Runaway cockatiel missing for days found in unlikely haven: A humane society CEO's backyard

What are the odds of an escaped pet bird landing at the bird feeder of the local humane society's CEO? Probably one in a million.

Picasso, a 5-year-old female cinnamon pearl cockatiel, accidentally escaped from inside her home in Ypsilanti, Michigan last month and flew away towards the nearby city of Ann Arbor, where she was discovered almost five days later by Tanya Hilgendorf, President and CEO of Humane Society of Huron Valley.

Picasso's owner Tiffany Neikart told USA TODAY earlier this week that she was letting one of her dogs out of the house when something outside caught Picasso's eye and startled her, prompting her to fly "up and out" while the door was open.

"What happened was something outside caught her eye, and it was just enough to startle her that it diverted her, and she flew up and out while that door was open," Neikart said. "And she had never, ever been even close to that door because I had spent so long on teaching her different forms of recall."

Neikart said Picasso had never been outside the house and she was very good at coming when called. But "she had never been recalled from outside," Neikart said, adding that the bird did not respond when she called out to her.

Staying calm, Neikart said she called out to the bird, who responded by making the sound she makes when called. However, she did not fly back down but kept circling around the backyard, while making her recall sound.

'In a frenzy'

"It was like she was in a frenzy," Neikart said. "Because it's like, now you're hearing traffic and you're hearing cars and you're hearing other birds and lots of noises that you don't usually hear when you're inside the house. And I think that that became just overwhelming."

Neikart said Picasso kept circling the backyard but did not attempt to land on the roof or a nearby tree, like birds usually do. All attempts to bring the bird back down, including getting her cage as a marker, went in vain as Picasso kept flying higher and higher, and made her way towards a busy road.

Neikart said she got her car out, followed Picasso and kept calling out to her. But the bird would not listen and eventually flew towards Ann Arbor. At that moment, Neikart thought she had lost her beloved pet forever.

All hope lost

"That night, I still went out, playing cockatiel sounds," Neikart said, hoping her bird would respond or chirp back so she could track her down. But she drew blank. "I couldn't hear anything."

The next morning Neikart sprang into action, leaving no stone unturned to track down Picasso. She looked in the surrounding areas, called out to Picasso, "posted all over Facebook," called up local vets and animal shelters and put up posters everywhere, praying and hoping someone would spot Picasso and let her know.

"By like the second or third day, I had lost a lot of hope," Neikart said, adding Picasso was a tiny bird, weighing only 100 grams, and was gray in color, "different than a colorful bird" which people would be able to spot or identify easily. Due to her size, she could also not be chipped, Neikart said.

By the fourth day, Neikart went ahead and even ordered a tombstone for Picasso was she was convinced that she had passed.

"I thought she's gone. So, I had started the grieving process," Neikart said. "How could that little bird survive? She has no idea how to. There are big birds out there. There are hawks. There are cars everywhere. How could she survive that?"

Picasso spotted in Ann Arbor

When all hope was lost, on the fifth day, Neikart got a call from Hilgendorf, who told her that Picasso had been spotted on the birdfeeder outside her home in Ann Arbor. Hilgendorf, in a statement, said she had just gotten home from work when she "was startled by a loud, unfamiliar sound from" her birdfeeder.

"I went to the kitchen window where our birdfeeder is and saw my cats staring out the window with similar confusion and shock," Hilgendorf said. "I knew immediately she must be someone’s escaped pet. Worried she would fly away; I took a few quick pics and posted her on the Nextdoor app as quickly as I could. I had assumed she had just gotten out and lived in my neighborhood."

Hilgendorf said she and one of the humane society's field officers tried to get hold of Picasso but failed. At the same time, she kept checking the Nextdoor app to see if anyone had responded.

"Then it struck me to check HSHV’s Lost and Found page," Hilgendorf said. "Just in case. I thought it’d be a long shot because I still believed Picasso had just gotten out and lived near me. But, unbelievably, there she was right on the top of the “other domestics” lost page. Even though it said she lived in Ypsilanti and was posted several days before, I had no doubt it was her. She is such a beauty.”

Turns out Neikart had submitted Picasso's details on the humane society's Lost and Found page on HSHV’s Marketing and Communications Director Wendy's suggestion. Wendy had come across one of Neikart's many posts on Facebook.

'Holding my breath'

Minutes after Hilgendorf connected with Neikart, Neikart jumped into her car with a bag full of Picasso's favorite treats and drove 20 minutes to Hilgedorf's house, with her heart in her mouth and calling her husband to join her there.

"I was shaking the whole time," Neikart said "I was holding my breath because I thought, 'What if she's gone when I get there?' 'What if I get there and she just flies.'"

Fortunately, Picasso was still in Hilgendorf's backyard when Neikart arrived.

"I get there, and I see her and I'm like, 'Oh, my God. There she is.' So, I offered her a millet and she was just flew over to a streetlight (and) stood there (and) looked at me," Neikart said. "I (then) pulled out the bag of cheese and spread the cheese on the ground, because I thought maybe, maybe if I step back a little (and Picasso) sees treats all over the ground, maybe she'll fly down and eat."

After laying the cheese, which is Picasso's favorite treat, on the ground, Neikart stepped back and played Picasso's favorite cockatiel sounds on her husband's suggestion. The trick worked because Picasso flew to a nearby tree before flying and sitting on Neikart's shoulder.

"I just held the treat right over my shoulder," Neikart said. "And I just walk very slowly to the car because I did not want to make a sudden movement and grab her (or) flare her up."

Neikart's husband kept playing the cockatiel sounds on the phone keeping it close to Picasso as they walked over to the car. As soon as Neikart got in the car with Picasso, her husband quickly shut the door. And that's when Neikart finally let out a sigh of relief.

"It's been crazy,' Neikart said. "I did not imagine that she would be back."

Picasso has laid three eggs since she's been back

While Neikart is ecstatic to have her beloved pet back home, she can't help but wonder what Picasso was up to in the wild.

"I kind of wish we had one of those little, small cameras that we could have seen what she was doing all those days," Neikart said. "Where was she getting drink? Was she eating junk food? When she come back home, she was jumping up on the plate when we were eating food and trying to take from our plates. So, there was this more animalistic quality to her."

In fact, Picasso even laid three eggs ever since she's been back and was brooding over them, Neikart said, making her wonder if she had spent time in a nest that might have prompted this behavior. Picasso has laid only two other eggs her whole life. Neikart attributed the eggs to the extra sunlight and junk food Picasso may have eaten while she was out in the wild.

Neikart still can't fathom how the tiny bird traveled almost seven miles across one of Michigan's biggest expressways, U.S. 23, (and) the Huron River.

"One of the nicknames for our town is tree town," Neikart said. "So, imagine all of the different trees and birds and things that live in this area, and my bird was just living amongst there."

'No average bird'

Neikart got Picasso from a breeder in Detroit and said she picked her because she looked different than all the others with white pearls all over her feathers.

"I thought she's so beautiful," Neikart said. "She's always been unique and different.

Neikart, who worked as a registered behaviorist for six years, said she trained Picasso to use a tablet and ask for things like treats or listen to different bird sounds.

"One of the things that she likes to do every day is ask Google to play a bird sound or play a cockatiel sound," Neikart said. "Picasso already was no average bird, and she had been trained by me to use a tablet to communicate."

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.