Almost two weeks later, the parrot, slate gray with a black beak and bright cardinal-red tail, is still missing. “I replay that moment in my head a lot,” Franklin said, as her eyes clouded over.

A medium-size compact pigeon with long wings and a short tail. Birds most closely resembling their wild ancestors are gray with head and neck darker than back, and a prominent white rump.

The first brown bird that might come to mind is the sparrow, and several species come to my feeder. The house sparrow is common in cities and suburbs. Males have a gray head, black bib and light ...