Man Reunited With Pet Macaw, Five Years After His Ex-Wife Sold It

Great Falls, MA – When Mike Taylor and his ex-wife divorced in 2008, things got nasty. And, when the former Mrs. Taylor sold Mike’s beloved pet macaw , the Montana man feared the worst: He worried he’d never see his beloved bird again.

Fast forward five years, and Mike and his macaw, known as “Love Love,” are together again after a “heart-touching” reunion.

This unlikely tale began when Mike’s former spouse sold the much-loved bird soon after the divorce. As Mike tells The Associated Press, “I’ve been kind of looking for him the whole time.”

Now, Mike’s long hunt is over, and it’s thanks to a sharp-eyed friend. Steven Campbell spotted Love Love during a visit to Montana’s Parrot Exotic Bird Sanctuary in Butte on Sunday and immediately contacted Mike about his find.

Mike wasn’t easily convinced but took a gamble and drove to the sanctuary. His faith was repaid.

Once there, Taylor managed to convince sanctuary founder Lori McAlexander he knew the bird, pointing out that Love Love had one blind eye, liked to play peek-a-boo, and said “love love” a lot. Such details, McAlexander says, could only be known by a previous owner.

Touchingly, Love Love appeared to recognize Mike right away. As Mike describes it:

“He hangs upside down already, let me grab his beak, does his peeky-boo, likes to tuck his head. He’s himself again already, he really is. I mean, he didn’t forget.”

D’aaaaw. Not only that, but Taylor located the bird’s original cage after searching on Craigslist. The new owner, who acquired the contents of his ex-wife’s storage unit, gave him the cage back at no charge.

If you’re struggling to understand the love that can exist between a man and his macaw, it’s worth remembering the birds can live up to 50 years — long enough to be friends for most of a human life.

They also do neat tricks like this:

Aaaaaand now I want a pet macaw.