We began this month with the gripping story of Mei Mei, the budgerigar parakeet who missed the left turn at Albuquerque and ended up in New York City’s Central Park. But never fear, Mei Mei is a plucky bird who found her chosen family in a flock of house sparrows! Only there were fears, serious ones that only kept rising as the temperatures dropped. Because unlike Mei Mei’s monk parakeet cousins who’ve lived happily in Brooklyn since the 1960s after a luggage mishap at JFK, budgerigars like Mei Mei are native to the warmer climes of Australia. Mei Mei’s body literally cannot store fat — a condition I will never know — and birdwatchers knew that her chances of survival were bleak once temps fell below 50 degrees, regardless of the warmth from the love of her new sparrow family. Yet despite being easily spotted in her several shades of neon, Mei Mei proved to be quite skilled at evading capture… until now! After 10 weeks on the lam and vigilant reporting of sightings from the birders of Manhattan, it was finally confirmed on Wednesday that Mei Mei has been rescued.
The 11th-hour rescue came around 9 a.m. as the bright green bird was foraging near Winterdale Arch, an area of the park she had made her home in recent days.
“We were not going to let her freeze to death. It was not going to happen,” birder and rescuer JP Borum told The Post Wednesday afternoon as she watched Mei Mei munch on millet from the safety of her Manhattan apartment.
“We cannot control nature, but this is a manmade problem. We are humans and we were going to do everything that we could to make this situation right. And we did.”
…Borum, 61, and fellow birder Sean Mintz spent countless hours stalking the bird as she became slower and weaker from the cold — but somehow the parakeet continued to flee their grasp, including on three occasions in which she was nearly inside their cages.
Borum finally found success on Wednesday by faking out the bird and pretending she was just another pedestrian walking down West Drive.
“The net was a round frame and I just dropped it down. I was holding it low and I dropped it low … it was kind of like a ring toss, but it landed all around her and I immediately secured her so she couldn’t crawl out,” explained Borum, adding that the relentless bird started nipping at her hands in a last-ditch effort to flee.
…The excitement at Mei Mei’s rescue has soared beyond the birding world and sent ripples across social media, with hundreds who had virtually followed along celebrating her capture.
“New York City is a tough place for any wild creature: predators, poison, and cold weather that a budgie can’t survive. Yet for more than two months, Mei Mei beat the odds. She adapted, bonded with a flock of sparrows, persevered, and inspired countless New Yorkers who followed her story,” said Mintz, who had chronicled Mei Mei’s sightings on his X account Bagels & Walks.
“Her rescue today is a relief and a reminder of the city’s capacity for care. Here’s to a long, happy life ahead in a new aviary home.”
I’m not crying, YOU ARE! (I’m totally bawling right now.) Holy feathers, this really came down to the wire. CB and I have been keeping tabs on the sightings this month, and this was the first week I started to feel a little desperate. It’s been in the mid-50s during the day here in NYC, but definitely dropping into the 40s overnight. I know this because I am Mei Mei’s opposite, near-exclusively storing fat, rendering me perpetually overheated. Even though I keep the radiators in my apartment turned off, some heat still comes through, so I’ve been sleeping with the window open. It’s splendidly cool to fall asleep to, but it is a bitch breaking out of the covers in the morning. I can only imagine how frigid the mornings must have felt for Mei Mei!
So right now Mei Mei is in a 30-day quarantine in a cage at rescuer JP Borum’s home, after which Mei Mei will see an avian vet and ideally be rehomed in an exotic bird sanctuary. Borum hopes the new forever home will be the Bronx Zoo’s Budgie Landing. Which is fantastic… but what about her sparrow family?? I know the rescue had to happen, and I am so grateful that it has and for the tireless efforts it took to get here. But there is a quality to this tale of the outcome being a touch bittersweet. Which is why I will again pitch a Pixar adaptation — working title Mei Mei & the Sparrows — to help us process all the big emotions this story has us feeling.
A happy ending to the story of the Lost Budgerigar: she was reported rescued this morning in Central Park and will be taken for veterinary care. Thanks to all for your concern, particularly those who observed her and tried to help her. 🦜 💛 pic.twitter.com/RPlO9M6A5b
— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) October 29, 2025
Such a happy story to wake up to! And Kismet’s spot on puns! Love it.
In this cold world of the Trump and all the senseless cruelty and this story of compassionate determination burns bright with hope for us all.
The Bronx Zoo Budgie Landing looks like an excellent place–budgies can fly, be social and interact with humans without being caged.
Mei Mei’s story is part of the saga of Central Park birders, a group that definitely deserves a show or some dramatic telling. Conan O’Brien famously spent some time with them, it was a hoot! They are a ferociously determined group. Good for them for giving New Yorkers a feel good story we all need.
THANK YOU, Kismet, for this heartwarming update! So scary to hear about how Mei Mei was starting to suffer. Saved just in the nick of time!!
Aww what a happy ending! We have wild parrots in my town and we’ll occasionally see one on our feeders, which they struggle to eat out of given heir beak shape. But these birds are TOUGH as nails–all the other birds seem intimidated by them. I have no idea how they survive the cold Boston climate but somehow they manage.
❤️
Meanwhile down south we have our own version of this happy ending, Francine the Lowe’s cat IYKYK
“missed the left turn at Albuquerque…”
😀
I needed this story today!
Yay for Mei Mei! Maybe her friends can visit.