This tweet-heart is getting a happy ending.
A beloved bright-green-and-yellow parakeet named Mei Mei who spent 10 weeks living with a flock of sparrows in the wilds of Central Park now has a forever home.
The bird officially became a Rhode Island resident Sunday when she moved into her new digs at Foster Parrots sanctuary.
“Mei Mei will live the rest of her life in peace with other rescued parrots at a place that has to meet extremely stringent care standards,” said Liz Cabrera Holtz of World Animal Protection, which worked on her transfer, to The Post.
“It’s just an absolutely happy ending for her.”
The adventurous little bird — whose name means “little sister” in Mandarin — is joining a flock of 130 feathered friends from a diverse range of species including doves, finches and canaries, as well as plenty of other Budgerigar parakeets.
She could even find love. Budgies mate for life.
The tiny bird was finally able to make the move after months of quarantining inside the Manhattan apartment of a devoted birder who made a daring capture that saved the beautiful fowl from an incoming local cold front.
Budgies, which are native to Australia, are almost exclusively domesticated in New York because they cannot survive Big Apple winters without a proper environment maintained at around 70 degrees.
Fortunately, Mei Mei only suffered a common parasite infection from her time on the lam but has since been treated and is in great condition, according to Holtz.
The parakeet — which vets estimate to be a little more than 1-year-old — was able to evade capture in Central Park for nearly two months by joining a flock of sparrows and adopting their flighty, evasive nature in a tale that gripped the Big Apple.
Bird lovers at the World Animal Protection were closely following for updates and jumped at the opportunity to support birder JP Borum when she finally dropped a net on Mei Mei on a cool fall morning.
“People often forget these little birds are extremely intelligent, extremely social. Just her ability to survive for 10 weeks was pretty astonishing,” said Holtz, senior programs manager for the organization.
While Holtz said the group will likely “never know” how Mei Mei landed in Central Park, it’s safe to assume she once came from a parrot mill and either escaped during transfer or was abandoned by an owner.
The World Animal Protection, along with Voters for Animal Rights, have been advocating for years for the New York City Council to pass legislation prohibiting the sale of birds in pet stores, much like how the sale of dogs and cats were banned in 2024.
“Thousands of parrots are confined to dirty, cramped cages before ultimately being transported across the country and sold,” Holtz said.
“Parrots want to be with other parrots. They want to fly! The average cage at a big-box pet store is 27 million times smaller than a parrot’s natural range.
“Most people are not set up to provide the minimum care, let alone the conditions, where a parrot could thrive.”
Read the full article here
