Published: October 03, 2007 09:51 am      

Lost & Found: Parrot finds his way home through classified advertisement

Buck, a Quaker Parrot, is glad to be back at his home on South Natchez Street after spending almost a week out of his cage with the majority of that time at the home of Mr. and Mrs. David Fancher in McCool. He owes the reunion with his owner to a classified ad which Mrs. Fancher placed in The Star-Herald.

Buck escaped his cage on Sept. 21 from the home of his owner Kimberly Chandler at 807 S. Natchez Street and was found by the Fanchers at nearby Hugh Ellard Park where they were attending a ballgame.

While watching the game, Mrs. Fancher said the bird lit on her shoulder where he stayed perched the three and one-half hours they were at the park. “He just seemed to like me. Children at the park were attracted to him, but he seemed to be at peace with me,” she said.

Inquiries of the owner among the ballgame crowd proved fruitless, and the bird kept its perch on Mrs. Fancher’s shoulder as they headed to their home in McCool.

Calls to local veterinarians the next day led to no trace of the bird’s home and owner. Mrs. Fancher said she made calls to three pet stores in Jackson hoping to find the owner through the number which was banded on the bird. One of the stores referred her to Joe Speed in Yazoo City who raises parrots. She said he gave her lots of information on the care of parrots and suggested she feed him apples, grapes and carrots. “I learned a lot about birds from him,” she said.

Mrs. Chandler learned of her bird’s whereabouts from the ad which Mrs. Fancher had placed in The Star-Herald. A South Natchez Street neighbor of Mrs. Chandler saw the classified ad placed by Mrs. Fancher and notified her thinking it might be her bird. She was able to identify him from his banded number. A trip to McCool ended in “the lost is found.”

The notice was also posted online by Joe Speed and the Fanchers received a call from someone in Southhaven who had a missing Quaker Parrot – only to find the missing had already been claimed.

According to Buck’s owner, his escape to freedom is nothing new, but this is the longest he has been free. Mrs. Chandler said he picks the latch to the cage’s door and sometimes gets outside but always comes back. Apparently this was his first time to visit out of town on one of his escapes.