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Clinton Hill Neighbors Find Missing 'Blogging Parrot' Named Bagel

By Janet Upadhye | June 26, 2013 8:12am
 Bagel is a 2-year-old Congo African Grey parrot.
Bagel Parrot
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CLINTON HILL — Call off the search party, Bagel has been found.

A missing Congo African Grey parrot named Bagel — already a small celebrity in social media circles with nearly 400 Facebook friends and 878 Instagram followers — became quite famous in Clinton Hill when she flew the coop over the weekend.

The feathered beauty's escape prompted numerous neighbors to search their backyards, rooftops and balconies in search of the missing parrot.

And after 14 frantic hours, Bagel was found in the yard of a neighbor just a few doors down the street.

"I was so touched by the community and how everyone banded together to help us find Bagel," said Joe Liu, 28, Bagel's caretaker. "Two days later, I am still receiving texts from worried strangers asking if we found her yet."

Bagel, who has her own Tumblr account, went missing during a small rooftop party Saturday night. Liu and his girlfriend Jennifer Wong, 26, spent the night printing fliers and making posts on Twitter, Craigslist, Reddit, and Facebook. Encouraging comments began to pour in.

"Shame. Losing a pet is heartbreaking," one resident wrote. "I'll keep my eyes peeled, best of luck to you."

By the morning the neighborhood block association president had sent an email to 100 residents asking them to help. Tips started pouring in.

"My husband might have seen her this morning heading from Waverly towards Washington Ave. over PS 11," another neighbor wrote. "It happened very quickly, so he wasn't sure it was a parrot."

Later on Sunday afternoon a neighbor called to say she had a grey parrot in her backyard. Liu and Wong rushed over to find their baby parrot sitting on a low hanging branch.

"We are still so touched by the outpouring of support from our community," Wong said.

The grateful couple is in the process of launching a parrot conservation nonprofit.

"Bagel's popularity on social media inspired us to start an organization aimed to spread awareness of the plight of wild parrots," Wong said. "As well as to encourage more responsible parrot ownership."

Bagelparrot Conservation Alliance is slated to launch in the late summer.