wzhang

Nothing so far, I'm still waiting on this number trace thing from the detective but they're kind of taking a long time so I need to harass them. I put up some more flyers in parking lots of HEBs/Randalls and plan on doing so for targets and walmarts as well around Austin. They'll probably tear them down, but not until after a few people have seen the signs at least. Alerting the local rescue organizations and pet clinics was one of the first things we did, I've also tried keeping in contact with them to see if they've heard anything recently. I realize our chances of getting him back aren't good, but at this point I see no point in not putting forth any effort when I have some free time.

Still no sign of him yet unfortunately, At least the weather has been cooperating recently so if he is still out there he won't be suffering. We still need to distribute the flyers in a much larger radius, I've been mostly doing it by bike, but figure it's time to get in the car and hit up all the grocery stores/post offices/schools in Austin. Interestingly enough there have been parrots (A blue front and a double yellowhead Amazon) that have been found recently but I never saw any listings for them being lost (at least not recently) so it's possible he's still out there roaming around.

Thanks Birdnut, we're offering $2000 as a reward for his return and $500 for information that leads us to him. Also if you could private message me your email address, I can send you the latest flyers that we're using.

Interestingly enough I got that call from a guy who owns several greys and claims he's lived in Austin his entire life. He said back in the early 80s Austin (which was still just a small college town) had a bit of a job boom and when everything went south all the "rich folks" that moved here set their parrots free. And he claims that there are wild greys roaming Zilker park.... I know the part about the job boom/bust to be true but otherwise very far fetched and definitely the first time I've heard anything like this. But hey at least he seemed to believe what he was saying. <shrug> who knows?

The detective told me the trace usually takes around 3 weeks to process due to approval from the DA and a grand jury... I'm waiting to hear the results on that. Going to start posting flyers all over town this week in a much more spread out fashion and will probably bump up the reward as well. A man called me today to say he found a blue front amazon today, but I don't recall anyone looking for one at least from craigslist. Still no one has corroborated the story of the loitering man with parrot downtown so I'm starting to think that might be inaccurate info. I must admit it's more difficult to get myself to go keep putting up flyers, but I don't plan on giving up anytime soon. I still get random "sightings" of african greys but they're all over the place, with someone even claiming there is a population of feral greys that live and breed here.

No word yet. I think we have to really expand the flyer posting areas. we're still staying pretty close to the downtown area and riverside that we still haven't flyered up. What I've been doing is after getting a sighting I go to that area and laden it heavily with flyers. I still think I'm too "concentrated" with the flyer distribution because there are still areas around downtown that I haven't put flyers within a 1 mile radius simply because I've been focused on areas where there have been sightings. However I'm almost certain by now someone has already found him and that person just needs a little "motivation" to return him. Unfortunately there are plenty of people who may not voluntarily seek out a bird's owner unless they knew there's something in it for them. In which case if they don't know if there's a reward, they don't see any reason to make an attempt to find the owner.

Argh, another hopeful lead, another dead end. A lady had called saying a friend saw a black guy with a grey parrot at the 04 lounge on south congress. I went and checked it out, but apparently there's a big burly white guy who has a grey who goes in there frequently. The staff have pictures of the grey from thanksgiving which is before Mino got away so definitely not him... I was really hoping this would have corroborated the "robert" story, but it looks like I will have to keep waiting. The police department has finally gotten back to me though and I spoke with a detective and it sounds like they're willing to do the phone trace, although it may take a few weeks. Looks like it will take some more patience and a stroke of good luck.

In the most recent flyers I put in a box (if you've found him, thank you for taking care of him, we just want him back, and we will give you $1500 in cash no questions asked and also compensate for any supplies you've purchased to care for him) Hopefully this will sway this person from trying to profit off of Mino.

Sorry, but unfortunately I think it's just a waiting game now. I have received calls from people saying they will look out for this character though. I'm going to redistribute new flyers to all the residences downtown so people will know to look for this person. I've also talked to apt maintenance managers who go in and out of apts on Riverside all the time and they are on the lookout. A taxi cab driver even called to say they are trying to find this guy. The police are being pretty slow about getting back to me, as I'm sure they have other urgent matters to attend to. Sooner or later this person will have to reveal himself. I hate to stereotype and judge, but someone of his socio-economic description isn't usually associated with an African Grey so people will notice these things.

We've recently began distributing new english and spanish flyers with the intent of looking for this man. Regarding the police it looks like I will have to wait until a detective is assigned to the case. We're currently playing phone tag so hopefully I can get a hold of someone soon. There's a good chance someone from KVUE will pick up the story and do a little thing on it on the local news regarding looking out for this guy on saturday so fingers crossed on that. I actually had lunch with the couple that spotted this man with Mino recently. After having spoken with them at length, I am more sure than ever that the bird they saw was Mino just judging from what they said the bird was saying and it's behavior. Unfortunately they described the guy as kind of a "scumbag" so it's likely he's already seen our flyers and has for some reason or other decided not to return him. But one thing they noted is that this man had a large gold ring, which made them believe that he wasn't homeless, which confirms my theories. The couple has been very helpful, even volunteering to put up flyers so hopefully we get a tip soon. I've been thinking lately that it's ironic that I resent this man for not returning Mino to us, but at the same time realizing that he probably saved Mino's life because the majority of last week has been close to freezing temperatures.

Well the thing is, the couple that saw him and spoke to him said he was calling the bird Mino. And he was very certain about it because he says he listens to an artist whose name is Maino and sounds exactly the same. In this situation, when there's a snake in the grass, you use a fire to smoke him out. I think I'm going to print new flyers (English and Spanish on same page) that ask if people have heard bird squawking, or seen this man along with a description. But on the same flyer I will also add a thank you to the man who's found him and has been taking care of him in this cold weather, and kindly request that we just want Mino back and are paying a cash reward no questions asked. My thinking is that he will get paranoid someone will tell on him and eventually decide that it may just be more worth his while to turn over the bird to us. What do you guys think?

UPDATE: Been speaking on and off this week with the man who informed me about seeing Mino with this "Robert" character. He noted that the man was acting extremely boisterous, flaunting very loudly about how he had a parrot. His wife even said that it seemed like he was using the bird to get laid. The police also told me that they asked around and made announcements over the PA at the soup kitchens in the homeless community and nobody has heard anything about a man with a parrot. This leads me to believe that this man isn't really homeless, and was downtown on New Years Eve just to mingle. It also brings me back to this call I received the day before our FOX story aired. A man (who matches "robert"'s profile) called me from a blocked number. He claimed that he had Mino, but was more interested in teh reward. I kind of blew him off because he seemed disingenuous, but now that I look back on it, there were 2 things that struck me about that call. 1) He said he lived in Riverside. This is important because at the time we hadn't put any flyers in Riverside, it was only AFTER the news story aired that people called us to say they'd seen a grey parrot in that area. 2) I usually ask people that claim they have Mino what color his eyes are to screen out the false claims. He was the only person to get it correct. For some reason the guy eventually got overly impatient and stared saying that Mino was dead and whether I was willing to pay half the reward for the body... My fiancee picked up the phone to talk to him and he hung up on us. Regardless of that guy's validity, I've got enough confidence in this "Robert" lead that I'm now shifting the focus of our search towards looking for this man and assuming that Mino has already been found. We'll probably print out new flyers but I'm not sure yet what to write on them as I have to decide whether I should try to convince this person to call us for the reward, or ask for people to report any new bird sounds they may have started hearing. The spanish radio stations have agreed to announce a bulletin, and I've been in touch with Fox again to see if they'll do an update on the story. I suppose the good news here is that with the upcoming cold weather, at least there's a good chance that Mino's not out in the elements. Also it doesn't seem like this guy is shy about having a parrot, so he shoudl turn up again soon.

So I finally managed to get the Austin police department on the case. Filed a report and now there will be some officers trying to do some investigating on whether this "homeless" guy with a parrot can be found. For all I know he may not even be homeless, just wanted to hang out on New year's eve. KXAN has also called and it seems like they are seriously considering doing a story regarding this whole situation as well, hopefully all this publicity will reach somebody who can lead us to Mino. I've been considering the validity of this most recent lead and I've found absolutely no reason why this person wouldn't be telling the truth. He says he is not interested in the reward, he's not from Austin, and has been forthright with information anytime I've asked for it to add to the police report. I'm really crossing my fingers and hoping that we've finally narrowed down the focus of our search this time.

I just received perhaps the most bizarre lead tonight. A guy who's visiting Austin from Colorado called and said he'd seen Mino on Friday night in the middle of downtown. He'd been captured by a homeless man (who he described in detail) who was showing the bird off and there was a crowd of people gathered. He even said the homeless man called the bird Mino, and he remembered this because the caller says he listens to an artist named Mino (sp?) He also said it was a grey parrot with a red tail. The story does hold water in that I know the location the caller described (6th and lavaca) does frequently have homeless "performers" on weekend nights (remember this is new years eve). This story is so weird that I asked him repeatedly if he was messing with me and he insists that he wasn't and that would a terrible thing to do to someone. What do you guys think? Is this story's so strange (not to mention it makes all the other leads irrelevant) that there could actually be some truth to it? I'm not even sure how to look for this man, I don't know if I can wait until the weekend to see if he's out there. I suppose start at the homeless shelter and ask around? I also need to add that 2 weeks ago I did receive a very questionable call from someone that claims that they had Mino. Although the guy was fully intent on collecting the reward and not much else. He sounded very fishy and eventually even said that Mino was dead and wanted money for the body. My fiancee wanted to talk to him, but he eventually hung up and never called back. The reason I mention this is because I always ask people what color his eyes are to block out the BS callers. But this guy actually got it right and said yellow.

So this younger guy calls me last night and says he knows this old guy who found a parrot. The guy sounds like he's pretty sure it's a grey parrot (afterall how many parrots are there with red tails). He tells me the apt complex the guy lives in but couldn't take me there last night. I arranged to meet him this morning to go see the bird. I call him at the arrange time, his brother answers and says he's out. I call multiple more times during the day and he either doesn't pick up or someone else answers and says he's not there. I leave messages saying to call me back but no word. I went to the apt complex but there are so many units. We tried going door to door but eventually gave up because so many people wouldn't answer the door. What do you guys make of this situation? Do you think he's trying to get the bird from the guy himself so he can get the full reward or something? I'm starting to think this is just another BS lead... after getting really optimistic yesterday.

A guy had called me a couple of days ago saying that he had seen a parrot on the ground at the parking lot of the Walgreens on Riverside just looking at him, but they just walked away. Not sure if it was him, but he said it was bigger than the quaker parrots and not a bird like he had ever seen before. We put alot of flyers in that area, but it's mostly apartments and not many people were out over the holidays. Another homeless guy told me that he had seen a grey flocking with the quakers, not sure if he was confusing Mino with pigeons, but he swears he saw a red tail. This will be the second time someone has said they've seen him with quakers. Is it far fetched to think that he's flying around with a flock of quaker parrots? Haven't heard much over the holidays, understandly so, but I think I'm going to check out those flea markets around riverside just in case someone picked him up.

I actually spoke with the lady's father today (who has a grey himself). They had the guy over for a few hours, but he said the bird didn't respond to him like you would think a grey would towards his owner. The man told the finders of the bird's catch phrases, but they said they haven't heard him say any of those things. The man even asked if I would be interested in taking this bird off their hands and care for it... This whole situation is just becoming a mess.

Yes this again is the same grey that was found shortly after the other guy in cedar park had called me to say his had escaped the night before. I'm pretty sure it's his bird, but for some reason the people that found the bird refuse to believe him and refuse to let him see the bird. So I guess in a continuing effort to find the owner, they keep posting stuff everywhere and I keep getting calls as well from people jsut trying to be helpful. I realize that everyone means well in this case, I just really wish they would get that situation resolved.

Before the fox news story was over, a lady called me and said her and her husband both saw a grey parrot with a red tail hanging out on some wire right above a flock of 40-50 wild quaker parrots on the corner of riverside and pleasant valley drive. Looked up more info and turns out right down pleasant valley drive there is a large colony of quakers in a baseball field right next to town lake... Finally a lead! We're going to check out both places first thing in the morning tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Fox7 News just came over and did a story about Mino, that's really great of them. Should be airing tonight at 5 and 9. Hopefully that really spreads the word, especially the part about the reward if someone's already found him.

Thanks danmcq, that's not a bad idea... I've really made a point to ask many of the restaurants (especially those with outdoor eating areas) if I could put a flyer in their establishment and also pass the word along. The lady is not letting the guy go see the bird which is IMO a bit overly cautious, hopefully they settle the situation amicably. Fortunately the woman's father also has a grey so I think he will understand the situation. Birdnut, I know Mino took to the trees the first time around simply because he was lost in a residential neighborhood where the trees were the tallest things around. The downtown area just has so many hiding places and other elevated areas that I have no idea where he could be. Someone mentioned to me that I should look for pecan trees because he could be roosting and getting fat off of pecans. The weather's good for the next 5 days so hopefully he'll have his fun and eventually go groundside.

Seems like the other lady's having a hard time being convinced that its the other guy's bird so she posted that she found an African Grey on craigslist even after talking to him... ugh the tease continues.

That didn't take long... a lady called me today saying she recovered a grey, but that one had a tag and she was in Anderson Mill. I told her chances are it was the other guy's so I gave her his number. Hopefully he's reunited with his bird. I suppose it's good to see all the flyers and ads have done some good. When Mino was 5, a dog freaked him out on the way to the vet and he took off flying. I tried to get him down from a tree but he freaked and took off again. Over the course of 6 days I was able to find him on 3 separate occasions. The first 2 times he was pretty skiddish and didn't know how to fly down so he just kept flying away. The final time I guess he'd had enough and circled around until he hit a lower tree that I was able to climb. We met each other in the middle and he was home in 10 minutes. I guess the good news in all this is that he has some experience being outside and isn't a total newbie when it comes to trees and survival. Also since last time he was still in the trees until the 6th day, this would explain why no one has spotted him yet. But sooner or later I'm thinking hunger is going to overcome his phobia and he'll come to the ground... Hopefully this explains why the other grey was captured over the course of less than a day, while Mino has been missing a week and no one's even seen him. I suppose the other bird might be more trusting of humans while Mino is going tough it out until the bitter end. I just hope when he's at that point, there are people around to help him.

Wow, so today I get a call and it seems like Mino's got a partner in crime... Another grey has escaped in Austin, this time Cedar Park... Must be something in the air. Tonight doesn't seem as cold as I thought it was going to be, so I'm a bit relieved. Although it's still pretty chilly outside, I think Mino's an old enough bird (plus he's got some experience from another escape he made when he was 5) that he'll know to find some cover. Today I feel like he's going to be able to take care of himself until he's found... Not sure why, I might just be delirious from exhaustion.

Sigh... today someone posted on craigslist that they had found a pet bird asking for a description. I replied immediately and was eagerly awaiting a response but alas it wasn't even a parrot. Talk about going from a high to a new low. I think tommorrow we're going to try the findtoto.com service. The message they send out seems more legit than the petamberalert service. Does anyone have any recommendations one way or another about it?