It takes a special person to own a parrot. The birds can be feisty, messy and loud. Many of today’s pet parrots had wild parents, so owners have to be prepared to own an animal that isn’t even really domesticated.
If you are that special person, however, the rewards can be tremendous. In the wild, parrots tend to mate for life, and so as pets they tend to bond strongly to one person. They can live just as long as people. It’s a serious commitment.
That is why Patty Berns-Golas is still searching far and wide for Nemo, her lilac-crown Amazon parrot, who disappeared more than a month ago.
“He’s like my son,” said Berns-Golas, who has two grown sons. She got Nemo 28 years ago, and he’s been with her through thick and thin, she said, from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.
“He used to (mimic) all the car alarms in my neighborhood,” she said of their stint in L.A. “You could tell which ones were farther away because he would do them softly.” Nowadays, he’ll maybe mimic a neighborhood pet or some other bird in the area.
Nemo was sitting in Berns-Golas’ cherimoya tree that fateful Sept. 8, waiting to get his wings clipped, when the sound of a nearby flock of morning doves taking to the air startled him. Alarmed, presumably by what sounded like a predator, Nemo launched into the air. He hasn’t returned.
Neighbors, friends and even strangers since have rallied to find Nemo, who’s been sighted in several areas in and around the community. Their generosity is not lost on Berns-Golas, who sent an e-mail around to friends and neighbors after the first week Nemo went missing.
“Thirty local friends and family, people I did not even know, showed up with binoculars, a megaphone, their dogs and a resolve to find Nemo,” she said. People searched, hiked and searched from rooftops with binoculars. They couldn’t locate the bird, but she was touched deeply by the support.
The good news is that the people who have sighted Nemo generally report him in good condition, probably thanks in part to the snacks and fruit neighbors have been leaving out for him. He has been traveling in a roughly clockwise direction from where he lives, but also can cover a lot of area in a single day. The last place he was seen, near the San Roque Bridge, has good water sources, she said, and after a month away from home, he might have found a reliable shelter.
As it gets cooler, Berns-Golas fears that the cold, as well as local predators that might find his roughly seven-inch frame appetizing, might get the better of the bird. So she’s sending out word to the larger community to help her find her parrot.
The community has responded. A story in the Daily Sound last week resulted in a report of a sighting, and KLITE hosts Gary and Catherine have been drumming up awareness of the bird’s disappearance. His last known sighting was Tuesday evening in the San Roque neighborhood.
If you happen to be out in the neighborhood and see a lilac-crown Amazon parrot, try calling his name, or wolf whistle, and he just might answer you with a trill, or even a yell. Those searching for the bird are encouraged to search in a one-mile radius around the San Roque area. Nemo-sighters should call Berns-Golas at 805.403-9619.
Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.