It wouldn’t be unusual to find Stumpy, a 4-year-old gray and white cockatiel, perched happily atop his cage near the front door of Kim Strong’s Leoni Township home.

But it would be unusual to find the bird, named for a missing toe nail, at a high school football game.

Leoni Township on Monday made a public plea to find the owner of the bird after it flew into the stands during a game at Michigan Center High School.

The woman who hand-raised the cockatiel called Strong to tell her that the township likely had her pet after she saw a photo of the bird on the Internet.

“I was so sure my bird was actually dead that I gave up looking for him,” Strong said Tuesday night after the cockatiel was reunited with her family.

Strong said the bird flew out of her home one day in late August after her son opened the front door, which is used infrequently, and bumped his cage. Her family scoured the neighborhood looking for him and calling him without luck.

A few days later, a severe storm blew through the area. Strong assumed there was no way Stumpy could have survived.

But at the Aug. 25 season-opening football game between Western and Michigan Center high schools, the bird flew into the stands and caused an uproar when some fans, fearful of birds, tried to get out of its way.

Noticing the commotion, Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Officer Brent Doxtader stepped over and reached out to the bird that had hopped onto a woman’s hand.

Doxtader said the cockatiel stepped onto his hand, then stayed on his lap for the rest of the game.

“It was definitely scared,” said Doxtader, whose son plays football for Western. “It’s a good bird.”

Doxtader took the bird home and tried to find his owners by checking with the humane society, local veterinarians and ads for lost pets.

“You could walk around with it on your shoulder no problem,” said Doxtader, who had pet cockatiels when he was growing up. “My kids loved it. I didn’t want it to go to somebody and have it be harmed, so I held onto it until I knew what to do.”

Doxtader later turned the bird over to Leoni Township leaders to see if they would have any luck finding the owners.

Leoni Township Supervisor Todd Brittain said Stumpy easily befriended township employees.

Strong said she was grateful for the care Doxtader and Leoni Township staff provided for her bird, and Brittain said he was excited the cockatiel was reunited with his family.

“I’m so glad we found the right owner,” Brittain said. “It’s great.”