It’s been six weeks since Joyce Culver last saw her beloved parrot Lulu, who flew out of her Greenport home when a friend accidentally let her out through the screen door.
Since then, Culver has searched frantically for her brightly hued bird, hanging up flyers and taking out ads to try and bring her bird home safely.
The flyers show a photo of Lulu, a Senegal parrot who flew away from Washington Street in Greenport on July 26. Lulu is emerald green,with a gold chest and gray head, and is nine inches long. Friendly, she will come to land on a hand or shoulders and likes carrots and peppers, Culver said.
Last week, on Thursday, Lulu was spotted for the third time since she flew off, this time at the North Fork Audubon Society’s Red House on Route 48.
In psat weeks, she was seen on Aug. 15 near Emilio’s in Greenport and once before that, on Pebble Beach in Orient.
The sightings, Culver said, “prove that she’s surviving” despite being a domesticated bird, one Culver has had for 17 years.
“She has her flight feathers, and she’s a strong flyer,” she said.
After the most recent sighting — when a woman spotted Lulu on her way to work and called — Culver said she emailed the president of the Audubon Society to discuss strategies to bring Lulu back.
But, after six weeks of searching, Culver, a photographer, has to get back to work in New York City.
Despite the anguish of searching for her beloved pet, Culver said on the positive side, she’s had a “really wonderful experience, seeing the outpouring and love and support from the community here.”
Culver said last week’s sighting sparks hope. The woman, she said, saw Lulu sitting on a wire, and thought, at first, that she was a hawk; the bird was facing north and her vivid emerald feathers were visible.
The problem, Culver said, is that right now, the foliage is still green, so spotting Lulu is challenging. “Someone said maybe when it gets colder, we’ll be more able to see her, and I think that’s true,” she said.
