Transgrid crew reunite wayward parrot with owner

Electus Parrot sitting on the hand of a Transgrid site manager
Loki the parrot with a Transgrid site manager

A Transgrid crew working on the Powering Sydney’s Future project have helped reunite a mischievous Electus Parrot with its very relieved owner in Panania. 

The parrot Loki, named after the Marvel character, and whose name means “trickster god” in Norse mythology, escaped from Hamza Anwer’s home, flying into a nearby tree. 

Loki is scared of flying, so attempts to rescue him by Hamza were unsuccessful. 

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“When he landed on the first tree I climbed on the roof of my neighbours for 90 minutes, trying to get him to walk back to me along a long pole we had built. But he was scared and flew further away. I then paid a professional tree climber to climb the tree Loki was in. But it didn’t work,” Hamza said. 

He thought all hope for Loki’s safe return was lost as social media posts didn’t result in any sightings of the parrot. Hamza was worried that unless Loki was found soon, he may meet an untimely end. 

But last Wednesday, five days after the rare parrot flew the coop, Loki’s luck changed after he flew into the Transgrid South Sydney substation at Picnic Point. 

Site managers Jordan Collings and Jacob Kiely were working alongside substation technician James Bradley in the trenches, installing a switch bay, when they spied Loki in a nearby tree. 

“It looked at us working away for 15 minutes, then plopped down onto the ground beside us. It was obviously a pet, and likely in distress. Jacob put his arm out and the bird jumped on for the ride back to the site shed,” Jordan said. 

Jacob called WIRES for ideas on how to look after the bird while James scoured social media for ideas on who the parrot belonged to. 

“We found a picture of Loki as missing in the Panania Pets Facebook page, with his owner’s contact details,” Jordan said. 

Soon Loki was happily FaceTiming with a relieved Hamza, who arrived soon after, and after being escorted safely to the site shed, took the adventurous bird back home. 

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“I was overcome with emotion when I saw Loki was not just safe, he was being treated so kindly by the Transgrid crew,” Hamza said. 

For the Transgrid team it was an interesting addition to their busy day working on our Powering Sydney’s Future project, which is on track for completion this year. 

“It was great to see Loki safely on the head of Hamza as they were escorted out of our substation. Hamza wanted to buy us a beer or a gift, but all three of us were just so happy that he got his bird back and Loki got his owner back,” Jordan said. 

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