"I LOVE you" were the first words said by a cockatiel when reunited with his owners after flying a 15-mile adventure.
Sheldon took flight from his home in Northlands Park, Pitsea, and was sighted in Wickford and Billericay before finally being brought home.
The six-month-old cockatiel went missing on Thursday, June 27 when his owner, who would only give his name as David, was cleaning out its water bowl.
A visitor then opened the front door and Sheldon took the opportunity to fly from his cage and out the door.
The 36-year-old recalled: "It was horrible – all I could do was watch him fly into the distance."
However, rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen he launched a campaign to find the escapee.
A Facebook group was just the start for the bird enthusiast who created a Twitter account dedicated to finding Sheldon and also contacted all the vets in Kent and Essex so they could look out for his bird. He even bought a new mobile phone which he would use exclusively in the hunt for his feathered friend.
"People said we were mad and would never get him back," David explained.
He had reared Sheldon since he was an egg, owning both his mother and father, so he and his partner Laura, 25, were particularly fond of the bird.
They took no notice of the pessimists and carried on with their appeal to find Sheldon.
After days of no luck the first sighting of Sheldon was made on Monday, July 1 by a client of South Beech Vets, in Southend Road, Wickford.
David and Laura went to the tree where he had been spotted, near Wickford Memorial Park, with another of their four birds to try to coax him down, yet when they arrived he was not there.
They had several other sightings for a few days after but then there were no further calls and Sheldon owner's feared for the worst.
"We thought he had been killed – we started searching in the parks for feathers," explained David.
Yet the couple's luck was in, as on Saturday, July 6 a bird keeper in Outwood Farm Close, Billericay, got in touch who said they had caught Sheldon.
"It was amazing," said David.
"We were straight in the car and got there and there Sheldon was in their aviary. The first thing he said to me was 'I love you' and then he put his head down as if to say 'whoops I'm caught'.
"It's great to have him back," he added.
"Interestingly, now he mimics a jay and a magpie – sounds he must have picked up whist he was away."
David explained that Sheldon was found pecking at leftovers from other birds.
"We never expected him to go as far as Wickford or Billericay," David laughed.
Sheldon is now recovering from his adventure and is said to be happy and well. Since his disappearance David has been using the popularity of Sheldon's Facebook page in a bid to reunite other owners with their missing birds.
The Facebook page can be found at www.lovecockatiels.co.uk
