wzhang

Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes, I find myself depending on these words of encouragement more often than not when I'm feeling down. I think a majority of that uneasiness comes from the fact that I am somewhat of a control freak and in this case, the matter is almost entirely out of my hands. Today I managed to get an interview on a local radio station KUT so hopefully that gets played and word gets out to more people. I do have a question about flyer distribution though. Right now I've been peppering flyers almost one every 2 blocks and in major retail locations as well as apts and condos and places with heavy thoroughfare (Hike and Bike trail specifically) all within the 1 mile radius. Should I be spreading the flyers out more and go outside the 1 mile radius or stay the course? I've actually made a map of my flyer/search area, the circle is the 1 mi radius area and the red dots are places where I've put flyers. I am open to any and all suggestions because with the amount of flyer posting we've done so far, I'm curious why we haven't even received one call, no matter how weak...

It's "Me-no"... I had named him Domino, but he just kept calling himself Mino so the name stuck. I must admit I'm starting to feel defeated checking trees and trying to listen for his calls. There are so many birds and trees in Downtown Austin that even if he called out for me his voice would be drowned out by other birds if not the traffic in the morning or afternoons. I've contacted the local news as well as radio stations today so hopefully someone gets back to me and says they will help w a quick blurb for some additional exposure. Other than that I feel the most I can do right now is just distributing flyers since the random search is starting to wear on me. I suppose the grimness of the situation is creeping every more slightly with each tree I check. For all I know, it's a real possibility that in the blackness of night he flew right into Town Lake and drowned and all this is for naught...

Mino is our only bird so all we've been doing at home is leaving the door open and his cage outside with food. However it seems almost impossible for him to see that considering it's on the 14th floor and I'm not even sure he has the strength to fly that high. It's also kind of depressing because everyday we come home, there is this false hope that he's found his way home himself, only to be disappointed each time. Starting tomorrow I'm going to be doing a much more systematic distribution of flyers and searching. You guys are right, pure numbers on my side is the key right now, and without any knowledge of his whereabouts, I have to play the odds. Looks like Friday is going to be cold and rainy... here's to hoping he's found a roof over his head by then.

Birdnut, my window actually is east facing towards I35, however his initial trajectory took him due southeast between the area of the Austin American Statesman and Auditorium Shores. The problem is that as I was getting dressed to go look for him, my fiancee and friends saw another bird (who they all claim was him) fly back toward us from that initial trajectory only to cruise by the building about 2 floors below us. There are seldom any birds that fly that close to the building, especially not around midnight so it seems and awfully rare coincidence. I was relying on their testimonial that it was indeed Mino and concentrated my search efforts in the north and western parts of downtown. I believe this was the case because the only thing that was lit up in his initial trajectory was the Silicon Laboratories rooftop, a garage about 7 stories tall. I had assumed that he landed there, and then made a 180 to try to make it back. However I'm starting to think that I need to shift my focus over to the initial line south of town lake. I'm not sure if a scared parrot has the moxie to turn 180, and make a B line for their origin in the darkness of night (albeit downtown is pretty lit up and our tower is all glass with alot of lights on during a weekend night) Im interested in everyone's opinion on this because it will significantly alter my search area as well as flyer posting routes.

BTW thanks to all who are praying for us. Birdnut your advice is heeded and we will plaster the downtown area with ads. I have a few general questions that I'm not sure if people will be able to answer. 1) Will he attempt to cross a body of water about 200m in length? I'm trying to determine if he has what it takes to cross Town Lake and do some walking searches on the south bank. 2) Do greys prefer quiet areas or gravitate towards noise? The downtown area is very loud and there are lots of construction as well as trains. My guess is that large moving objects will freak him out and he'll tend to stay away 3) I understand that if a grey gets lost in a suburban neighborhood he will have a hard time gauging where exactly home is. However our condo tower is 44 stories tall and the downtown area in general is more brightly lit and obvious from the horizon. What are the odds that he will tend to stay around the tall buildings knowing that it's closer to home? THanks for all the help we've received here. I realize these questions are half wishful-thinking half speculation, but if anyone has any insight it would help us plan the way we comb the area.

So today concludes day 2 of the search. We put about 40 flyers out in the downtown area, mainly around the Whole Foods where everyone living DT shops and other businesses as well as all the condos/highrises/apartments. I've read that he won't get hungry until about day 3 so I'm hoping this is where the search will get easier as he will need to reveal himself to get lower to food and I will have more eyes on my side. Today we managed to spot a parrot in the wild, as well as a grey. Unfotunately it was a wild quaker and the grey was someone else's parrot in their backyard. I must say however that it's reassuring to see wild parrots making it in Austin because it gives me hope that Mino can hack it too. I also received an email from someone on Craigslist saying that they watch wild parrots on shoal creek which is coincidentally where I suspect Mino's last heading was. The lows have been in the mid 30s the past few days so it makes me really worried for him. I'm hoping he knows how to get to warmer places because there are plenty here in downtown. If it is nighttime and dark, do parrots usually tend to fly towards light? I think that will determine where we will concentrate our search. Since he was so high up, it's likely he could've gone very far, and since he never seems to really turn while flying, assuming that he flew towards the most brightly lit areas would narrow down our search area significantly.

Our 15 yr old grey Mino just flew out of the window in our 14th floor condo last night. Tonight the low is 32 and we're very worried about him. Lucky we're in Texas, but still the weather gets pretty chilly and windy at night. We've read many guides on how to relocate a grey, but most of those seem targeted toward those living in single family homes in residential neighborhoods. My question is, does anyone have any advice on where to go to look for him in the middle of skyscrapers anad parking garages? We see that other birds find lighted areas at night to roost, though no sign of him yet. Will they instinctively seek out warmer areas to roost and also forage like a pidgeon or other city bird? Also, since he escaped from the 14th floor, is it likely that he's miles away by now? Do greys have a good sense of direction and is he even capable of flying back up 14 stories? We've got his cage out here on the balcony, but it feels like a hopeless effort. Please, any advice is much appreciated.