Question: Whatever happened to the third bird that went missing from the Honolulu Zoo last March after vandals slashed open 24 bird cages?
Answer: The tawny frogmouth named Sawyer is still missing and the Honolulu Zoo hasn’t received any leads on the bird’s whereabouts for about five months, zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo said Wednesday.
He said he believes Sawyer, believed to be 5 to 6 years old at the time, was stolen and is living with someone, or has died. Mollinedo said it is improbable that the bird would able to survive in the wild.
“The thing that concerns everyone here is she was tame and hand-fed,” Mollinedo said. “She would have to be fed (a diet) like a bird of prey — crickets, mice, those types of things — and was just used to being hand-fed.”
Mollinedo said he thinks the vandals may have taken Sawyer because she was domesticated and possibly easy to grab.
The Honolulu Zoo has about 750 birds.
The tawny frogmouth, often mistaken as an owl, is native to Australia and has a large head, flat beak and frog-like mouth. Its feathers are brownish-gray and it is excellent at camouflaging itself.
Sometime overnight on March 26-27, vandals cut holes in 24 bird cages at the zoo, allowing three exotic birds — worth about $1,200 — to disappear. Within two weeks, a red eclectus parrot (found by a couple on Diamond Head) and a buff-headed ground dove (recaptured on zoo grounds) were back in their cages.
The zoo repaired the cages with wire mesh it had on hand, but Mollinedo said he’d eventually like to change the cage fronts to a wire mesh more suitable for photographing.
Since the vandalism, Mollinedo said the zoo has changed security companies.
Anyone who spots the tawny frogmouth is asked to call the zoo at 971-7174 (or 971-7171 after hours).
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This update was written by Marcie Kagawa. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
