BY BEN BRACHFELD
A talkative Midwood parrot
has been missing since
mid-March, and his devastated
human is offering a large cash
reward for information or his
safe return.
Loki, a 3.5-year-old African
Grey parrot, was the resident
avian at Coldwell Banker-La-
Barca Real Estate on Avenue
M. He belongs to real estate
agent Barbara LaBarca, who’s
had him since he was only 8
weeks old, and is beloved by
her colleagues at the offi ce and
by community residents.
“He was like the mascot of
my offi ce and the neighborhood,”
LaBarca said. “Everybody
knew Loki.”
LaBarca told Brooklyn Paper
that Loki, who loves to fl y
around and rarely spent time
in his cage except to sleep, escaped
from the offi ce on March
15.
“We are very heartbroken,”
she said. “Even the neighborhood,
every day, someone’s at
the offi ce, ‘did you fi nd Loki?
Any word of Loki?’ All the
COURIER L 18 IFE, MAY 21-27, 2021
kids that pass spend an hour
in front of the window with
Loki.”
LaBarca said it’s not like
Loki to fl y the coop.
“He always hung out by
the door, always opened the
door but he never fl ew away,”
she said. “But something startled
him, and he fl ew to the
top of the door. He tried to get
in, couldn’t get in, and then
landed on the top of the door.
Then when I went to get him,
I got a chair to get him, he just
took off. Which is very surprising
because Loki was always
at the door.”
The pet owner and her staff
at the real estate offi ce have
since plastered the neighborhood
with missing posters,
and post about Loki on Facebook
and other sites on a frequent
basis. She said that she’s
also given the poster to every
pet shop and veterinarian in
the area to keep tabs in case
he shows up. She is offering a
$7,000 reward for Loki’s safe
return.
African Greys are some
of the smartest birds on the
planet, and are well known for
their ability to mimic human
speech and other sounds.
“He does say ‘Coldwell
Banker,’ the name of my company,”
LaBarca said. “He says
‘cheese,’ ‘water,’ ‘let me out,’
‘gotta go see daddy.’ He does
laser beam sounds, he says,
‘time to go to sleep.’ So many
things.”
He is friendly and trusting
of strangers owing to the fact
that he meets so many people
in LaBarca’s offi ce. LaBarca
said that if he encounters
strangers he may even try to
talk to them.
“He would be friendly,” La-
Barca said. “If he fl ew down
near someone he would ask
them for water or cheese if he
was hungry or thirsty.”
While it’s not every day that
one sees an African Grey parrot
on the street, Loki can be distinguished
by his red tail (though
this is a common trait in African
Greys), and by a numbered
metal band he has on his leg.
LaBarca says that if Loki
Loki, an African Grey parrot who has been missing since March.
Barbara LaBaca
is safely returned to her, she
would even be happy to buy the
bird bandit an African Grey of
their own, so they can experience
their love fi rsthand.
“If someone has Loki, I
would ask them to please return
Loki,” she said. “I would
be willing to buy them another
one, a baby so that that bird will
grow to love them the way Loki
loves us.”
“African Greys really take
to one owner, and they do get
depressed later if that owner’s
not with them.”
Anyone with information on
Loki’s whereabouts is encouraged
to contact Barbara LaBarca at
(718) 258-1222 or (347) 512-4635.
‘Everybody knew Loki’
Chatty Midwood parrot missing since March