14 parrots taken from Springs home

Thieves broke into a Colorado Springs home on Tuesday and slipped out with 14 parrots - and the ones left behind aren't talking.

Clumps of feathers and birdseed were strewn about the house in the 2400 block of East Dale Street, leading David Ball to worry that some of his rare pets could have been harmed during the raid.

"It was a mess - they definitely struggled trying to get the birds out of their cages," Ball said.

The 48-year-old customer service representative discovered that his back door had been pried open and his pets stolen after coming home from work about 8:30 p.m.

Missing were a blue-and-gold macaw, three blue-throated Amazons, three sun conures, three Nanday conures, an African Grey parrot, a Goffin's cockatoo, an umbrella cockatoo and a Senegal parrot. He estimates the birds would sell for more than $9,000 at a typical retail shop - but it's not the money he's worried about.

"This is like stealing the children," he said.

Ball started collecting birds in 2002, and soon focused on abused or improperly cared-for animals. He nursed them to health and gave them a stable home.

Nothing else was taken, except a couple towels and two boxes likely used to transport the birds, a job he believes would require at least two people.

"The police said it was probably someone I know or who knows of me," Ball said. He used to breed and sell cockatiels and suspects the thief may have been someone who visited to examine the birds.

The thieves ignored less expensive birds, such as the cockatiels, and skipped over one bird that was in poor health and another that Ball said could be linked to him - a 5-yearold bear-eyed cockatoo named Skeeter whose pictures he's posted "all over the Internet."

Police said there's little they can do. Ball took it upon himself to contact pet stores and post alerts on Web sites run by bird enthusiasts. He also sent an alert to the air cargo manager at the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport.

News of the thefts rattled bird enthusiasts who stopped by Wednesday at This Place is for the Birds in Colorado Springs, where Ball has bought birdseed for several years.

"The very first customer who walked through my door this morning and heard about this wants to offer a $1,000 reward for the return of these birds," said owner Ron Perry.

Anyone with information about the birds may contact police at 444-7000.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com