All Points Bulletin for Sunny the Cockatiel

The cockatiel in the photo above looks just like Sunny, who disappeared last week.

Anyone seen a yellow cockatiel with orange cheeks flying around the Kingston area? If so, please contact her owner, Deb Nadeau, at 702-2509. Deb is desperate to get her little Sunny back on her shoulder after the bird flew off last week when it became startled by hornets.

Sunny has been seen (and heard whistling) around Kingston State Park,. but so far Deb hasn't been able to track her down.

Here's my full story on Sunny's disappearance, and the $300 reward that's being offered.

By Jason Schreiber

Union Leader Correspondent

KINGSTON - Deb Nadeau has spent the last week walking for miles in a frantic search for her family’s missing lutino cockatiel named Sunny.

She’s called out Sunny’s name around her home on Rockrimmon Road and on the grounds of Kingston State Park behind her house. She’s walked up and down Main Street, hoping Sunny would hear her and return home.

So far, all of Nadeau’s calls have gone unanswered, and now she’s offering a $300 reward for Sunny’s safe return.

“I call to her every 20 minutes or half-hour. I’m sure everybody on Main Street has heard me,” Nadeau said yesterday, nearly a week after 5-year-old Sunny got spooked and flew away.

Sunny always enjoyed riding on Nadeau’s shoulders, but to keep her from flying off, her flight wings were regularly clipped. Like she always did, Nadeau was walking across the yard with Sunny on her shoulders on July 16 when hornets suddenly began to sting Nadeau. Sunny became frightened and managed to get out her gentle grip. Despite having her wings clipped, Sunny took off into the air and hasn’t been seen since. Nadeau said Sunny’s wings were likely not clipped back enough or they grew back too quickly, allowing her to fly away.

“I thought she was going to fly four feet and land on the ground, but she got enough wind under her and she flew up over the hedge of the forsythia Visitors at the state park spotted Sunny, a yellow bird with orange circles on her cheeks, on July 18 and have heard her unique whistle, but when Nadeau arrived and called her name, Sunny was nowhere to be found.

This isn’t the first time Sunny has taken flight. She flew off four years ago, and after spending two nights away from home, she was found flying around the state park. She eventually landed on an oil tank outside Clark’s Oil on Main Street and was captured and returned home.

Nadeau is hoping that Sunny’s second disappearance will have a similar ending. Though she’s heard no response to her hours of calling, Nadeau is hopeful that Sunny will be found. “I’m hoping she lands at someone’s bird feeder,” she said.

Sunny is the Nadeaus’ first bird. The family got the bird after their golden retriever died of cancer. While Sunny officially belongs to her 18-year-old son, Ross, Nadeau said the bird has become most attached to her.

“She’s very, very affectionate and has so much personality,” she said.