San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Yes, a toucan is flying over Walnut Creek
As the temperature dipped toward freezing a week and a half ago, a dental hygienist at work in Walnut Creek glanced out her window and saw a brightly colored tropical bird, the kind you see here only on a box of Froot Loops.
“I looked up and said: ‘Is that what I think it is?’ ” Renee Velzasquez said, recalling her first sighting of the toucan. “‘Are we in Costa Rica?’ ”
Since September, folks in Lafayette and Walnut Creek have reported on social media that they’ve spotted something unusual in the suburban skies and trees — a toucan or two.
One of the bright-beaked tropical birds was captured in November after a weeks-long effort by a pastor. Now she’s working with Velasquez to try and catch the Walnut Creek toucan, which is believed to have escaped from an exotic-bird keeper’s enclosure in Lafayette.
Lauren Michelle Stevens, the pastor of Lafayette United Methodist Church, got involved in helping to capture the first toucan after learning from Nextdoor and Facebook posts that a brightly colored bird had visited a Lafayette neighbor’s birdbath.
She said she contacted Contra Costa County Animal Services, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, rescue groups and avian veterinarians and zoos — everyone she could think of — before finding someone with a specially designed remote-control trap. With a handful of volunteers, including a toucan owner, they captured the bird in November.
It was eventually reunited with its owner, Steve Gu, of Lafayette, who told The Chronicle on Friday that for the last 10 years he’s collected exotic birds. At least 10 species are housed in a large aviary and bird pen, he said.
Some of the birds, including a pair of toucans, which can be worth thousands of dollars each, escaped from the aviary in August or September when their habitat was being remodeled. He was reunited with the first missing toucan late last year.
Then Velasquez discovered another toucan and was connected with Stevens, who offered advice on how to capture the bird, starting with feeding it in a regular place on a schedule. She feeds the bird twice a day, placing slices of papaya on some small trees. The toucan usually takes the fruit to a larger tree nearby and consumes it.
Velasquez said she often sees the bird — toucans can grow to 25 inches long, with beaks around 7 inches — feeding or flying overhead as she’s cleaning teeth.
“When I see him, I sit my patients right up so they can see,” she said. “I love him. He brings a smile to my face, to all our patients’ faces.”
While she loves seeing the toucan, Velasquez said she worries about its ability to survive the nearly freezing overnight temperatures, though he appears to have a good appetite and looks healthy. She and Stevens would like to capture it and turn it over to a zoo or a group that would care for the toucan.
But capturing a toucan is not easy, especially without a special trap with remote control capabilities, Stevens said. The trap used to catch the toucan in November is no longer available, and she’s been unable to find anyone able or willing to assist with her toucan-catching expedition.
“The biggest barrier to catching it,” Stevens said, “is the lack of a trap. Nobody seems to have an appropriate trap.”
The owner of the first toucan, Gu, said this bird is likely his since they were a pair. He only learned of the second sighting when he spoke with a Chronicle reporter Friday. He didn’t offer his assistance in capturing the toucan, saying that was best left to professionals, but said he’d like to get the second missing toucan back if it’s captured.
“Anyone who wants to try and capture them, I would be happy to talk to them,” he said.
Velasquez and Stevens are hoping they get help before the bird succumbs to the cold weather.
“I just want them to live a good life,” said Stevens. “I really want this toucan to not die. That’s why I got involved in this.” Velasquez agreed.
“This bird is so beautiful,” she said.” I would hate to come to work one day and see it not OK.”