SITKA — A Sitka couple is asking for the community’s help in locating their Moluccan cockatoo.
Burgess Bauder and his wife, Victoria Vosburg, who are both veterinarians, are offering an $800 reward to anyone who finds the pale pink bird named Keta, The Sitka Sentinel reported.
“I am just as devastated,” Vosburg said. “We don’t know what happened to her and don’t know if she’s suffering right now.”
The 28-year-old cockatoo was last seen Oct. 17, when Bauder’s son stopped by Keta’s shelter to check on the bird while his father was away on a trip. The son noticed her missing the next day when he went to feed her.
Keta recently had her wings clipped and is unable to fly. The bird, like other Moluccan cockatoos, also has a loud, distinct scream.
“She screams like a banshee,” Bauder said. “My wife would always put ear plugs in.”
The couple got Keta in 1994 and the bird has become “a part of our family,” Vosburg said.
Since she has been missing, there have been reports of people hearing Keta’s scream, but the couple hasn’t had any success in finding her, Vosburg said.
Sitka police are working to track down Keta and have even gone door-to-door asking people to be on the lookout for the bird.
“If someone has come across the animal they thought was abandoned or lost, make a call,” animal control officer Ken Buxton said. “Keta is not abandoned.”
Officers are encouraging people to report any bird noises they hear and to turn in the bird if they spot it.
“If you find it feel free to bring it in,” said police Lt. Lance Ewers. “I know how much Burgess loves this bird.”
