Feathered-friend Frank back home

A COLDSIDE couple have been reunited with their beloved pet bird after a stress-filled 10-hour search.

Ross Dorward and Hannah Green were filled with relief on Saturday after they were reunited with their pet cockatiel, Frank.

Frank, who has only been with the young couple for a few weeks, escaped from their flat on Saturday morning by flying out a window which they had left ajar.

The couple were distraught by their feathered friend’s disappearance.

Ross said: “It was actually my girlfriend who first noticed he had gone out the window.

“I had just woken up and she’d just got him out to feed him.

“They were through in the lounge, but he soon flew through to the bedroom and out the window which we had left a little bit open.

“We looked out and saw him just circling about 50m away.

“We tried to whistle to him to come back, but he was attacked by some sort of bird so he panicked and flew off.”

The shocked pair quickly went out to search for their missing bird, and spent the next eight hours looking for their pet.

He was eventually found in a nearby tree, high off the ground.

Ross said: “I whistled to him and he whistled back, and we soon spotted him in a tree.

“I had phoned the Scottish SPCA and their advice was to not climb up after him, as it would scare him off, so we waited down on the ground.

“We waited for about an hour and a half before my parents came along with a really long pole.

“We sort of just duct taped his food bowl to it and tried to use it to lure him down.”

Ross and Hannah were soon able to coax the bird out of the tree, and quickly took him home in a pet carrier.

“It was a bit of a stressful day,” the engineering apprentice said.

“I was gutted when he first flew away, we’d only had him about three weeks but we have really bonded to him, he’s a very friendly bird.

“I was pretty devastated, so was my girlfriend.

“It was honestly such a relief to get my hands around him and get him back into the house.

“Even that night, he was just sitting on my leg eating food like nothing had happened.”

Frank is home again.