Strangers came to aid of beloved parrot

Shakespeare wrote that there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. And maybe in the passing of a parrot. Because when a St. Paul woman asked for help on social media to help rescue her lost parrot, a lot of strangers heard, listened and came to her aid.

- Richard Chin, Tribune News Service

This story does not have a happy ending. Except for the way it illustrates how willing humans can be to help another creature in need. Nerys was named after a character in the television show "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

She was a nanday conure, a bright green parrot originally found in South America. She was 15, and the pet of Scancy Aiken, who lives in the Hamline-Midway neighbourhood of St. Paul.

"A little green parrot, sweet and outgoing," Aiken said. "She liked hanging out on my shoulder while we did the dishes." But on the morning of Sept. 2, the first day of school, one of Aiken's sons left the door open going in and out of the house. Nerys flew out. She ended up stuck in a neighbour's tree near Snelling and Edmund avenues, where she stayed overnight. "I can see her, I can hear her. I just can't get to her," Aiken posted on Facebook the next morning. "I think she's stuck. She keeps squacking like she wants to be picked up. It's chilly, and windy. She's been up there all night."