Have you seen a grey parrot fly around Yellowknife? He's lost and missed, says owner
He can mimic the exact sound of a microwave or the voices of the humans he lives with.
Tesla is an African grey parrot who lives in Yellowknife and on Tuesday he escaped from his home.
Patrick Clancy, Tesla's human, says the parrot was in its cage on the front porch before it went missing.
When Clancy came outside, the bird was sitting on top of the cage and when he went to put Tesla back in, it instead flew away.
"It was really windy and he just went with it," Clancy said, adding it's possible someone opened the door to its cage.
The parrot is fairly large as far as pet birds go, Clancy said.
Tesla is about 14 inches tall, has a light-grey coloured head, circular eyes and a dark grey body.
He also has one very telling feature — a scarlet red tail.
The bird laughs in the sound of Clancy's wife's voice and calls out "mommy" in the sound of his daughter's voice. Tesla will also ask what you're having for dinner and knows many other phrases.
Clancy said this breed of parrot are as intelligent as a five-year-old child.
Clancy last saw the parrot flying toward Matonabee Street from his family's home on Gitzel Street in the direction of city hall.
"After 24 hours, he could be anywhere in the city," Clancy said.
The parrot breed is "tough," Clancy says, and Tesla likely won't have an issue with the weather for now, nor will it struggle to find food or water.
Tesla likes kids and dogs and he may even try to approach people.
If people see Tesla, Clancy asks that they call him right away and put out fruit or nuts so he sticks around until the family can retrieve him.
Clancy said the bird can bite hard and so advises not trying to pick up it up, unless it's with a stick.
"You have to do something, you have to try to bring him into the house or just stay there until I get there," Clancy said, adding there's a reward for the person who finds Tesla.
"My daughter and my wife really miss the bird."
If you see Tesla, call Clancy at 867-446-6591 or reach out to the CBC Yellowknife radio talk back line at 867-920-5449.
