Please see updated LOST and FOUND cockatiels in Australia listings below! Updated January 2009. You won't find your Lost friend if you don't start looking!
About this page - I made this page when Percy was lost from The Basin / Boronia area of The Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne, Vic. on 12th Jan., 2004. He's still sadly missed. On 7th Feb. it seems Percy was found by a family in Prince Street, Ferntree Gully (near The Arboretum) who lied about details - dates, colour, sounds, behaviour - already provided by other witnesses, claimed the "bird" they found flew off again (also untrue) and evidently bought a cage. This cockatiel was almost certainly Percy. Fortunately, there's not many people like them out there!
LOST (and FOUND again) January 2009 - Sooka, grey female - Augusta Street, Glenelg East, South Australia - Hand raised but startled by strangers, very distinct high pitched call and responds to whistles. Sadly missed and a large reward was offered for safe return. Found and returned as a result of a newspaper ad!
LOST October 2007 - Mango, small grey cockatiel - Kallista - Answers to her name, owners fretting. Reward offered. email me for details.
LOST - 25th Jan 2007 - Bijou, female baby lutino cockatiel - Northcote, Vic. - Yellow feathers with cinnamon coloured cheeks. Greatly missed and owners would be grateful for any information regarding her whereabouts. Reward offered. email me for details.
FOUND - 22nd Jan 2007 - a pied cockatiel - Southport Central area - After putting an ad in the Bulletin, the owners have still not been found. email Sarah if you think this cockatiel might belong to you.
LOST - 1st Jan 2007 - Pagewood/Botany area (near golf course), Sydney Rancho, female mainly light yellow, light grey and bright orange cheeks. Responds to Rancho, Shedas, Natalie. Last see in a tree on 4th Jan in Bay St, Pagewood. Reward. Any information please contact Natalie on 0405 191 279.
FOUND - 10th Oct 2006 - Mt Waverley. Yellow-pied cockatiel, not sure of sex (Tel: (03)9700-4224).
MISSING - 12th Sep 2006 - Lysterfield South area - 10 Cockatiels: 4 x grey males, 2 x grey females, 2 x yellow pied male and female, 1 x yellow female, 1 x baby whiteface male. Ranging from 8 months to 18 years old. Also 2 Budgies: 1 x silver/blue male, 1 x aqua/blue female. Much loved and missed friends. If any found or sighted please call 9700-4224 or 0404-059-139 or email for details. Reward.
LOST - Wed 13th Sep 2006. - Benowa (opposite Ashmore TAFE), Qld. Yellow and Grey Cockatiel with Orange Cheeks. Very tame and likes to walk on the ground. Likes men more than women. He is missing all but about 2 long tailfeathers so don't think he can go far. Doesn't sing but shrieks loudly when you walk away from him! Please contact Shayne/Cheryl on 07 5597 3418 or 0433 816 357
Lost - 3rd Dec. 2005 (Sat.) - Burleigh (Gold Coast) WF Cinnamon Pearl 'tiel baby (approx 7wks old). Not fully weaned. Found - Sitting on home aviary, having come back of its on accord, sleepy and very hungry, having survived 3 days out.
Lost - 13th Nov. 2005 (Sun.) - Boronia / The Basin - Male cockatiel, ‘Chester’ – any information or if found, please contact me for details. REWARD.
Lost - 11th Nov. 2005 (Fri.) - Boronia - Yellow and white cockatiel (lutino). Very tame, family very upset, missing from Forest Road. Please email me and I'll put you in touch with June.
Lost - Sat. 22nd Oct. 2005 (Sat.) - Yellow and Grey Cockatiel, "Birdy", female, doesn't whistle very much, likes men mostly, missing from Slatyer Avenue, Benowa/Southport, Gold Coast. Found 24th Oct. due to radio ad!
Lost - 25th April 2005 - North Richmond area - 'Karma' - male grey/yellow,3 yrs old, "rings" the phone, whistles and nibbles your ear. Last seen wearing rainbow-coloured jacket. Found in Carlton and returned, 29th April! (Thanks to the finder and a big thumbs down to the aviary owner who fraudulently also tried to claim him.)
Lost - 14th April 2005 - Adelaide CBD - 'Hugh', grey body with yellow tip on the head, 1 year old, friendly, hand raised. Does wolf whistle, ring tones, says “come on”. Found and returned, 23rd April by Fauna Rescue of South Australia - good work!
Lost - 2nd February 2005 - 'Pretty Boy', in the Leopold / Geelong area. Two and a half years old, grey body/yellow head, orange spot on each cheek. He is tame and friendly, wolf whistles, and makes the 'hey you, come here'whistle, and has a cloth, rag, paper, fetish. His wings were unclipped. He flew away on the afternoon of the torrential storm in Victoria. We miss him very much. Any information would be appreciated. Please contact Frank (remove "nospam") or me!
Lost - Wed. 6th Oct. 2004 Yellow Cockatiel, hand-raised, non-talking The Basin/Boronia Reward offered. Contact Ian by email or phone from this site.
Lost - Sat. 18th Sept. 2004 YELLOW COCKATIEL,“OBI” MISSING FROM MARSDEN STREET, CLAYFIELD, BRISBANE $200 REWARD PHONE 07 3862 6390.
Lost - 21st Feb. 2004 Male handtamed grey, Spike, says "What you doing?", telephone/wolf-whistles - Croydon Nth. / Wonga Park area. Please call me if found!
If you've Lost or Found a cockatiel in Australia, please feel free to contact me. I have details for all of the above, and sometimes some others as well.
Right after your cockatiel gets out keep up a barrage of familiar sounds, call his/her name, whistle favourite tunes, etc. Do this right away, and as you follow the flight direction. Do it again towards evening, and again very early next morning. Cockatiels can hear over a greater distance than you can, and may work their way back to you! Have food and other temptations ready. This approach will work best with cockatiels who are clipped, even slightly, or landed around the area. Persist! A recent correspondent eventually got a response from her lost cockatiel by singing and playing favourite songs.
Clearly, there are lots more people finding cockatiels than people searching for lost cockatiels. It is difficult, but there are definitely a few places always worth calling, such as the RSPCA, all your local vets (get put in the "Lost and Found book" and FAX a flyer) and animal shelters. Put signs up in local milkbars, fish and chip shops and newsagents, and drop flyers in as many letterboxes as possible. If you know the direction your bird went concentrate your efforts there, but try to cover a mile radius from the place of escape.
The conventional wisdom is that cockatiels can't survive for more than about three days in the wild, but I've recently heard of a case where one has been watched every day for a week, surviving perfectly well, and another who I have been hearing about as he travels across the suburbs, week after week. Also, the little one I managed to reunite with his owners and family may have been in the "wild" (fields and suburbs of Ferntree Gully and Rowville) for up to three weeks. If they're unclipped they can fly a long way, and if clipped can still even manage to fly some distance if a few flight feathers have grown back in, but they tend to come down within a mile in the first day or two, and often stay in the area for some time. Don't give up!
As far as where we've ended up with Percy. What can I say? There are people out there who think that it's okay to keep a found cockatiel, rush out to buy a cage and lie to the owners when they eventually turn up. In this search we have met so many nice and decent people, but sadly there are also some of the other sort out there. If you find someone's pet, do the right thing!
Kate wrote to me suggesting the following section, and the following list are her recommendations (which a little tweaking from me).
Make sure you offer the found cockatiel water and also a suitable birdseed (such as large parrot mix). If you don't have a suitable cage, an upturned washing basket can be a good temporary subsitute. Don't wander outside with a found pet bird on you - as soon as it has recovered it will fly off again! Don't rush out to buy a cage and please do the right thing if and when the real owner makes contact! When someone makes contact it is reasonable to ask them for some confirming details if there are some. Be careful if more than one lost cockatiel owner makes contact - you want to be sure your found bird goes home to her/his real family.
Here's a black and white portrait of Percy, which I drew for the final flyer we distributed.
Here's a link to This Week's Cockatiels, a relevant cartoon by Leunig from April 19, 2008. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I'm not surprised that he'd understand. I have to wonder if he'd seen this page :).
Return to Ian Thomas Graphics main page.