Halifax police are looking for two men after a pricey parrot was stolen from a pet store in Bedford, N.S.

Police say the men entered Pets Unlimited on Damascus Road before 7 p.m. Monday.

They allege one of the suspects distracted staff while the other entered the parrot enclosure, grabbed the bird and took off. The second man then blocked the employees from running after him.

The parrot is a blue front Amazon valued at $2,600. The parrot is named Schooner, he is two years old, and has a banded leg.

People are turning to social media to catch the bird burglars, sharing a photo of Schooner and the suspects on Twitter and Facebook.

Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages says the photos have been shared hundreds of times from the police Facebook site.

“There’s been tremendous interest given the nature of this theft,” he says. “It’s very unusual having a bird stolen.”

Staff members say they are devastated by the theft.

“I just want my buddy back,” says assistant manager Jennifer Donaldson. “You know, we work really hard here with our animals, and we want him back.”

Donaldson says taking care of the birds is the best part of her job and spent many hours teaching Schooner tricks.

“He looked like a little chicken when he got here. He was my buddy.”

Staff say the birds take a while to bond with people and that one of the suspects in the case visited the store a few times, posing as a prospective buyer.

“This person is probably going to try to sell the bird privately or on Kijiji, something like that,” says sales director Jim Harrison. “Unfortunately that’s probably the motive behind it.”

Harrison says he doesn’t care about the money or charges, he just wants Schooner back.

“The biggest thing is, we want the bird returned,” he says. “We don’t care about charges or finger-pointing. We just want the bird back in our care.”

Harrison is also concerned for the bird’s health, as parrots like Schooner require a specialized diet and care.

One of the suspects is described as a white man in his 40s with short, grey hair. He is five-foot-eight, 200 pounds and was wearing a light blue T-shirt and black vest at the time of the incident.

The second suspect is described as a white man in his 30s with short, brown hair and a full, dark brown beard. He is six-feet-tall, weighs 200 pounds and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans and white running shoes.

Police say they have been receiving tips in the case all day and are following up on them.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter