BANGOR, Maine — Jayne Branscombe did not think she would see her pet cockatiel ever again.

The small yellow bird, whose name is Golda, was outside of her cage on Friday afternoon when Branscombe’s husband, Jack Branscombe, walked into their Howard Street home.





Jack Branscombe is Golda’s favorite, according to Jayne Branscombe, so the bird flew toward him, but then continued out the door, she said. They did not see where she went after that.

Branscombe said about 20 people in her neighborhood were on the lookout for Golda. But the Bangor resident went to bed Friday night thinking hope was lost.

Then on Saturday morning, a neighbor did a google search for lost cockatiels in Bangor and a story posted by the Bangor Daily News on Friday night popped up.

Late in the afternoon Friday, Greg Canders had contacted the Bangor Daily News, saying he’d found a cockatiel in his front yard on the east side of Bangor. With the help of his son, he shimmied up a tree to retrieve the bird.

The Bangor Daily News wrote a story that instructed anyone who can identify themselves as the bird’s owner to get in touch with Canders.

So on Saturday morning, after hearing about the article from her neighbor, Branscombe looked Canders up in the phone book and gave him a call.

“He said, ‘I reached for [the bird] and she bit me,’” Branscombe said of their conversation. “And I said ‘That’s her.’”

Canders brought the cockatiel to Branscombe’s home, a distance that he said is “a about a mile as the cockatiel flies.” When he got there it was clear to him that the bird had found its owner.

“It got on her shoulder and was rubbing her ear,” he said. “It was obviously her bird.”

Branscombe was overjoyed.

“It’s just amazing,” she said. “I couldn’t believe I got her back.”

On Saturday morning, Golda was doing well, but not completely back to normal.

“I think she’s traumatized,” said Branscombe. Though the bird is not eating, she has been drinking. “She’s standing on one foot, which is what they do when they’re tired.”

Later in the day Saturday, Branscombe said the bird was standing on two feet.

But she added, “We were so lucky to get her back.”