Clay, NY--The prodigal parrot returns. Jada, the African Grey parrot who flew the coop while his owner was cleaning his cage, returned home this morning after a two-night odyssey in the suburban wild. He spent this morning terrorizing Laura Nickolai’s six cats. Nickolai lives on Marlin Drive in Clay just a few houses down from Angel Becotte, Jada’s owner....
Jada, a six-year-old African Grey parrot, escaped from his cage Wednesday. Submitted photo.Clay, NY--The prodigal parrot returns.
Jada, the African Grey parrot who flew the coop while his owner was cleaning his cage, returned home this morning after a two-night odyssey in the suburban wild.
He spent this morning terrorizing Laura Nickolai’s six cats.
Nickolai lives on Marlin Drive in Clay just a few houses down from Angel Becotte, Jada’s owner.
Nickolai didn’t know anyone was looking for a parrot with a maroon tail when the bird showed up on her deck this morning.
Her six house cats were the first to see the big bird at the backdoor screen. They quickly scattered, big bushy tails waving behind, frightened by the unfamiliar creature.
“At first I thought it was a pigeon because it was gray,” Nickolai said of the bird that appeared on the back deck. “I opened the door, and boy he wanted in.”
Rather than let Jada in, Nickolai lured him into a large cat carrier. She put out bird seed—”he turned his nose up at that”—, water and a stick for him to stand on.
Once she captured the bird in the carrier, Nickolai said she could see his identification band. She called the Central New York SPCA, who told her about Becotte’s plea for Jada’s return.
Becotte was cleaning the cage shared by Jada and his brother parrot, Zoe, at about noon on Wednesday, when Jada flew out of cage and through an open sliding glass door.
Becotte followed the bird’s route, but couldn’t find him. She put up signs and stuffed wallet-sized photos of the bird in neighbors’ mailboxes. On Thursday, she broadened the search and emailed The Post-Standard seeking the public’s help in finding Jada.
There were 14 or 15 calls from people reporting Jada siting when she woke up this morning, Becotte said. The last was a voice mail from Nickolai just a few houses away saying she had the bird.
Jada appears to be no worse for his experience, she said. “He looks like he has a bit of a sunburn,” Becotte said.
As for Jada’s taste of the wild, well it’s likely to be his last. Becotte said she’s clipping his wings.