chase him off.

If he has a favorite treat or a sound that makes him come running, definitely use that. Sometimes the treat is too small to see, but the container is big and recognisable enough or even the sound of the container opening is enough.

Good luck!!

EKSM · Jul 8, 2019

He is a year old, not recall trained but I have been rattling his walnuts in his bowl. That gets him to turn and the first time it caused him to lean down and flap like he was going to fly to me but that’s all I’ve gotten so far. It’s a nice day, he’s pretty well hidden in that leafy tree and I’m willing to wait with the full permission and help of the neighbors but I don’t want to leave it until another night - how long should I stay under him until he would typically want to come down for hunger? At what point do I get a ladder? I realize not all birds are the same but I thought I might draw upon anyone’s past experience. I feel so lucky that I knew where he’s been this whole time so I don’t want to blow it by waiting until he flies somewhere else – although I have marked in my mind about where he might land in the
two directions he can go...

Aspie_Aviphile · Jul 8, 2019

Reduce the gradient between you both as much as you can so that his flight path to you will be less steeply vertical, either by moving farther away on the ground or higher up by climbing on a garage or tree across from him. Even if he tries to fly down steeply, he's unlikely to maintain that direction all the way to the ground, and will end up in a different tree or garden or someone's pond, even harder for you to reach or scare predators away.

EKSM · Jul 8, 2019

There is a window about 10 feet from him in the neighbors house were a net can be used to catch him – is that a good idea do you think? Neighbor isn’t really cool with the idea of me crawling out on his roof but he said he would with the net??

EKSM · Jul 8, 2019

If only theyd let me climb out I think I could reach him but I can’t do it without permission

Scott · Jul 8, 2019

Hope you've rescued your Nanday by now! If not, seek permission, whatever it takes in timely manner. Most folks are sympathetic to the plight of an escaped parrot.

Please review this thread for overall strategy. I realize it is early but thinking of proactive steps will help should he fly out of sight: http://www.parrotforums.com/lost-found/49129-bring-them-home-tips-locating-lost-bird.html

Looking forward to hearing of success!

Laurasea · Jul 8, 2019

It's very scary for a bird to fly downward. This is something everyone who reads this needs to train their bird to do right now. Birds that aren't t good flyer , and even some that are hate/ fear to fly down.
So Aspie gave some good suggestions. I think you need the ladder, or permission to try roof and see if he will try to fly over rather than down. Ugh the stress!!! Good luck!!! I want to hear of his safe return!!!

Squeekmouse · Jul 8, 2019

I have heard stories of people calling the fire department or animal control to help resue their bird from a tree, particularly if it's a clipped bird. Sometimes they don't know HOW to get down.

Maybe a ladder to get closer to him? Maybe two people on two ladders... so if he is startled by one, hopefully he goes into the arms of the other.

EKSM · Jul 9, 2019

Hi everyone, thank you for all the tips. First off to avoid anticipation I will say I recovered Gussie yesterday! The process wasn’t without its challenges and I swear for the rest of the day I had PTSD… Every time I saw a bird fly overhead after I got him home safe, or even heard a bird chirp it made my stomach drop. I had to go to bed early bc I was so tired and stressed even 12 hours after I got him back. Definitely looking into recall training bc I never knew how much they hate to fly down.

In case anyone in future needs to see what worked for me, I will tell you what happened: Gussie was in the same tree for a while, calling down to me on his own when he started to get hungry. I enlisted neighbors to stand around and help me keep an eye on him - for 6 hours he was watched constantly. We strategized for a while and decided we either needed to get him to fly over to me in the window or try to get him with a net. We called the police who called the fire dept bc animal control wouldn’t help, and thankfully although they’d never dealt with a lost bird they were all happy to come (I live in a quiet town.)

Anyway as they all watched, I went up, rattled his bowl out the window near him and he did want to fly to me so bad, but as he was hemming and hawing he sort of lost his balance, panicked and flew in the opposite direction we thought he would - through the tree and not into the clear space where he was mostly facing. That was actually a good thing, as it was towards the backyard and not across the street.

Luckily we was screeching as he landed so we all ran back there like keystone cops and found him but he was now in another neighbor’s tree and higher up. The fire dept didn’t have a tall enough net or ladder so one neighbor went to the local pool to see if she could swipe a very long net. Considering we were standing there with the police, she elected not to jump the fence to steal it when she realized the pool was closed

We then decided to do the crazy hose idea, and it worked. He was too high for a real spray to move him but with the jetstream they were able to sprinkle him – he was pretty agitated anyway and didn’t like it very much so he tried to fly and the weight of the water brought him down to roof level. Interestingly, as we’re getting ready to run around the fence to get him off the roof, he flew straight over to the fence where I was standing! I slowly walked up to him, got him on my finger, and most importantly – stuffed him under my shirt. I had the cops bring the cage into the house so I could put him in - I wasn’t taking any chances having him on my finger even for a second outside!

So thankfully now that all is well I can at least laugh at the memory of the fireman spraying a civilian hose into a tree and me yelling “Nobody move!!” at a bunch of cops as I was getting Gussie on my finger.

Today Gussie goes in to get re-clipped and I’ve already been looking at training online. Our police and fire department was awesome, and I’m very lucky to have great neighbors. Never again!

Scott · Jul 9, 2019

Fantastic, so happy for you and Gussie! What an amazing team effort!!

Casper223 · Jul 9, 2019

EKSM said:
Hi everyone, thank you for all the tips. First off to avoid anticipation I will say I recovered Gussie yesterday! The process wasn’t without its challenges and I swear for the rest of the day I had PTSD… Every time I saw a bird fly overhead after I got him home safe, or even heard a bird chirp it made my stomach drop. I had to go to bed early bc I was so tired and stressed even 12 hours after I got him back. Definitely looking into recall training bc I never knew how much they hate to fly down.

In case anyone in future needs to see what worked for me, I will tell you what happened: Gussie was in the same tree for a while, calling down to me on his own when he started to get hungry. I enlisted neighbors to stand around and help me keep an eye on him - for 6 hours he was watched constantly. We strategized for a while and decided we either needed to get him to fly over to me in the window or try to get him with a net. We called the police who called the fire dept bc animal control wouldn’t help, and thankfully although they’d never dealt with a lost bird they were all happy to come (I live in a quiet town.)

Anyway as they all watched, I went up, rattled his bowl out the window near him and he did want to fly to me so bad, but as he was hemming and hawing he sort of lost his balance, panicked and flew in the opposite direction we thought he would - through the tree and not into the clear space where he was mostly facing. That was actually a good thing, as it was towards the backyard and not across the street.

Luckily we was screeching as he landed so we all ran back there like keystone cops and found him but he was now in another neighbor’s tree and higher up. The fire dept didn’t have a tall enough net or ladder so one neighbor went to the local pool to see if she could swipe a very long net. Considering we were standing there with the police, she elected not to jump the fence to steal it when she realized the pool was closed

We then decided to do the crazy hose idea, and it worked. He was too high for a real spray to move him but with the jetstream they were able to sprinkle him – he was pretty agitated anyway and didn’t like it very much so he tried to fly and the weight of the water brought him down to roof level. Interestingly, as we’re getting ready to run around the fence to get him off the roof, he flew straight over to the fence where I was standing! I slowly walked up to him, got him on my finger, and most importantly – stuffed him under my shirt. I had the cops bring the cage into the house so I could put him in - I wasn’t taking any chances having him on my finger even for a second outside!

So thankfully now that all is well I can at least laugh at the memory of the fireman spraying a civilian hose into a tree and me yelling “Nobody move!!” at a bunch of cops as I was getting Gussie on my finger.

Today Gussie goes in to get re-clipped and I’ve already been looking at training online. Our police and fire department was awesome, and I’m very lucky to have great neighbors. Never again!

The Parrot Wizard has some videos, about training perches, and about recall training you might be very interested in. I purchased a set of training perches, and clicker for Ms Zoey, and in the DVD Stephen sends it shows all about recall training, He even works with his Cape Parrot going up and down stair cases, so to train to fly up or fly down, and in another video he's in a gymnasium, teaching the birds to fly from his hand to the perches across the gym, and calls the birds back from the perches to his hand again. Very useful video and information. Hope this helps.

Laurasea · Jul 9, 2019

Sooo happy!!

Any suggestions ASAP?

EKSM

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EKSM

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charmedbyekkie

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EKSM

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Aspie_Aviphile

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EKSM

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EKSM

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Scott

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Laurasea

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Squeekmouse

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EKSM

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Casper223

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Laurasea

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Advice please on accepting rehome of macaw

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