BREA – Courtney Chapman had never seen $5,000 disappear so fast … fly away really.
In May, one of two toucans she purchased as birthday gifts for her husband and her son, escaped the aviary of her Fullerton home not 15 minutes after being dropped off by the breeder.
“The chances of getting her back are slim to none,” Chapman said she was told. The toucan had not yet been microchipped.
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On Tuesday, Fern flew into a Yorba Linda auto repair shop, where an Omar’s Exotic Birds employee, Connor Chubbuck, captured her.
On Thursday, she was reunited with her owner.
While free, Fern gained quite the following.
Fern the Toucan was spotted in trees and on power lines, lounging with crows, parrots and other birds on residential gates and lawn posts.
One man said Fern, named after her Fullerton community, ate berries from his Yorba Linda back yard.
“She was quite striking,” recalled Allison Howell, whose chance encounter with the keel-billed toucan came on Dec. 20 in downtown Fullerton. “I’m not particularly an animal person, but it was definitely a sight to see.”
Chapman, 39, joined Nextdoor, a private social network app intended for neighbors, shortly after Fern’s escape, hoping someone would see her 6-month-old toucan. Before long, pictures of Fern perched around Fullerton were shared on the app. Chapman also started a Facebook page under Fern’s name. Videos of the bird were posted.
On more than one occasion, Chapman tried capturing Fern herself. Those who saw the bird in recent months said she flew independently, not with groups of parrots or other feathered friends.
Let the toucan be free, Chapman was told.
Chapman, who owns several other pets, bought a replacement female toucan to breed with her male, Fruity Loops.
But the hunt for Fern continued.
On Tuesday morning, technicians at Yorba Linda’s Good Guys Automotive in Savi Ranch saw Fern in one of their garages.
Janine Guy, a service representative, called a bird sanctuary in Silverado, the animal service hotline, the Santa Ana Zoo and Omar’s, looking for someone to rescue the bird. The employees put apple slices on a shelf to lure Fern down from their 16-foot rafters.
“You could tell it was a happy bird,” Guy said.
Omar Gonzalez, owner of Omar’s, said Chapman and a couple other people said Fern belonged to them. He said he exchanged more than 40 emails this week with Chapman to verify her claim. Ideally, Gonzalez said, he would’ve liked to run tests on Fern and the male toucan Chapman bought at the same time to confirm they are a breeding pair. That likely would’ve taken two to three weeks, he said, adding his “gut feeling” is Fern is home.
Gonzalez agreed to return the toucan if Chapman provided a receipt of sale. Gonzalez accepted no form of payment for the return.
Free all these months, Chapman expects Fern will need time to adjust to domestic life.
In his 32 years in business, Gonzalez said he has captured a handful of loose birds and returned them to their owners.
Chapman called Fern’s return the unlikeliest Christmas miracle.
“It was awesome seeing all of Fullerton come together and track Fern, well-wishing her constantly,” Chapman said. “I’m glad she got to go out and share her experiences. Everybody’s had an experience with her, and I think it’s awesome that she got to go out and meet friends.
“She has a lot of Fern fans now.”
Contact the writer: 714-796-7724 or bwhitehead@scng.com
