- Species: Macaw - Blue and Gold (See species list for details)
- Location: Tallahassee, Florida, United States 32301
- Date Lost: May 5, 2011
- Banded: No
- Microchipped: No
Hello, all of you,
I received at least 7 emails about the Blue and Gold, Kai, that finally is back with his family. Many asked for the rest of the story, so like Paul Harvey, I asked Kai’s “Mom” for the rest of the story. I want to thank Jessica and Jeremy Rhodes for sharing this with us. As I read it, I was reminded of how perfectly they went about rescuing their fid and the lessons we all can learn from this. Their perseverance, enlisting the aid of neighbors and “friends” who cared and even the unknown folks that sent positive thoughts and prayers all helped in making Kai’s story a happy ending. Please read and enjoy what all of us shared in and be very thankful for the people who came together in like heart and mind to make it so.
Kai stays outside on our screened porch a lot when my husband gets home from work in the afternoon and is working outside in the garden. He got out of our screened porch on Thursday around 3:30. He landed in a tree in our yard and my husband was calling him to come, but some mocking birds began attacking him, so he flew toward Jeremy (my husband) but then did not land on him. He ended up landing very high up in a pine tree that was one street over. At first, he seemed to want to come down. He was like a cat that gets up too high in a tree – he was afraid to come down and not sure he could fly that well. Soon, he discovered all the cool toys (pine cones and limbs) in the tree and just started playing. He was having a blast – talking, hanging upside down, tearing off the bark! We stayed there and watched him, trying to coax him down until dusk. That’s when he began to panic. He wanted to fly down so bad but was scared. He finally flew and kept circling around but would just not come down. He landed a block away and Jeremy climbed on a roof to get closer to him. He circled again and then we lost him. We knew the area he landed in but that was it.The next morning we got up at 4:30 to begin the search, calling him with his favorite phrases. We combed the neighborhood most of the day with no luck. We contacted our neighborhood association (Woodland Drives), all the area vets, Big Bend Bird Club, Birdland and we posted it on all the websites we found for that stuff. We also talked to everyone we saw and gave them our contact information asking them to call if they heard him. Our neighborhood association sent out an email to everyone in the neighborhood. And, about 6 pm, we started getting calls from neighbors that had heard him at various times during the day. Some of the neighbors even formed a sort of search party. A neighbor found him 2 blocks from our house around 7 and we spent a while trying to get him down. Around dusk, he flew to a lower limb but was nervous to fly again because there were lots of other birds (crows mostly) flying around. He roosted in that tree and we stayed for a while to make sure he did not fly again. Some fireworks went off downtown and that scared him, so he flew again and we lost him for the evening.On Saturday, we were out looking again most of the day. Around noon, we received a call from someone in Indianhead saying that they heard him a couple of hours before. So we began canvasing that area. About an hour into our search, he responded to me and screamed. I finally spotted him. At this point he was pretty weak and not screaming or talking as much as he had been the day before. Jeremy came and got on the roof of the house of the yard he was in. We got some of his favorite foods, his favorite perch and a favorite toy on the roof to try to coax him down. It took about an hour but eventually he flew down to Jeremy and we were able to get him home safely. He began eating and drinking immediately and felt better within an hour. We have kept a very close watch on him to make sure he is okay. (He will be visiting the vet on Monday to get checked out.) Since he has been home he has been really clingy and very sweet. I have never been so happy to hear the words “I love you” as I was this morning when I got up and heard it in his sweet little voice.Looking for him in the tops of trees was almost futile. We had a much better chance of hearing him, so we yelled his favorite phrases as we searched, listening for a response. We would not have found him without the help of neighbors listening out for him. I was extremely impressed and appreciative of all the neighbors who pitched in to help! Having food and water on the roof was also important in trying to get him down. We did put a perch on our roof, hoping that he would recognize it. He stayed within an 8 block radius (we assume), which definitely helped us get him home.Thank you all for your help and care! We are so thankful that our baby is home!Jessica and Jeremy Rhodes
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Hi,
I am trying to figure out how to tell you all that the B & G that was lost in Tallahassee May 4th or 5th (top of the listing of lost birds in Tallahassee) is home and reunited with his family. I can’t seem to find a form that we can send info to you such as this, so writing here. I am in contact with the owner to get the full story as members of the Big Bend Bird Club are interested in knowing how he got loose and how he got home…but at least you know he has been reunited of which we are all very very happy. Thanks much for being here to help. Sincerely, AGC