Stolen bird's song leads him back home

Springfield Police don't always get a suspect to "sing" when it comes to confessing a crime. But, this isn't a story about the chirping of a suspect. In this case, the crime was solved by a bird...and a great memory.

Hand-fed and pampered, Bandito the Sun Conure is a sweet and noisy bird.


So when the $550 South American native flew the coop from Pet Warehouse a few months ago, it took everyone by surprise.

"It was a very upsetting loss. On my part, I didn't know what to do," store manager Claire York said. "I'd never dealt with a loss that great. I was just devastated."

But it turns out the bird had a bit of help migrating out the door. Surveillance video showed birdnappers holding the bird, with one man putting the bird under his coat, turning around and walking out the door.

"We have locks on all of our cages, but it was just unfortunate that we did not have a lock on that cage on that day at that time," York said.

And for months, not a chirp, tweet or crack of a peanut...until Bandito let out a song and made quite the impression on a sergeant investigating another crime at the suspect's house.

"What stood out in that sergeant's mind was the sound of the parrot," Springfield Police Public Information Officer Matt Brown said. "When it was chirping, that's what he remembered."

Now, Bandito is rolling in the peanuts again, and the birdnapper is facing time in his own cage for felony theft.

And Pet Warehouse is singing a happy song about the efforts of Springfield Police.