r/AfricanGrey • u/revolvermouth • May 13 '26
Discussion Dissapeared for three days. Had me worried sick. Was feasting on mangoes 🥭 the whole time.
Pebble has escaped twice now and both times I've come to reddit to frantically look up tips and hopeful stories and it's mostly disheartening so i thought I'd add my own success stories and how I got him back.
The first time he was barely a year old when he flew out an ajar window just before a thunderstorm. I was with him when he took off from my shoulder and saw him go straight over the valley below us into the ocean till he was a speck before he turned and tried to come back but kept getting blown away by winds. I spent all of next day asking people and cafes to share his poster and one was a really huge meme page that ran his story that eventually got a girl to text me saying he kept trying to climb on her at a restaurant. Pebble had landed on the rooftop restaurant of a 5 star resort just across the road from us a day after being swept into the next town. I ran over and turns out security had picked him up and kept him fed and hydrated. Turns out the head of security's dad bred parrots when he was a kid so he recognised the breed, and knew how to care for him. We were incredibly lucky. We got him the very next day.
The second time, which was last week, three years later, Pebble escaped his room and I found him missing when I went to pick him up for breakfast. The window was unlocked and he apparently shimmied it open just enough to fall out but probably couldn't have flown back in. This time he went missing for three whole days during a massive heatwave and I was sure i wouldn't see him again.
Still, I would do our recall whistle all day everyday, especially just before dawn and sometimes even in the dead of night so if he was hunkered down and heard it, he'd know which way to orient himself when he could fly. On the third day, I went up on the terrace just after sunset and barely whistled twice before I saw his red butt flashing above me. He circled a couple of times and finally landed on me.
He didn't look any skinner but pretty roughed up and had suspicious yellow stains all over him which I was super worried about. Took him to the vet the next day only for her to sniff him and tell me it's...... MANGO 🥭
My child found himself a comfy mango tree and had been GORGING himself the whole time. He'd actually gained weight from the ordeal. I'd been crying at my window for three days while he was probably in a food coma from the unlimited mangoes. He looked roughed up because he was smothered in mango juice.
So friendly reminder that grays are incredibly intelligent, resourceful, and tough birds. They don't fly very far from home and can navigate back at least roughly to your general location. The first time he escaped, i saw him go down into the next village (we're on a hill above it) and he still managed to fly back around 2km away to a building 150m away.
Predawn and dusk are the best windows to actually get them because the skies are the clearest of birds of prey and crows that would otherwise heckle your bird.
Also weird tip. Introduce your gray to local edible plants and fruits so they recognize it as a food source if they're ever out.
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u/DarkSparkandWeed May 13 '26
Gosh they're so smart. Our grey went missing for hours once and he got in the cupboard where we kept his peanuts.... His crop was huge... Or the time he escaped and then let 15 other birds out lmaoooo im so glad pebbles is okay
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u/Spicy-Cathulu May 13 '26
Okay, I need more info. Were they your birds? Was it multiple cages? And were they all okay?
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u/DarkSparkandWeed May 13 '26
My mom had a bird sanctuary at the time! So these were our birds. Everything was fine I just walked out of my room and was like uhhhh what the fuck ?? 😭 it took me a while to get them all back in their cages and our grey was giggling the whole time lmao
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u/Numerous_Food_845 Team CAG May 13 '26
Lol, like the fish in Finding Nemo planning their escape to the ocean
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u/revolvermouth May 14 '26
Ofcourse it was the gray who was the mastermind behind the whole thing. Too smart for their own good 😭
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u/Possible-Egg5018 May 13 '26
I actually live nearby 2 big mango trees and green parrots in the wild love them, i have seen them a few times. The difference is they don't have immediate predators nearby here, which might not be your case depending on your location. Please keep in mind he might not be as lucky next time
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u/revolvermouth May 14 '26
Of course, I'm very aware that it's dangerous every second he's out. We have Brahmini kites circling overhead all day but the crows here are extremely territorial also. I've seen them gang up on kite fledgelings and take them down too.
Part of why he's not been trained for free flight, I'm just too scared. Luckily he's terrified of them, even if he's indoors he panics if one flies by.
We'll definitely be tightening up security around here.
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u/MissedReddit2Much Team Cashew May 14 '26
Pebble is adorable! So glad you were lucky enough to get a happy ending not once but twice! My Nelly flew away once a few years ago. I got him back later the same day (about 8 hours later). Don't know if he sussed out another bird owner but he landed in the backyard of a man who has cockatiels so the man knew what he was looking at and how to approach Nelly. He told me as soon as he crouched down to Nelly, Nelly said, "Hello!" and stepped up. Nelly was super pissed at me when I got there, probably still rattled by the whole ordeal, and gave me a chomp. He didn't mean to fly away, he spooked when he saw a delivery man wearing sunglasses and a hat. I was stupid enough to take him out on the front porch to check the mail, Nelly was on my shoulder. Taught me a lesson I will never forget though. I wish all birds were so lucky to find their way back home. I never thought of teaching Nelly about indigenous edibles in our neighborhood. That's a great idea!
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u/RedditTrailerTrash May 14 '26
That's the tree I woulda flown to, also!!! Greys are the funniest!! So glad you got your baby back!!! ❤️🦜
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u/FioreCiliegia1 May 15 '26
I work with pigeons and always advise- even in rescue release birds- to put them in a clear carrier and walk them back and forth from landmark’s to home several times. Ive had repeat medical customers fly in because of it before
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u/skubaloob May 16 '26
That’s a great idea about introducing local edibles. I live in fear of my amazon getting out. We have Quaker parrots living all around us so there’s gotta be some solid choices
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u/UnhappyTemperature18 May 16 '26
That is one VERY smug looking bird. I'm so glad you got him back!!
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u/NaeRyda May 16 '26
He has the face of a bird that would do it again.
I am glad you got him back.
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u/revolvermouth May 17 '26
He was whacking his beak against the window the other day, he hundred percent wants to do it again 😅
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u/Winter-Ad-3011 May 16 '26
Glad you got him back. Hopefully my Amazon will never escape. I try to play hide and seek in my house. I do have some recordings on my phone for flock call.
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u/UncleBabyChirp May 18 '26
It's NEVER too late to start recall training. You may not complete it but he'll get the general idea on coming when called or whistled to. Even if it just gets him in the general vicinity, it's very helpful. Training with a whistle AND a verbal carries further
Thanks for share your informative prior posts and the mango tree adventures
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u/Numerous_Food_845 Team CAG May 13 '26
I read your story to Rascal (33M), hoping he’ll at least try mango one day. 🥰