Mickey the cockatoo has made his way to freedom after weeks spent trapped inside a southwest Sydney supermarket, thanks to the quick thinking of one determined rescuer.
The bird had become a local celebrity at the Macarthur Square Coles in Campbelltown after spending the last month living off brioche bread handed out by bemused shoppers and staff.
While locals took pictures of the strange sight, animal wildlife groups, with the help of Campbelltown City Council, were working out a rescue plan to get the bird out of the store.
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As the weeks went on, however, Mickey became more stressed due to the failed rescue attempts, the constant light and the lack of contact with other birds.
Campbelltown Councillor Josh Cotter said on Facebook that even his own kids had become worried about the “cheeky” cockatoo.
“The Coles staff are doing their absolute best, they’ve been getting smashed on the phones, they’ve been taking care of him for weeks,” he said.
“He’s healthy, they’ve been feeding him and giving him water, and he’s been getting into bread and whatever else he can get into at night.
“They are doing their best in the stressful circumstances, especially with the extremely high ceiling in Coles.”
Cotter attended one of the rescue attempts on Monday night, where Sydney Wildlife Rescue and Wild Conservation volunteers tried to “tire” the bird out, using nets attached to long extension poles to try to catch him—to no avail.
“Mickey (was) hiding in the rooftop,” Wild Conservation said in a Facebook post.
“The infrastructure provided endless roosting points and a jungle gym of obstacles that foiled the most savvy of net wielders.”
All attempts at catching Mickey failed — that is until “bird whisperer” and director of Feathered Friends Sanctuary, Ravi Wasan, entered the picture.
After seeing posts about Mickey on social media, Wasan offered assistance with the helping claw of another cockatoo, Old Lady Doris.
Wasan used Old Lady Doris to attract Mickey’s attention to a trolley, where he began feeding the two.
He then lured Mickey into a cage using food, before he leapt into action, shutting the door behind him.
“Mickey the Cockatoo has been safely rescued and is with Old Lady Doris on his way to the Feathered Friends Bird Sanctuary, where he will undergo a health check and then released back into the wild,” Macarthur Square posted on Facebook.
“Warm thank you to our bird whisperer.”
Wasan said Mickey was due to be released back into the wild on Wednesday.
“Tomorrow morning he will be released back into the area,” he said.
“I assure you, Mickey won’t go back into the centre. This boy was so relieved to see blue sky.
“Four weeks trapped in a shopping centre is enough to turn him away. I’m so glad I saw this on socials this morning and I had the day off to suss it out!”