A man in Casa Grande is on the lookout for a missing family member who literally flew the coop.
Timmie, the talking parrot, escaped his owners at Akademe's CURE Sanctuary for parrots. Now, they're frantically trying to find the rare, endangered bird.
Timmie is an African Grey Parrot. He had been stressed after a small scuffle with another bird. One day he flew away from George Yool and didn't come back.
"[We've been] out shaking the trees, bothering the neighbors, trespassing, looking in their trees," said Yool, project manager at Akademe's CURE Sanctuary.
Timmie is no ordinary bird. He loves fighting with baseball caps, talking to kids for school outreach and has lots to say.
"He loves to complain about the cold. He's got at least a dozen ways to complain about the cold," said Yool.
African Grey Parrots are incredibly smart.
"They can have intelligence like a 3- to 6-year-old child depending on the bird," said Yool. "[They have] very large vocabularies and even make up their own short sentences."
Yool is offering a $500 cash reward for Timmie's safe return.
"It's very likely that he's in somebody's home. Somebody may have found him and not have a clue what they've found," said Yool.
He said if you see Timmie, try to get him on your finger and get him inside. Don't grab his head or body because it can make him panic and fly away. You can call a vet to get help or call Yool directly at 520-424-6043.
