Charlottetown resident reunited with parrot after bird takes off on Canada Day

A Charlottetown resident says she's relievedto be reunited with her parrot after the bird went on a little escapade in the city's downtown during Canada Day.

Crystal Tobin lets Yoshi out of his cage whenever she's at home so the one-year-old, green-cheeked parakeet can spread its wings.

This wasn't a problem until Friday, when she realized she had left her phone in her car after coming back from a grocery run.

"I have a perch in the bathroom for himbecause he looks at himself in the mirror all the time," she said.

"I was like, 'You know what, he's in the bathroom, I can just slip out the door quickly.' And generally he will not go near the door. But for whatever reason ... as soon as I stepped my foot outside, I felt him land on my head and I was like, 'Oh no.'"

Yoshitook off, flying down Great George Street. Tobin was able to follow the bird's unique chirps to St. Dunstan's Basilica.

But whenthe church bells rang, the bird got spookedand flew out of sight.

Tobinonly moved from Toronto a few months ago Yoshi came with her in the car andshe could only enlist one friend to help find the missing bird.

"I was so panicked," she said. "The amount of time that I spend with this bird is ridiculous. Like, if I'm cooking, he's cooking with me. If I'm eating, chances are he's got his own little plate of food. I work remotely. So when I'm in my office and I'm working he's right there with me."

'Quite an attraction'

But a couple of Islanders were willing to help. Jack Lutz was in downtown Charlottetown with his family for the holidaywhen he spotted the bird.

"I tried climbing the tree to get it. But a motorcycle started down the road," he said.

"We walked down the road, see if we spotted it again. We found it sitting on a windowsill, chilled there for about a half hour. Multiple people are stopping by, watching. It was quite an attraction for about a couple of hours down there. "

The bird continued to fly from tree to tree. Eventually, someone was able to climb up and grab the bird, and Lutz ended up taking care of Yoshi while they were waiting to hear back from the owner.

It didn't take long before Tobin called.

"I guess [Jack] had put me on speaker while I was talking," she said."He's, like, 'Oh yeah, he's definitely your bird, because he can hear you. And now he's bobbing all around the cage. And he's all excited. And he's tapping.' And so, yeah, I went and I picked him up and brought him back home."

Tobin said she will take more precautions with Yoshi from now on.

"He's definitely got to be put inhis cage first, even if I'm just running out to the car," she said.

Lutz is an animal lover and saidthe experience was very enjoyable. Now he's considering adopting a parrot like Yoshi.

"It was kind of nice how the community [was] willing to try to help out," he said. "Nice to see that agroup of people just coming together and kind of being a little concerned about a little tiny bird."