Missing parrot back at Zoo

After four days on the lam, a missing parrot from the Philadelphia Zoo was back at Bird Lake today for a bath, a bite to eat and a reunion with its flock.

"It's in very good condition," said Andrew Baker, the zoo's chief operating officer.

Baker reported that, a couple of days earlier, a family from Phoenixville had spotted the sun conure in a tree while walking near Lemon Hill mansion in Fairmount Park. When the family called out to it, the bird flew down and landed on an outstretched hand - a blur of red and green, yellow and blue.

The family, which Baker declined to identify, took the bird home and cared for it. Yesterday, when family members saw news reports of the disappearance, they called the zoo. Officials picked up the bird today.

The parrot has has no name. It's only five or six months old, and zoo officials can't yet tell its gender.

After a bit of rest, the bird will rejoin the daily Festival of Flight shows at the zoo. The parrot was in a cast with several other sun conures, macaws, Amazon parrots and storks when it took flight last week. The wayward bird might have been chasing a flock of pigeons when it got away, Baker said.

The birds are privately owned by the show operator, Phung Luu.

After news reports of the disappearance, the zoo received more than 100 tips of possible sightings. Sun conures, which come from South America, are popular as pets. As a result of the zoo bird tips, at least one other escaped sun conure was found, Baker said.

The zoo parrot never got far, Baker said. The place where it was found is across the Schuylkill River from the zoo, less than half a mile as the parrot flies.

Contact Tom Infield at 610-313-8205 or tinfield@phillynews.com.