A parrot casually swoops into a cafe... for a sip of coffee
Customers at Cafe the Merge in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district got a surprise guest over the weekend -- a brightly colored parrot that swooped right in, made itself comfortable, and casually helped itself to someone else’s coffee.
The bold feathered visitor, weighing about half a kilogram and sporting green, red, blue and yellow, wasn’t shy at all. It perched on tables, posed for photos, ate from people’s hands, and charmed customers so thoroughly that some even got to pet it.
The police were eventually called with the bizarre report: “A parrot is drinking from my coffee.”
Officers safely captured the bird and sent it to the Korea Animal Rescue and Management Association (KARMA), where officials realized this was no ordinary parrot.
It’s believed to be a yellow-headed amazon, an endangered species native to Central America, with only around 4,000 left worldwide. KARMA officials suspect the bird either escaped from its home or was abandoned, and authorities are now searching for its owner.
The yellow-headed amazon parrot is listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), meaning private adoption is prohibited. If the original owner does not come forward within the notice period, the caffeine thief will be relocated to the CITES animal protection facility at the National Institute of Ecology under the Ministry of Environment.
tammy@heraldcorp.com
