In the wild they’re native to the warm climes of Australia – so a sub-zero night in an Ipswich park would not have been at all good for this cockatiel who fancied a bit of an adventure!
He decided to take a trip away from home and ended up in the branches of a tree in Ipswich’s wildlife-rich Holywells Park before being spotted by eagle-eyed apprentice park ranger David Dowding.
David carefully coaxed the male bird down and took him to the nearby Cliff Lane Veterinary Surgery where the bird was recovering from his ordeal last night.
Now the surgery is hoping its owner will come forward to claim the bird – it is tagged so they should be able to check it has been claimed by the right person.
A spokesman for the council said he was a very lucky bird.
He said: “It is a cold day and it was expected to get very cold last night.
“He could have fallen victim to magpies and frankly in freezing weather like we were expecting I don’t think he could have survived.”
The bird had been taken to the vets where it was given a clean bill of health and they are now waiting for its owner to come forward.
Cockatiels are the second most popular caged bird in Britain, after budgerigars which are also native to Australia. And after being saved, the bird could have a long life ahead of it – in captivity cockatiels live between 15 and 20 years. The oldest ever recorded reached 36 years old.
The council spokesman said the park rangers are now waiting to hear that the story has a happy ending: “We’re sure the bird can’t live that far away from the park so we hope he is soon back home – and is happy to stay in his cage in future!”
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