WHEN David Lewis installed a bird feeder in his garden, an exotic Indian parakeet was the last thing he expected to see visiting it.
Part-time van driver and retired bank manager David, from Brierfield, was called to the kitchen by his wife, Joyce, to witness the large Indian Ringneck parakeet tucking into the nuts and seeds they had left out for the neighbourhood sparrows.
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David, 64, said: “I was stunned. It was a beautiful bird. Large with gorgeous green plummage and a red beak and a red ring around its neck.
“It’s not every day you see an exotic bird on your bird feeder. We think it must be somebody’s pet and someone may be really missing it.”
David and Joyce contacted the RSPCA and all of their neighbours in Hawkswood Gardens but none of them had lost a pet parrot.
The hungry bird has returned to the couple’s back garden several times over the course of the last few days.
They are now appealing for the owners to get in touch.
David, who delivers flowers for Going Dutch florists in Nelson, said: “If the owner is out there, we just want to say, please do get in touch.
“We aren’t able to catch it but the people that own it may be able to tempt it with something and get it back in its cage. It’s a really beautiful bird and I’m sure that someone will be very worried about it.
“I’ve posted online and done lots of asking around, so I really hope we are able to track the owner down and get this bird home to safety.”
Mrs Kay Donohue, owner of Waterlife & Pets in Curzon Street, Burnley, said people who have lost or found exotic birds often contact her.
But she warned the parakeet’s chances of survival were not good due to the current inclement weather.
She said: “If it gets tired and hungry and wet it could get blown down.
“I don’t give it any chance at all, especially with the weather today.
“They can become feral and adapt to our climate. In the south, with the better weather, they are running free and breeding down there.”
David asks that the owner contact him on 01282 696041.
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