Stalking the Wild Parakeet

Budgie rescued after weeks spent outside in the cold in Winnipeg https://t.co/Ko79aUvj4l pic.twitter.com/JtzxCF0rxD

— CBC News (@CBCNews) January 3, 2016

You don’t often see a budgerigar, or common parakeet, flying free in Manitoba in the winter. They are native to Australia, and aren't made for cold weather. Sylvia Cassie of Winnipeg spotted a green and yellow parakeet as early as November 22, eating out of bird feeders in the company of sparrows, which had apparently taken the bird under their wings, so to speak. Several reports to Avian Welfare Canada got organization president Melanie Shura involved in trying to catch the bird before he succumbed to the cold weather. She set up a cage at Cassie’s home, complete with food, heat, and a trap door. Shura also helped Shelley Corvino and her husband set up a similar cage when they spotted the bird.

On New Year's Day, Corvino's husband saw the bird in the yard. It slowly made its way into the cage.

"He pulled the string, which he'd MacGyver'd to capture the fellow, through the little gate on the setup here … and that was it! He was still feeding!" Corvino said, referring to her husband capturing the bird.

"We high-fived and actually went and drank a toast and then we called Mel and Sylvia [Cassie] right away," she said.

The Corvinos will keep the parakeet, and have already named him MacGyver. -via Arbroath