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Hello everyone, and thank you so much for any help. I've hand-raised my baby since he was 2 months old, including tube feeding. Since I've been working from home during the pandemic, we have spent 24/7 together and grown INCREDIBLY intimate and loving. I absolutely dote on him, love him and spoil him (but healthy food only, of course). I taught him to whistle four songs and say two spoken phrases, which he would repeat quite often when he wanted my attention. If he was on me, sleeping on me, being petted, he didn't really use his "vocal talents", but if I left the room, or the sun came up but I wasn't awake yet, he would make an endless stream of vocal noises, sing his songs, and say his phrases. I'd consider him VERY vocal in that respect.
On Monday, he somehow got out of my apartment. I went into full search-and-recovery mode, making it my FULL TIME JOB to find him. Posters, flyers, every website, every app. I began to lose hope, but on the Friday after he was lost, I received a credible message that someone had him (after five heartbreaking scammers contacting me looking for money). I went, and broke into tears when I saw him.
I am 98% sure it is my baby. The age matches. These things all look WAY the same: The plumage and beak coloration. A tattered right tail feather. Crest and face color and pattern, including a few pinfeathers in the cheek. Beak flaking pattern. Nostril shape.
He is completely comfortable with me, just like my baby. Flies to all the same perches in my apartment/his cage. Steps up instantly. Cuddles with me the same way.
The odds that a bird this exact age, with those exact matching characteristics, would be loose close to my home, are astronomical.
My one hesitation is, he has been VERY quiet and has not repeated ANY of his songs or phrases, that he sang and spoke almost relentlessly five days ago before he escaped.
Do you think (in your actual experience) he is just traumatized and will recover his voice, or (in your experience) are all male cockatiels similar enough that I could easily visually mistake a random one for my baby? To me, the number of visual coincidences SEEMS to be too great... age, tattered tail feather, level of comfort and tameness. But going from a VERY vocal bird, to almost completely silent over the course of 5 days, has me questioning. Could he lose it all in just 4-5 days?
On Monday, he somehow got out of my apartment. I went into full search-and-recovery mode, making it my FULL TIME JOB to find him. Posters, flyers, every website, every app. I began to lose hope, but on the Friday after he was lost, I received a credible message that someone had him (after five heartbreaking scammers contacting me looking for money). I went, and broke into tears when I saw him.
I am 98% sure it is my baby. The age matches. These things all look WAY the same: The plumage and beak coloration. A tattered right tail feather. Crest and face color and pattern, including a few pinfeathers in the cheek. Beak flaking pattern. Nostril shape.
He is completely comfortable with me, just like my baby. Flies to all the same perches in my apartment/his cage. Steps up instantly. Cuddles with me the same way.
The odds that a bird this exact age, with those exact matching characteristics, would be loose close to my home, are astronomical.
My one hesitation is, he has been VERY quiet and has not repeated ANY of his songs or phrases, that he sang and spoke almost relentlessly five days ago before he escaped.
Do you think (in your actual experience) he is just traumatized and will recover his voice, or (in your experience) are all male cockatiels similar enough that I could easily visually mistake a random one for my baby? To me, the number of visual coincidences SEEMS to be too great... age, tattered tail feather, level of comfort and tameness. But going from a VERY vocal bird, to almost completely silent over the course of 5 days, has me questioning. Could he lose it all in just 4-5 days?
