Help Identifying a Found Parrot

[jgk]

Does anyone know what species this is?

I came across a tweet from someone who found this parrot in Monterey Park, California. She appears to have captured it with plans of keeping it based on her tweets, but I'm concerned it could be someone's lost pet. I want to see if I can find any "lost" listings in the area that might be a match, and it helps to know the species to refine my search.

I tweeted to the girl earlier tonight and asked her to report it to her local animal shelter & post some "found" listings online, but I haven't heard back yet.

If anyone can help ID the bird and/or possibly knows someone who lost a bird like this, please let me know.

Here's the tweet/twitter account for reference:

https://twitter.com/ash_tuttle/status/1017769338051256320

Thanks

 

[Owlet]

Amazon of some kind, red lored?

my guess either a red lored, green cheeked, or lilacine Amazon. Hard to tell though.

 

[LordTriggs]

definitely an Amazon of some sort, I'm guessing Red Lored too

might be worth informing this person that keeping this pet that is clearly a lost pet without attempts of looking for the owner is theft. Also might be worth informing them that Amazon parrots require paperwork (CITES) and if they are found to have one without their documents they can get into some serious legal trouble

 

[Kiwibird]

Looks like a green cheek amazon aka Mexican redheaded amazon to me, based on what appears to be some blue near the eye. The bird also has a 'young' look about it. The photo is not that close, but the birds eyes appear to still be all dark, which if that is the case, would put it at under a year old. In fact, if I were the betting type and given it's the right time of year, I'd put that as a bird who is fledging. The tail doesn't even look 100% grown in yet nor does the beak look fully formed. It just looks very very young, and I don't just think it's the photo playing tricks.

It is great that there are people out there willing to see a situation like this and try to be sure a lost pet is reunited with it's owners. Definitely put out a few posts, but also be careful noting species etc... because unscrupulous people will contact you or the girl on twitter claiming it's a pet when they really just want an expensive exotic bird to resell for a profit (they're called 'flippers'). Someone needs proof that bird is theirs before it should be handed over or you disclose the username of the person who found it so they could take legal action. I do not, however, really believe it is a lost pet based on how very young that bird looks. Do you know if she mentioned it having a band on the non-visible leg? Captive born birds are required to have a closed metal band placed on their leg as chicks and grow into it. They can be removed, but most owners keep them on their birds leg for life as proof it was a legally obtained captive bred bird. I believe that to be more likely a feral chick that has just fledged from it's nest, likely built in a tree somewhere in the park. In California, you have feral flocks of parrots formed from lost or intentionally released former pets who now have breeding populations established. That seems a more likely scenario based on the appearance of the bird and if that were the case, it's technically an invasive species and would be akin to the girl taking in a stray cat (though I can't say if California law agrees with my personal moral assessment). That said, a bird that young may not be 100% eating on it's own and I would hope the girl would have the good sense to take it to a vet if that were the case to be shown how to supplement some formula feedings.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Hello, and welcome!

Great input above.

I admire your good conscience!

Here are some guidelines for finding birds' homes.

Search Protocol
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B78...ew?usp=sharing
Online Resources
https://www.facebook.com/groups/911parrotalertofficial/about/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/173723186536299/about/

I have witnessed firsthand (here) the grief and desperation of people who have lost their birds. Thank you!

 

[Scott]

Thanks for your concern, hope this bird is reunited with its family. I can only assume it has escaped, though some areas have wild bird populations. But it would be unusual to see one stray from the flock.

 

[noodles123]

Hmm..There is a semi-famous you-tuber, Marlene Mccowen (sp?) who you could contact. I imagine she would help find it a home/ reunite it with its owners (especially as she recently lost her parrot, Picasso, and is very broken up about it). Just a thought..

 

[texsize]

I agree with Kiwibird.

First it is a green cheek Amazon or Mexican red headed amazon.

If the bird talks then it's for sure an escaped pet.
If it doesn't talk that's no guarantee that it's not a pet cuz not all parrots talk.

There is a wild flock of those birds down there and if it's not hand tame that points more towards being a fledgling of a wild flock.

I "picked up" a green check amazon from down there as a rescue that we named Luna. I am still not completely convinced she was a escaped pet. She did say "hello" very clearly from the first but she is still not hand tame and I have had her since December of last year.
She is a very playful bird but she does like to scream. She very much wants feathered company but my other amazon wants no part of her (except to eat her maybe).

I don't know why a feral (wild) parrot would let someone pick it up unless it has known and been around people in the past.

 

[MonicaMc]

Oddly, there's been a lot of green cheeked amazons lost or found in Cali this past month... two in Fremont... (found birds)

 

[jgk]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm thinking those who suggested it's a wild parrot could be right. I found this article written just a few weeks ago about wild parrots in California, and there's an Amazon pictured in it that looks just like it:

https://pethelpful.com/wildlife/Wild-Parrots-Multiplying-in-Southern-California

A lot of the red-lored amazons that I've seen online seem to have the "red" part extend further up their head than these do. Which was what initially threw me off as to the species. But after seeing this picture of a wild red-lore with the same shorter red coloring, I'm thinking maybe that's just what the wild-bred ones look like, and leading me to believe this one found was wild too.

The person from twitter who found it never responded back, so I have no confirmation if she actually captured it or if she was just joking around, but I don't think I'm going to pursue it any further. If anyone else is concerned, the link to her twitter account is in the OP.

Thanks again

 

[EllenD]

It's definitely a Mexican Redheaded Amazon, and there are many, many, many wild flocks of different species of Amazon in the LA/Southern Cali area...tons of them, all kinds...However, if this bird is tame and allowing her to touch it, and definitely if it "steps-up" for her, then it's someone's dear, loved, and lost pet for sure. That's the sure tip-off...and it's young too...

What is it with people finding all these obviously tame, pet parrots/birds outside and then just going "Yay, I've got a new pet" and then they run out and start buying cages, toys, etc.? Do people do this with dogs too? I can't imagine just keeping someone's pet without at the very least checking with all local vets, rescues, pet shops, and especially and immediately on all my local Craigslist pages, as well as posting a found bird on Craigslist pages, Parrot911, and ParrotAlert...Someone is dearly missing this bird, and most-likely they just brought this baby home from the breeder or pet shop no long ago, and are absolutely devastated (forgetting the amount of money they just spent on the bird and all of the equipment and supplies, they are missing their new baby family member)...

I hope the girl who found this bird does her due-diligence in finding this bird's owner, and doesn't just start asking questions about cage sizes, toys, etc. I suspect that's exactly what has happened to Picasso as well, and it's just so sad and cold-hearted of someone to do...

 

[MonicaMc]

Do people do this with dogs too? I can't imagine just keeping someone's pet without at the very least checking with all local vets, rescues, pet shops, and especially and immediately on all my local Craigslist pages, as well as posting a found bird on Craigslist pages, Parrot911, and ParrotAlert...

Short answer is yes.... even with cats. Lost a kitten that way. Back when I was a kid living with my mother and she refused to have the cats be indoor only. We had gotten a new kitten, two weeks after getting her, she never came home... turns out, neighborhood kids found her, asked their parents if they could keep her, was told no, then she went to live with the neighborhood cat lady... I didn't find out until years later... when it was already too late to take her back.

Also got a bird out of a situation like that... 'kid' found bird outside, decided to keep her without knowing how to keep birds, in a smoke filled home (from cigarettes to pot and who knows what else) overrun with sick cats and kittens. They got her a "finch" cage (I wouldn't even keep a finch in there...) and fed her cheap food. They thought she was a male because she had a bright yellow head. I told them she was a female. Then she started becoming a chronic egg layer and then "simply forgot" to feed her. She was around 50% underweight when I stepped in and took her. Never did find an owner and she lived for several more years before her passing.

At least with dogs, *most* people realize it's someone's lost pet.

 

[EllenD]

Dear God, what a nightmare...I guess I'm just being "logical", lol, shame on me...It just seems like if someone finds a bird outside, any type of bird, and it walks-up to them, allows them to touch it, steps-up for them, etc. (forgetting whether or not it speaks or whistles human-whistles), you'd think that it would occur to them that the bird is probably not a wild bird, lol...I've seen a ton of these lately, some of the people who have found them have come right on here directly after finding the bird in order to find out what size of cage to buy, what to feed them, what toys to buy, etc., with absolutely not a word about finding the bird's owners or how to go about doing that...and then when they're given advice about how to go about finding the real owners of the bird and encouraged to do-so, they make up multiple excuses about why they can't post on Craigslist or anywhere else, why they can't call and notify local vets, rescues, pet shops, etc. My favorite was someone who posted that they absolutely refused to post an ad on their local Craigslist pages that they had found someone's pet parrot because "Where I live the people will just contact me, trying to claim that they are the bird's owner just so they can get a new pet bird"...My first thought (besides the obvious that they didn't have to post any details about the bird and could screen anyone who contacted them, lol), was "Isn't that exactly the same thing that you're doing, taking someone's pet illegally and immorally, just because you want a pet bird?

While I guess I am grateful that most of the people who are finding these birds are at the very least seeking-out advice on how to properly care for the bird, it's a double-edged sword for sure.

I saw something even more horrible the other day with the whole "Picasso" situation...Marlene had done a "Live Stream" regarding Picasso being missing, this took place about 15 days after he had gotten loose, and it was well advertised in-advance by Marlene that she was going to do the Live Stream, because she wanted to update everyone who was contacting her for info on what was going on, and because she wanted to collect any possible new info about any sightings of Picasso in the great LA area, etc. I didn't watch the Live-Stream, I didn't even know about it until the next day after it had taken place, but I decided to watch it to see what was going on with searching for him, leads, etc. I'm so, so sorry that I watched it...even though it's not "live", the live-chat that took place during the Live-Stream still runs down the side of the YouTube page, so you can read every comment that was made during the Live-Stream...Some heartless, cold, messed-up person (an adult, not a kid, as they proudly confessed right at the end of the Live-Stream as Marlene was signing-off) right at the beginning of this Live-Stream that lasted well over an hour, stated that they were at a McDonald's "downtown" (taken to mean "downtown LA" obviously), and that Picasso, or some other Moustache Parakeet, was right outside of the McDonald's and was seen by many people inside, and that they had walked outside and were trying to get the bird down from the tree...Now the only reason this was believable at-first was because this guy said that as soon as he was made aware that there was a parrot in a tree outside, he had gone online on his phone and looked-up what species of parrot it was, figured out it was a Moustache Parakeet, and then did a Google Search for "lost Moustache Parakeet in Los Angeles", and of course all of Marlene's ad's and info popped right up in the search results, and this guy went right to her YouTube page and saw that a Live-Feed was going on, and went into it so he could see if this was her bird...It was horrible, as everyone on the live-chat on YouTube was going nuts, trying to get Marlene's attention while she was talking about what had been going on, but because Marlene could only see the "superchat" comments and not the live-chat comments on YouTube unless someone made a monetary donation to her, people were going crazy, emailing her, telling this guy to take a photo of the bird and email it to her, which he kept saying that he did, but he had sent it to her YouTube email and not her Instagram email, which is her main email, etc. It went on and on and on and on throughout the entire live-stream, and the worst part? At least between 20-30 people actually cared so much about helping Marlene find her bird that they sent her a donation (minimum was $1.99) so that she would get an instant alert and they could post a message about getting down to the "McDonald's downtown" because her bird was there, check your email, etc....Now this guy was, at least to me, obviously lying because he would not state which McDonald's he was at, he just kept saying "the McDonald's downtown", meaning "downtown LA", where there are probably at least 100 McDonald's, he wouldn't take a photo of the bird because his iPhone wasn't working, etc. It went on, and on, and on, and on, and people believed him...Here's the really sad part, Marlene wasn't fooled by this guy and stated that she needed this guy to send her proof that there was a Moustache Parakeet at the McDonald's, along with the address, otherwise she didn't care, which made some people angry at her, but she then stated that "Since Picasso had been lost, she has gotten tons and tons of people contacting her, telling her that they have either seen her bird somewhere, or that they caught her bird and had him, or they knew who had him, etc.", and that at first she had actually been running around all over the LA area, which is HUGE, wasting her time, money, gas, etc. chasing people who were either truly mistaken and it was actually a wild Amazon or Ringneck in a tree or that someone had caught, or they were simply flat-out lying to get to meet her because they were her "fans", or they wanted her to give them money when she arrived because they had contacted her about the bird being there, but it had "flown away" before she got there, etc...Anyway, at the very end of the live-stream when she was about to log-off, after this horrible, heartless, waste of oxygen of a human being had literally screwed with not only Marlene but also with dozens of people who were trying to help her find her bird, a lot who live in the LA area and had actually driven "downtown" LA, which is a massive area, going from McDonald's to McDonald's looking for this jerk, he quickly posted a comment that said "By the way, I live in Alaska, this is my son's YouTube account, have a nice day!"....

WTF is wrong with people?

 

[ChristaNL]

(note: I have been reading way too many who-dunnits lately, and though I like the way she gets the modern way of parrotkeeping drilled in peoples minds: )

speaking of 'what is wrong with people' ... it might actually been someone working with her to promote that exact behaviour in people.
She is semi-professional making money of being an internet sensation - and weirder things have happened...

If she wanted to hammer home how not to behave around people looking for lost pets - she succeeded pretty well (imho).

 

[jgk]

Ironically, that Marlene McCohen (who I think may live nearby) just found an Amazon that looks identical to the one pictured here. It had some injury but I think is ok now. No clue if it's the same bird, but just thought I'd share.

Here's her video if interested:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLjRbB0qtyE"]I FOUND A PARROT BLEEDING FROM HIS MOUTH SUFFERING HEAD TRAUMA | PART #1 |My emergency Parrot care - YouTube[/ame]

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Ironically, that Marlene McCohen (who I think may live nearby) just found an Amazon that looks identical to the one pictured here. It had some injury but I think is ok now. No clue if it's the same bird, but just thought I'd share.

Here's her video if interested:

I FOUND A PARROT BLEEDING FROM HIS MOUTH SUFFERING HEAD TRAUMA | PART #1 |My emergency Parrot care - YouTube

I believe that bird knew Monica was there to help and that the concoction she brewed for him was medicine. It was awesome to see that Amazon take little sips from the glass. Now I'm searching for part 2 to see how he/she made out


jim

 

[ChristaNL]

I am getting sooo sick and tired of all those attentionwh#res on youtube.
I know blogging etc, is a way of earning a pretty okay living for some, and Marlene at least does not get too many things wrong, but even she will miraculously "adopt/buy/find" another bird the moment the likes are dropping instead of concentrating on the birds she has and make sure they are allright and have a good life.

 

[EllenD]

Oh don't get me started...I completely stopped watching any of them, especially since Marlene has teamed-up with the other one...they're best of friends now. I can't handle her anymore...