Blue’s adventures are over. The macaw has been returned to his perch at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
During his week away from campus and his student handler Kailyn Kirkman of Flossmoor, Blue the parrot was sighted in Country Club Hills. He may have gotten as far as Markham, but he’ll never tell.
Late in the evening on Friday, Oct. 7, Flossmoor police notified school administrators that the bird was safely with them.
Blue is one of several exotic animals that are part of the ZooBots class, part zoology/part botany, at H-F. The class is open to juniors and seniors who learn about the biology, physiology and environments of a variety of birds, lizards, snakes and turtles by handling and caring for the animals.
The ZooBots club is open to all H-F students and is designed to give them exposure to the care and treatment of these special animals, said teacher Chris Stiglic.
Blue is one of two macaws in the program. He’s between 7 and 10 years old and has been with the H-F program for between five and seven years. He’s the second macaw named Blue that’s been with the program. The first was given to a local family, Stiglic said. The other is Bella, a striking red-feathered macaw on loan to H-F. He belongs to the Bertram family of Flossmoor.
“I had many former students asking about Blue,” Stiglic said, but they meant the first macaw. The birds look similar so the name Blue stuck with this one. One difference is Blue 2 has a crooked beak that makes it difficult for him to eat, but Stiglic suspects he tried a lot of new foods while he was away.
The ZooBots animals go home with students for the weekend and holidays to make certain they get proper care, Stiglic said. Kailyn has been active in the ZooBots Club for nearly two years and has been taking care of Blue for about a year now. He can be a big, loud squawker, she said, so she’s training him to control his temper and reduce his tantrums.
When she takes Blue home for the weekend, she lets him fly around her house and lets him outside, which she did the evening of Friday, Sept. 30.
Blue flew over the garage of her Flossmoor home.
“I knew he wouldn’t be able to get far because the ends of his wings are clipped. I immediately ran to the back yard to find him, but I was not able to find him. I did use a flashlight, but I think he was up in the tree somewhere,” she recalled.
The H-F junior tried not to panic, although she admits she didn’t sleep much. As soon as it was getting light, she was back out looking for the bird. Her father, K. Kirkman, made flyers and posted to social media that the bird was gone. They notified school security.
While the days-long search for Blue proved fruitless, there was a happy ending.
“I’m just really glad they found him,” she said.