Parrot Appears in Palm Beach Court, Doesn’t Squawk About Justice

Finders aren't keepers, as far as lost animals are concerned.

So a Florida judge today returned an African Grey parrot who flew the coop three years ago to his original owner, after the celebrity bird appeared at a court hearing surrounded by a flock of media, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Aside from one quick chirp as he entered, the well-behaved bird didn't make a peep.

"Pets are chattel, they're no different from your automobile," said Palm Beach County Judge James Martz, as he swiftly decided the civil case filed by the bird-lover who found Tequila, as he was initially named, in favor of the parrot's original owner. The plaintiff, Sarita Lytell, had sought legal ownership of the bird, or at least reimbursement for the expense of keeping Tequila for three years.

"They treat a living, breathing animal like a car," Lytell said after the hearing. "Is that fair? Is that justice?"

She and Tequila's original owner, Angela Colicheski, who also lives in Boca Raton, discovered that they both laid claim to the same parrot during a chance meeting at a Dunkin' Donuts in the city.

Colicheski had the bird for a decade and wanted him back. "It's like losing a child," she told the Orlando Sentinel in February.