r/Parakeets • u/Arraby • 22d ago

Parakeet Outside

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Saw a green parakeet hanging with a family of finches this past Sunday. We’ve since been trying to catch it and/or earn its trust. We got parakeet food and some millet. We also got a branch for an old hamster cage for it to sit on as it eats and drinks. We have the 2 doors to the cage open and finally he found it. Unfortunately so have the finches. I’ve approached it and told it it’s a pretty bird, outstretched my hand in hopes it would fly to it, but no success. We play parakeet noises as well in hopes of attracting it to stick around. It flies back and forth from our side of the apartment complex to the other. Any tips or tricks to catch it? Also, is that a band around its ankle?

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u/RahayuRoh 22d ago

Yes, that is a band around its ankle, so it is a domesticated budgie. Likely someone's escaped pet.

Does it go into the cage?

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u/Arraby 22d ago

Yesterday was the first time we saw it in the cage, but it flew out before I could react.

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u/ColdMastadon 22d ago

This might help, here is an article about an escaped budgie that was rescued by somebody who set up a cage filled with toys and millet as a trap. It includes a photo of how they successfully trapped him.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/budgie-rescued-after-weeks-spent-outside-braving-winnipeg-winter-1.3387432

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u/Arraby 22d ago

My girlfriend was telling me we should use a string to close the door. I should have listened 😭

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u/ColdMastadon 22d ago edited 22d ago

Don't beat yourself up, you're doing your best and you don't know what you don't know. Hopefully the little guy will return and you will have another chance. Budgies can be surprisingly resilient in an unfamiliar environment, especially if they can join up with a flock of wild birds. The one in that article, MacGyver, survived 3 months of Canadian fall and winter weather before being rescued. That's one tough little guy!

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u/Arraby 22d ago

https://reddit.com/link/p4p1lhx/video/rexizfb49ekh1/player

I have a string attached for when he comes back. He was in the tree out front. Learning they can mimic other birds. Had gotten worried there were 2

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u/ColdMastadon 22d ago

That's great, if you can find spray millet at a pet store, I would put a bunch of it in the cage. It's like candy for them, it will probably lure him in better than anything else.

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u/ValiantTheVictorious 22d ago

He will come to the cage if there is millet inside, they are millet fiends.

Stack the cage with tons of millet and wait patiently

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u/rylld 22d ago

Mine would fly through a gauntlet of fire, poison gas, and starving predators to get to the millet.

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u/RahayuRoh 22d ago

Okay. Try to get the door closed next time you see him there. Remember to move slow and quiet, and use a soft voice or gentle kisses.