CAPE MAY — Three parakeets found around Cape May are up for adoption since no owner has come forward to claim them.
According to Steve Serwatka, Cape May’s animal control officer, who runs New Jersey Nature, a nonprofit organization for exotic animal rescue, two birds were found May 20 and a third was found a day or two later.
“The third bird was found near a motel in Cape May and was almost dead,” Serwatka said on May 27. “There’s no food out there for the parakeets. Another day and it would have probably died. But it’s back doing well, and you can tell the birds know each other; they would behave differently if they didn’t.”
Because the birds know each other and parakeets are flock birds, Serwatka said he wants to keep them together if anyone is interested in adopting them. If not, they will join about 15 other birds he has at the nature center, where they will have “plenty of room to fly around.”
Serwatka got the other two birds May 20 after a resident found a grayish parakeet in Wilbraham Park in West Cape May, and a green parakeet was found by a guest of a Cape May inn, near the inn.
He also said he heard “through the grapevine that there were five birds who were let loose; I heard there were 20 birds let loose, all sorts of rumors. I couldn’t confirm any of it, so I really don’t know if there are any other parakeets out there, but at this point they would not be alive.”
He said that sometimes during nice weather, people will put their bird cages outside and the door will open accidentally.
Serwatka said if someone wants to adopt the birds through his center, he will first ask them several questions aimed at determining their ability to care for them. “People have all sorts of motives for adopting, so I’ll ask a variety of questions to be sure they mean well and can take care of the birds,” he said.
“Whether they have a bird vet,” he said referring to one question he would ask, “because not all vets take care of birds. A bird vet can be a difficult thing to find.”
If anyone is interested in adopting the birds, Serwatka can be reached at 609-861-2886.
Contact the reporter, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
