LONDON — Two sister parrots ruffled a few feathers when they flew the coop and escaped from their home at the London Zoo, sparking a week-long search that mobilized bird enthusiasts across England.
Margot and Lily, two blue-throated macaws, made it 100 kilometres north of the zoo before locals were able to assist zookeepers in tracking them down. There are only about 400 blue-throated macaws left in the wild, making them critically endangered.
The 2-year-olds escaped during the free-flying portion of their daily routine, the zoo said in a press release shared with The Washington Post. The parrots have been trained to fly outside their confines at least once a day, returning at their keepers’ call, a practice that allows them to stretch their wings and show off their bright blue-and-yellow plumage to visitors.
Their keepers believe that the day they flew away, something had spooked them while they rested in the trees, prompting them to take off and head north, according to additional details provided by the zoo’s press office to The Post on Tuesday.
Zookeepers immediately began searching throughout London for the sisters, concerned by their youth and lack of exposure to the outside world — Margot and Lily were born at the zoo and still lived with their parents, Popeye and Ollie.
The zoo reached out to birdwatching communities “across the country,” asking them to keep an eye out for the macaws, Jessica Fryer, the zoo’s team leader for penguins and flying birds, said in a statement.
After receiving a number of tips from Cambridgeshire, a county north of London, a family in the village of Buckden reported that they had spotted the pair in the trees behind their garden on Sunday, the zoo said Tuesday. The zookeepers then asked for video of their bird cry, and from that video, were able to confirm the sisters’ identities.
But Margot and Lily fled their garden hideaway before the zookeepers could arrive. With the help of residents providing transport and local knowledge of the area, the zookeepers were able to track them down to a new location about 10 kilometres away, in Brampton, another village in Cambridgeshire.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
It was here that Margot and Lily identified themselves by “immediately” flying down onto the outstretched arms of the zookeepers, the zoo said in the press release.
Both Margot and Lily appeared in good condition after their week away, the zoo said, and were treated to their favourite foods of pecans, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. They remain in quarantine at an on-site animal hospital, as is protocol, but appear to be their “usual loud, chirpy selves.”
“Their return couldn’t have come at a better time, with the colder weather setting in,” Fryer said. “It’s great to see Lily and Margot back and as chatty as ever.”
While the distance travelled by Margot and Lily is not implausible — at full speed, macaws are able to fly up to 55 km/h — the distance was out of the ordinary for them. Following their adventure, the zoo is focused on making sure the sisters are rested before reuniting them with their parents, the zoo said.