Missing parrot checks in..

Missing parrot checks in at airport
By Aoibhinn Twomey

A FEMALE parrot was returned safely to her Swords home after she absconded and was found trying to board a plane at Dublin Airport last week.
It may seem like a flyer of a story but this blue and green parakeet was found on an aircraft off-ramp 10 days after she escaped from her owner’s aviary in Glasmore Park.
The bird, renamed Amelia after aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, has never escaped before and was found hungry and dehydrated at the airport by a routine patrol officer on February 26.

Puzzled staff at the airport quickly set about trying to find out where the plumb head parakeet came from, a difficult task given that Amelia did not have any tags or markings.

An ingenious idea to ring around local pet stores proved fruitful when they spoke to the owner of Kinsealy Pet Store who was aware that the parrot was missing.

Within hours the adventurous parrot was returned to her owner Alexander Fitzsimons and to her breeding partner Charlie.

“I was completely gobsmacked when I got the call to say that the hen had been found,” Alexander told Northside People.

“She had flown over my head and out of the aviary one evening when I was feeding the birds and I didn’t think I’d see her again. She just made for the open skies.

“I searched everywhere but when there was no sign of her after a few days I gave up and thought she would never have been able to survive the cold weather.

“I had gone down to the pet store where I bought her and her mate Charlie because he was going bezerk in the aviary without her.

“I wanted to get a replacement hen for the cock and ended up telling the owner what had happened.

“I was more than surprised to get the call that she’d been found a couple of days later.

“My wife was stunned and my 15 grandchildren are absolutely over the moon – it’s a lovely happy ending to the story for them.”

Alexander added: “She’s still fairly exhausted and quite nervous but she’s coming round. I don’t know whether she didn’t go any further because she’d forgotten her passport or what but she’s home now safe and sound.”

It’s still unclear as to whether Amelia stormed out of the aviary after a domestic dispute with her parakeet mate Charlie or whether she just fancied a sun holiday!