Youngsters upset after birds taken from child care centre

Disheartened: ABC Napier Central teacher Carla Ainsworth with Harper Liverton-Mcleod looking after the returned budgie but five cockatiels remain missing. Photo/Supplied.

Toddlers and children are upset after the birds they care for were taken from their cages at ABC Napier Central.

Staff arrived at the child care centre on Monday morning to find five cockatiels and one blue budgie missing.

Centre manager Karen Hubbard said the bird cage in the nursery had been left wide open with no cockatiels in sight.

"I then checked the bird cage at the pre-school and found one budgie missing."

Ms Hubbard said the birds were donated by a family four years ago and had been a huge part of the centre and the children ever since.

"The children love to watch the birds, they help feed them and change their water each day."

Yesterday the bright blue budgie was returned to the centre after a member of the public found it in the local area.

She took it to the SPCA who then gave it back to the children at the pre-school.

"The children were very excited to see the budgie returned," Ms Hubbard said.

Meanwhile the five cockatiels are still out of the centre and both the children and teachers are disheartened by this "cruel" act.

Ms Hubbard said there had since been one sighting of a cockatiel flying around the local area but it had not yet landed back in the centre.

Hawke's Bay Bird Club president Don Birch said the cockatiels would be used to having food on tap so it would be hard for them to survive on their own.

"They are used to being fed all the time and normally the cockatiels can't fly that well either after living in a cage as they are not used to it."

Mr Birch said the winds usually had an effect on how far the birds could get if they were just let out in to the wild.

"We haven't had high winds so they shouldn't have been blown too far away, which is a good thing."

Mr Birch said cockatiels are worth about $30 and budgies are worth about $25.

"There are little rats around who do things like this and not realise there is a not a lot of money involved if they try to sell them on."

Ms Hubbard asked people to keep an eye out for the birds and if anyone had seen anything similar to contact her on 06 8431173.