Mystery Surrounding Beautiful Missing Bird Deepens

The Ganley-Waterman family recently received an unexpected visitor in their backyard: a blue parakeet. Catching it was the easy part; Bethany Ganley-Waterman shared that her stepdaughter simply held out her hand and the bird gamely allowed itself to be picked up. The struggle, however, has been finding where the missing bird came from. The sad likely answer is apparently all-to-common in the Hudson Valley.

Pet Parakeets in the Hudson Valley, NY

Blue parakeets are a popular choice as avian pets. With a maximum size of seven inches and a weight of just 1.5 ounces, these tiny cuties are known as friendly and talkative pets. Of course, pet is the key word. Parakeets are in no way native to New York (or even North America), which means that the bird that flew onto the Ganley-Waterman's property must have come from another home. So why has it been so hard to track down the owner?

Missing Parakeet in Ulster County, NY

"Posted on 19 different sites; shared over 1000x; still no reliable claims", posted Bethany. While hundreds of Facebook comments came rolling in from other bird lovers offering to adopt the feathered sweetheart, Ganley-Waterman is still holding out hope to find the original owners. Unfortunately, she says that the disappointing truth may be that they don't wish to be found.

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"We have knocked on doors and checked with all local veterinarians [as well]", Bethany shared. "Sadly what we have been told is this happens often... birds are let loose by family members if their owner passes away or they feel they can no longer take care of them." While the Ganley-Waterman family would happily return the bird to its original owner, they are also ready to give him a permanent place in their own home. "He is safe with us in a brand new cage with toys and snacks and food and lots of activity", Bethany said. "In the meantime we are calling him Dallas because he seemed very excited to watch the Dallas Cowboys game with my husband".