Petey the parrot freed from car grille by firefighters

A Florida resident drove to a fire station on Monday morning with an unusual request for firefighters.

"You're never going to believe this, but I have a bird in the grille of my car," the woman explained, according to Coral Springs Fire Department Capt. Mike Moser. Firefighters inspected the grille. Lodged inside was a Monk Parakeet, also known as a Quaker Parrot.



The bird apparently was struck by the woman's car on Sunday and became trapped, Moser said. When the woman woke up on Monday morning, she heard chirping, went to investigate and found the bird. At about 7:30 a.m. she drove to Coral Springs Fire Station 43, where firefighters removed the car grille and freed the bird. The rescue effort lasted about 10 minutes, Moser said.

She named the bird Petey. It was scheduled to be taken to the Sawgrass Nature Center for rehabilitation. Petey eventually will be returned to the wild, Moser said. The bird appeared "weak but not injured," Moser said. "They'll feed it and it'll get better."

There's a news video here.