No fowl play! Missing pet bird ends up in the perfect nest
By Darienne DeBrule
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MILLCREEK, Utah (KSTU) — Everyone’s used to seeing birds hanging out on power lines, but when Colleen Strabala saw one on a power line in her Millcreek backyard Sunday, she knew it wasn’t just your regular pigeon.
“We were whistling to it, talking to it, next thing you know it just flew down on my head, then it crawled on my shoulder,” Strabala recalled. “The whole experience is just still kind of a trip actually.”
Colleen quickly realized the cute gray and sunset colored bird named Ollie was probably someone’s pet.
“I actually thought the bird was a parakeet at first, turns out it was a cockatiel, that shows you I don’t know anything about birds,” she joked.
If there was any backyard to land in, Ollie chose the right one. Animals are what make Colleen’s heart happy, she even has a shirt that read, “Life Goal: Pet all dogs” to prove it.
“I just love animals and they don’t have a voice,” she explained, “and sometimes I just feel like they just need the right person to connect with,”
Strabala transformed an old dog kennel into a temporary home for Ollie, even adding sticks so he would have a perch.
“Little Ollie, at first, he was just on top of the cage. Then I got a little plate of fruit with a seed in there and he just crawled right on my arm and went in,” said Strabala .
As much as she loved caring for her new friend, Strabala knew Ollie had a family missing him, and thanks to the Nextdoor app, she was able to reunite the bird with his owner.
“I hope if this ever happens and anyone sees whether it’s a dog, a cat, or what have you, you just go out of your way a little bit,” Strabala said, “and thank goodness for apps like Nextdoor right?”
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