Residents and visitors to St. Thomas, St. John, and neighboring islands are asked to keep an eye out for Cookie, an Alexandrine Ringneck parrot that has been missing for more than two weeks.
Michael Frascella, Cookie’s owner, said the bird flew away on March 14 from the old Colombo Smoothie stand on Centerline Road on St. John. At a site elevation of 700 feet and with winds of 25 to 30 mph that day, Cookie could have been blown nearly 15 miles away, Frascella said. “He’s a good flyer, but not an expert flyer, and his wings are not clipped,” he added.
Frascella described Cookie as having a green head and body, with light green/yellow tail feathers that are longer than his body. He has red feathers ringing his neck, red splashes on his wings, and his beak is reddish orange. He measures about 20 inches in length.
Although he doesn’t talk much, “Cookie has a very loud whistle/call — unlike any bird in the territory — which is very distinctive,” said Frascella. “Parrots don’t like sun exposure, so the best times for him to be seen or heard is early morning or around sundown.”
Frascella said Cookie does not interact with other birds. “He has been domesticated all of his life, so he sees other birds as predators. His survival techniques are very, very limited, and he has been hand-fed all of his life, so he really does not know how to forage. He eats mainly fruit.”
Cookie has lived with Frascella for the last three years. Before that, he lived with Frascella’s mother. He flew away once before and was found three days later, about two miles from where he took off. Frascella has searched some off island cays by kayak and has received some bird sighting videos from St. Thomas, but so far, no luck.
If anyone has any information on Cookie’s whereabouts, Frascella asks that they contact him by phone at 340-624-3467, by email at Flamike1967@gmail.com, or on local Facebook group pages dealing with missing pets and local news.
