A pet parrot has been reunited with her owner following a social media campaign.
Hugo - a girl with a boy's name - was found on a runway at Dublin Airport and taken into care.
The African Grey parrot with reunited with its owner, Lubomir Michna, following a social media appeal and a little help from German supermarket chain Lidl.
The female parrot was discovered walking along the eastern end of Dublin Airport's main runway by airport firefighter Craig Wade last Sunday.
Wade and a colleague were carrying out a routine safety inspection at the time.
"It was immediately obvious that she was a pet," Wade said.
"A live runway wasn't a safe place for her, so after some difficulty, we eventually coaxed her into a makeshift carrier that we made from a cardboard box and got her safely to our fire station."
Wade contacted the Kildare Animal Foundation, and they agreed to care for the parrot until her owner could be found.
A social media campaign by Dublin Airport, followed by an intervention from Lidl, and some novel use of modern technology then solved the mystery.
We’ve solved the missing parrot mystery & reunited her with her owner Lubomir, who is thrilled. We did it with a Lidl help from a supermarket chain, an animal sanctuary & modern technology. Hugo - a girl with a boy’s name - is now safely home. https://t.co/Ib7AWxf8rd 🦜 🦜 pic.twitter.com/BD9qt9haSQ
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) February 22, 2019
Michna said he was "so happy" to get "his baby" back and thanked Wade and his colleagues for her safe return.
Michna said Hugo had escaped from his house in Finglas at about 4.00pm on Saturday after a door was mistakenly left open.
He has had Hugo for two years and she goes everywhere with him - even on his shoulder when he goes shopping.
According to Michna, something frightened Hugo last Saturday and she flew off.
About half an hour after Dublin Airport tweeted a picture to its followers, Lidl Ireland's Twitter account replied that one of its stores had a 'Missing Parrot' poster.
Guys this is going to sound unbelievable but there's a "Missing Parrot" poster in one of our stores, so we called the number to check and it's his parrot! We'll drop you a DM now 🦜
— Lidl Ireland (@lidl_ireland) February 19, 2019
At this point the plot thickened as not one, but four potential owners of the missing African Grey emerged.
Hugo the parrot | Image via @DublinAirport on TwitterThe parrot had a ring with a unique identification number, but none of the four potential owners could supply that key piece of information.
Dublin Airport and the Kildare Animal Foundation then combined to act as pet detectives in the case.
Michna, who is originally from Slovakia, said he had taught Hugo a few words of Slovak.
Dublin Airport suggested that he record an audio clip which could be played for the bird to assist with the investigation.
Dan Donoher of the Kildare Animal Foundation said it was clear from this clip that Michna was definitely Hugo's owner.
"When the voice recording was sent to me and I played it for Hugo she reacted instantly and became animated and excited.
"There was no doubt in my mind that Lubomir was her rightful owner."
When Michna arrived to collect his pet, Hugo was thrilled.
"As soon as the carrier was opened, Hugo jumped onto Lubomir's arm and cuddled into his neck.
"You could see they have a really close bond, it was lovely," Donoher added.
