Love, love, love the term retrosexual. And bird T.V., your cats really do have the good life!

I have three cats and a bird. At first our parakeet would freak out every time the cats got near, but after a couple weeks he learned to just ignore them. Now you can go into the cat room and find one of them is sitting on the bird cage and hear nothing. Having a bird around is kind of nice too. All chirpy and happy.

LOL my cats enjoy the "birdivision", as well as the interactive fun of "fishivison" (the fish swim away when they bat at the sides of the tank) As for the blue bird, unless somebody captures him, he's not going to make it.

If you do catch him, isn't there a bird rescue place you could take him to? Unless you don't think they would do a good job of finding Bird a new home. Poor birdie.

Isn't there a flock of wild parakeets in San Francisco?

Never mind. I just looked it up and it's a flock of wild parrots. Bigger birds. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

You could write about the wild parakeet of your backyard.

Okay. Now I'm rambling.

If you do catch him, isn't there a bird rescue place you could take him to? Unless you don't think they would do a good job of finding Bird a new home. Poor birdie.

Isn't there a flock of wild parakeets in San Francisco?

Never mind. I just looked it up and it's a flock of wild parrots. Bigger birds. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

You could write about the wild parakeet of your backyard.

Okay. Now I'm rambling.

Sorry for the double post.

"Retrosexual" -- ah yes, I know that one....sigh

Poor bird. If you bring him into the house (in a cage, natch) you'll then have to contend with bird poop all over the area around the cage. I remember that from the parakeets we had when I was a kid - much messier than cats ever thought of being. Why don't you try to find a bird rescue (or even animal control)? Someone may have reported him/her/it missing.

It might just be the way he eats--some birds really prefer eating on the ground (think doves, pidgeons, etc.) than to eating from a feeder. It might just have to do with how they're built.

And I call it "Cat TV" instead of "Bird TV." After all, the cats are the ones watching it....

I don't know anything about birds either, but, assuming he was a caged "pet", how about putting a cage (door open) somewhere up safe so he can have a hideout if meanies come into the area? If he's been used to a cage, he might jump in it instinctively.

I think he's a smart birdie to have landed at Chez Purl!

I like the new word. Surely that should show up in the dictionary some time in the near future, what with the divorce rate climbing and all - or perhaps it's mostly married people who will be described that way. Who knows?

The bird story's cute, too. Reminded me of a bird I once knew. Some friends had a yellow parakeet named Goldie who went everywhere on the mom's shoulder. One day, when his wings weren't clipped short enough, he flew away, never to be seen again... or so they assumed at the time. A year or so later, the mother was out at the mailbox when along came Goldie and landed on her shoulder, acting like nothing had ever happened.

one time? we had a fire? and when the cage was taken out? it fell over. my dear flip, flip the bird...flew away. so sad. i say snag the feller and take him to the humane society, or local no kill shelter. they don't get many birds, i don't think, so adoption should come easy to him...

I didn't read everyone else's comments, so someone else might have suggested this, but you could get a bird cage, and leave it on your porch, and just not close the door. So he could feel welcome and want to live in the cage because he's used to that, but he'd be able to come and go as he pleased. And with it on the porch all the time, your cats couldn't get it. That's what I'd do.

Um....He probably has a human family that misses him. Do just what you'd do for a dog or cat, catch him and take him to the humane society. If my beloved bird got out, that's what I would hope someone would do. Just because he's a bird, doesn't mean he's not a valued pet.

Believe it or not there are budgies living wild in England. they now breed in the wild and everything though they originate from escaped pets.

Also, I've noticed on our bird-feeder that some birds prefer to eat the seed from the ground. sometimes one of the sparrows will just shovel a bunch out of the feeder onto the ground for his pals.

Call the Humane Society. they'll know what to do.

You can sometimes lure an escaped pet bird back into a cage - set one out and watch to see if he goes in it...if he will tolerate your presence nearby the bird feeder (outside with it), it might be possible to close the door. You can also try putting in some pet bird seed and bird treats. Having said all of this, I have to confess I've not ever tried it, although I have heard of it working! Maybe try a local pet store or humane society or animal control to see if they will loan you a cage or come try to catch him?

Parakeets often eat from the bottom of their cage, so for this guy to feed from the ground is not unusual.

Good luck!

I caught a pet bird once in my driveway. It was a cockatiel, very sweet. It was a little freaked out in my house with 3 cats, but I put it WAY up high and my cats only watched it. Anyway, I called the humane society and someone had actually listed it as missing. I returned it to the Owner and she was SOOOOoo happy!

I thought we were called "Born again Virgins"?

I agree with the others, call the nearest shelter, and the non emergency number for the police. The old owners probably called one of them just in case some nice person like you wants to help Bird.

Ditto what Lynae said!

Definitely try to catch this fellow. Companion birds in "the wild" have a really high mortality rate; they just don't know enough to survive. Parakeets are ground-feeders, generally, not perch feeders. Since the bird is obviously a lost pet, someone is probably missing him a great deal. You can try to set out a cage (I would suggest putting a mirror in it); another way to do it is to ask someone who has a parakeet to bring theirs over (in its cage!) as "bait" for loose one. They are extremely social critters, and usually can't resist another bird to chat to. Put the empty, open cage next to the "bait bird", and it should work. Good luck!

I wish I could have a bird. I had birds as children, my husband has a problem with putting birds in cages.. he thinks they should be free to fly... I am like " if they are in a pet store they are going to end up in someones cage anyway, might as well be mine..."

Someone may have set this little guy "free." They cost something like $15 at the pet store (sometimes FREE! With Purchase of Whirly-Neato-Gizmo Habitat and Coupon) and some people get them home and realise three weeks later, "OMG, this thing is living way longer than that fish we got. Junior is like, so bored, and somebody's going to have to clean the cage soon. Eww. Well, I'm sure he'll revert back to the wild..."
We see it with dogs and cats all the time.
Anyway, if you capture him, I'd get an inexpensive cage from a thrift store and hang it on the back porch, but I'd keep the doors shut to keep him in and the dirty little wild blighters out. Wild birds have germs to share he probably won't be used to.
Once you have him in custody, call all the local shelters and give them a description. The shelter I worked at in Berkeley wasn't set up for caring for "exotics" and he has a much better chance of not getting sick if he stays in a home. We maintained a lost/found notebook to keep track of the reports and if someone called/came in looking for a lost animal we'd check the book.

Check craigslist.org for "lost" signs, and keep an eye out for notices in the local paper/petshops.
You might get lucky, or, you might end up with a little bluebird of happiness for the rest of its dopey little life. The cats will be entertained.

I think Bird is your destiny. My dad found a green budgie at work one day, took it home in his lunch box, and kept it for years. (In a cage, not the lunch box.) They are messy, but they aren't expensive to keep, and they make allot of annoying/cheerful noise to keep you company. I think you should give him a chance at Chez Purl.

I agree -- he can live in a cage outside, right? Maybe he'd be happier that way?

I thought of you when I saw this webring:(http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=purling_swine;action=list). It is for knitters who are or have quit smoking cold turkey. Perhaps you're already a member? ;-)

Oh, and don't worry about lying to the Bird. He knew, and he's there for you. He's cool like that.

Because nothing is sexier than a divorced woman with four cats and a bright-blue bird.

i can't wait for the follow up! i'm sure the owner misses their bird ... i can visualize you all over the neighborhood posting 'found birdie' posters :)

I'm not certain, but I think it gets too cool there to keep him outside. I vote for the humane society AND putting up postings around the area and on craiglist.

Too bad my DIL aka Dr. Doolittle doesn't live near you - we live north of the grapevine. She would take it. She has about 5 cats, 3 or 4 parakeets (she had 2 named Elvis & Priscilla that recently died and she replaced them - Elvis was a girl, Pris a guy...), hamster, guinea pig, turtle, gecko - need I say more? My 6 YO GD likes to catch June bugs in the summer and thinks it's REAL funny to put them on Maga (me) and watch me squeal and take on!! Not a bug lover here. Used to be a cat person but current husband isn't and when we got together 10 yrs ago his VERY aged cocker died that first summer and my cat supposedly went on a "vision quest" looking for said dog. I get my "cat fix" when I visit my kids' house. We now have a dog, Coco - only she doesn't know that she is a dog. She is part chow and our best guess is part border collie or some other herding type as she "herds" us all over the house. She has our daily routines down like clockwork. You talk about your cat hair - you should see the dog hair. I really should collect it and learn how to spin...

funny little bird! i vote you try to get him to eat from your hand.

and then knit him a cute birdie cage.

I thought I was the only one attracting lost critters (it's like there's a sign over my house advertising for them - the Motel 6 for animals! Try the animal shelter thing, & maybe post a pic of him up at either end of your neighborhood. If the shelters won't/can't take him, you better try luring him in, cause he chances are he won't last thru the night, if the outside cats don't get him, the cool temps probably will. Newspapers will usually advertise "Found Pets" for free...But be prepared - you may have a new roommate! The li'l white bunny who showed up in the yard on Easter Sunday 3 years ago, is still in our back bathroom so he doesn't become a giant kitty toy. The only critters we've ever purposefully gotten, swim in the aquarium - everyone else just sort of shows up & never gets claimed (Thank God the donkeys' owners came to get them!) Good luck!

If I could get a picture of my little 'house guest', I would show him to you. My little 'guest' is a Rabbit who has taken up residence in a small hole under where my son's old wagon sits outside. Bunnny scampers away each and every time we go outside to play, but I don't have the heart to fill in the hole and take away his 'home'.

Maybe Bird belongs to some "soon-to-be-divorced" Southern gentleman who just transplanted to SoCal who loves to travel and is not allergic to cats or wool. Stranger things have happened.

I think the bird can't compete with the wild birds so it eats on the ground. If you put out a cage with a seed tree in it maybe it will go in. I have a cockateil, a dog and two cats. The bird gets lonely and starts to "call" for someone, anyone, even one of the cats to come by it's cage. The cats were very interested at first but now they just ignore the bird.

A nice flat dish with some water would probably be appreciated by Bird.

You could take a photo of him and post it around the neighborhood. But that might not be good if you don't want people calling you...

Maybe Bird likes watching your cats thru the door.

I just had a thought! You HAVE to help this guy - what if he is THE Bluebird OF Happiness! If he gets eaten or frozen - that's it for all of us! No more happy campers anywhere!

Whatever you do, don't leave him outside! He can die in even relatively cool weather. Put him in a cage or some other container with holes and bring him to a shelter. If you want to keep him, just put the cage somewhere up high in your house. But don't leave the cage on your porch! My pet parakeet died from the cold that way when I was a kid. We lived in south Texas where the temps hardly ever get below 50 degrees, so I know they can die in an outside cage. Hope everything works out for Bird!

My mother had a parakeet named Fred that would scream a monologue of obscenties at the break of dawn. Her boyfriend had taught it a myriad of sweet nothings that went something like this:

"Hello my name is Fred hello my name is Fred pretty bird yo mama you heffer heffer heffer f*ck you f*ck you f*ck you oh sh*t oh sh*t yo mamma you turkey you turkey you turkey oh sh*t hello my name is Fred hello"

And so on. Until he got tired, or we put the blanket over his cage.

There is something about certain times in the day that make a bird chirp until you think their chests will burst. I would watch this blue Bird carefully...he may very well answer you one of these days. And he might have something interesting to say.

Laurie- My parakeet Fred (RIP Fred) chased my cats, not vise versa.

Have you ever googled yourself? My mamma always told me it would give me hairy palms if I did it too much...but googling crazy aunt purl brings up pages and pages of hits. You are so famous!

I have a GREAT cadence I learned in Basic Training about a bird...but its all about smashing his little head so I guess you don't want to hear it....

Sometimes good karma brings things to our door. I say foster him at your home, and enjoy Bird. And call the Humane Society with your number. That way, if someone's missing him, they'll get in touch with you- otherwise, he'll be a nice addition.

Post a sign in the neighborhood for as long as you can keep him from your cats (what...like 3 hours...) and maybe someone nearby lost him. 2 years ago we lost my father in law's parakeet and HE CAME BACK via my oldest son and his best friend who lured him down and caught him after 4 hours. Thank God or I probably wouldn't have been able to have my husband, who was my boyfriend back then.

Bird knows a good home when he sees it. He picked you. Doesn't that always happen? That is how I got my cat (Bert). I got talked into going to the local shelter. I DIDN'T want a cat but I was told that the right one would pick you. He did. I was reading his information on the side of the cage and he tapped my hand. Thought it was cute...then he did it 3 times more. I took him out and he just purred on my lap. I was like "ok, you can come home with me." He knew. Let me tell ya, he HAS a great life!!

I hope that little blue sucker is still around when you get home! Budgies are ground feeders, as Jean and someone else said. Our best budgie came home with my brother - the budgie was an escapee and he was such a sweet little bird! They'll take on a cat, btw - the cats come snuffling and sniffing at the cage and the budgie acts all terrified, gets them right up to the cage and then gives them a nip on the nose. Cats generally only need to be nipped once.... (the little blighers nip REALLY hard!)

Oh god. I am a 30 something reminiscing retrosexula. And I just thought I was a sketchy knitter. AHHHHHH! Thanks for the laugh!