Blue the macaw, part of program at Homewood-Flossmoor High School for years, has been found
FLOSSMOOR, Ill. (CBS) -- A beloved bird that went missing from a south suburban high school has been found, according to a Facebook post from the school.
CBS 2's Marybel González reported Friday night, the macaw parrot known as Blue has been a fixture in the Homewood-Flossmoor High School community for several years, and has traveled the hallways with generations' worth of students.
Blue's disappearance left a hole in students' hearts and faculty were eager to bring the beloved parrot home.
"Blue is family, and we need Blue back," said Homewood-Flossmoor High School principal Dr. Clinton Alexander.
Blue is part of the school's ZooBot zoology and botany program. The school said he went missing over the weekend.
"The program is distraught," Dr. Alexander said.
Blue went missing as a result of an accident this past Sunday.
"Apparently, one of our students took him home and was kind of nursing him over the weekend, and he got away," Dr. Alexander said. "He was outside, and apparently the wind blew."
It is routine that students take Blue home as part of the ZooBot program. That is how they learn to care for animals like him.
But on this particular weekend, Blue's wings were not clipped.
"That's why we clip them, to keep him from being able to fly away," Dr. Alexander said.
The clock was ticking to find him as temperatures begin to drop.
"He's a tropical bird, so the frost is harmful to him," said Dr. Alexander.
A social media post noted that Blue is blue and gold in color and measures 18 inches and had no ID band. There were also a concern of Blue's crooked beak.
"We need to find him so we can nurture him, because it's a very sophisticated method to feed him," Alexander said.
The ZooBot classroom and the hallways will once again be vibrant with his presence.
"A routine sighting of Blue is to see him in passing periods, with him being on someone's shoulder – and he would squawk at people, and he was really just a friendly face around the building," said Dr. Alexander. "He was a true family member."
The school got a tip about a possible sighting of Blue in Country Club Hills earlier this week. He was found and returned to the Flossmoor Police station Saturday.
