Found a Pet Bird in Regina? Who to Call and How to Help

Found a Bird in Regina? Here's What to Do First

Spotting a parrot, budgie, cockatiel, or other pet bird sitting on a fence, power line, or in your backyard in Regina is a strange and often heart-melting experience. Pet birds are not built to survive long outdoors — they can't easily find food or shelter the way a wild bird can, and they're often disoriented, dehydrated, and scared. If you've found one, acting quickly and calmly gives it the best chance of getting home safely.

This guide walks through exactly who to call, how to safely secure the bird, and how to use this portal to reconnect it with its owner — whether that owner is in Regina or somewhere else entirely, since escaped birds can travel further than people expect.

Step 1: Confirm It's a Pet Bird, Not Native Wildlife

Before doing anything else, make sure you're actually looking at an escaped companion bird. Common pet species found loose in Saskatchewan cities include budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, conures, African greys, and the occasional larger parrot. Signs it's a pet, not wildlife:

- Bright, unusual colouring (green, yellow, blue, grey with red tail feathers)
- Comfortable near people, or actively approaching humans
- Making repeated contact calls (loud, single-note chirps or whistles aimed at you or its surroundings)
- Perched somewhere unusual for a wild bird, like a porch railing or a shopping cart

If it's clearly a native species — a hawk, owl, songbird, or waterfowl that appears injured or orphaned — this isn't the right resource. Head to /found-a-wild-bird instead, which points you toward wildlife rehabilitation contacts.

Step 2: Try to Safely Contain the Bird

Pet birds instinctively look for the highest point around — a roofline, a tall tree, a light pole — which is why they're often seen but hard to catch. A few practical tips:

- Don't chase it. Chasing pushes it further away and higher up, and can push it toward roads or predators.
- Offer a calm perch and food. Many escaped birds are hungry and will land on an offered hand, a broom handle, or a perch with seed nearby if you stay still and quiet.
- Use a towel, not bare hands, if you do get close enough to contain it — this protects both you and the bird.
- House it in a secure box, carrier, or room away from household pets once contained, with fresh water and a shallow dish of birdseed, oats, or fruit if you have it.
- Try dawn or dusk. Birds tend to settle and become easier to approach in the early morning or evening, when they're less active and looking to roost for the night.

If the bird is high in a tree or on a wire and won't come down, don't attempt anything risky. Note the exact location and time, and move to the next step — a lure and a patient wait is usually more effective than a rescue attempt.

Step 3: Who to Call in Regina

There's no single Regina-wide "lost pet bird hotline," so your best results come from casting a wide net quickly:

Local avian and exotic vets. Search for "avian vet Regina" or "exotic pet vet Regina" — clinics that treat birds are often the first place a worried owner calls, and many keep an informal lost-and-found board or bulletin.
Wildlife rehabilitation centres and rescues. Even though this is a domestic bird, some regional rescues track lost pet reports alongside wildlife calls and can point you in the right direction.
Regina Humane Society and local animal control. They may have an open report matching the bird's description, and can advise on temporary care if you can't keep it yourself.
Neighbourhood social media groups. Local Facebook groups, Nextdoor, and community pages for Regina and area often move faster than official channels for exactly this kind of case.

When you call any of these, have the bird's species (or best guess), colouring, approximate location found, and the date and time on hand — it speeds up matching enormously.

Step 4: Post It Here

This is the step most people miss, and it's often the one that actually closes the loop. Owners searching for an escaped bird are checking online lost-and-found listings, not just calling vets one by one.

- Report the found bird at /submit with a clear photo, the location, date, and any details on behaviour or markings.
- Check active lost bird reports at /lost to see if someone in the Regina area has already reported a matching bird missing.
- Browse other found reports at /found in case another finder nearby has already logged the same bird.
- Search nearby listings with /near-me, which uses a radius search around Regina so you're not scrolling through unrelated cities.
- If you saw the bird but weren't able to catch it, log what you saw at /sightings — even an unconfirmed sighting helps an owner narrow their search grid.

Step 5: While You Wait for a Match

Keep the bird somewhere quiet, warm, and away from drafts, with fresh water daily. Avoid introducing it to other pets. If days pass with no match, a vet visit is worth considering — it can help confirm species, general health, and sometimes reveal a microchip or leg band that identifies the owner directly. Leg bands in particular often carry a breeder or owner registration number worth calling in.

Escaped birds occasionally travel farther than expected, especially in windy prairie conditions, so don't assume the owner is necessarily nearby — checking listings across a wider radius on /near-me is worth the extra few minutes.

Report It Now

The fastest way to reunite a found bird with its owner is getting it listed where owners are actively searching. Submit your found bird report now — it takes just a few minutes and could be the difference between a quick reunion and a long search.