After being stolen from an exotic bird store in Brea last weekend, a young African grey parrot named Zephyr was found safe and sound Friday.
One of the employees at Omar's Exotic Birds in Brea found 5-month-old Zephyr in a box outside the back door of the store Friday morning, store manager Connor Chubbuck said.
"He's lost a little weight, but overall, he looks really good and should be fine!" Chubbuck said in an email to NBC4.
Chubbuck added that fruit was found inside the box Zephyr was left in, but that he wasn't sure exactly how the bird had been fed since it was stolen.
The Pena family bought Zephyr for $1,600 in March but hadn't brought it home yet. They had been visiting Zephyr weekly until the bird could eat on its own.
"It was heart-wrenching to tell them the news that Zephyr was stolen," Chubbuck said earlier this week.
Although the store had tried to contact the Pena family to tell them the good news, as of 11 a.m. Friday they hadn't been able to reach them.
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The store's surveillance footage captured two men entering and circling around the store just before 1:30 p.m. July 18.
A man can be seen standing in front of what appears to be a cage, and shows him step back slightly with the bird on his arm. He lingers with the bird for a moment, and a child reaches out to pet it as he stands with it in the store.
The video shows the bird flapping its wings as he turns around, and captures the man exiting the store with another man. The two men left in a blue van that may be a Honda Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna, Brea police officials said Monday.
Elizabeth Rohrs, another bird owner, said she wasn't surprised the two men chose a rare species like an African grey.
"People know the birds are expensive, and they exploit them because of it in other countries and even here in our own country," Rohrs said.
The Brea Police Department stated on their Twitter account Friday morning that they will continue their investigation to try to identify the two men suspected of stealing Zephyr. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Brea Police Department at 714-990-7911
Vikki Vargas contributed to this report.
