Missing Bluffdale Parrot Goes Viral As Community, Social Media Users Help Look

BLUFFDALE, Utah — A beloved parrot has garnered a lot of attention on social media after she went missing out of the Bluffdale area. The community as well as hundreds of social media users jumped into action, asking for help in locating her.

Jackie Olson said one of her favorite things about living in her neighborhood is listening to all the birds chirping and singing outside. She doesn’t know what they’re saying, only that they seem to have a lot to say.

“It’s really special,” said Olson.

However, once she goes inside her home and talks to her bird, she understands what the birds say back.

“She’ll have full on conversations with you,” said Olson with a laugh. “She tells you exactly what she wants you to know, and she’ll tell you some things you don’t want to know sometimes.”

Jackie said her 16-year-old African Grey Parrot named Echo talks quite a bit at home — in English.

“She’s just incredible. She’s like having a 5-year-old child,” said Reo Olson, Jackie’s husband.

When the family was moving furniture into their house through the backdoor last month, Echo flew away.

“She flew away into the dark and just kept going,” said Jackie Olson.

“I haven’t been able to think about anything else or do anything else,” said Reo Olson. “I just look for her. I look and I look and I look.”

Missing bird posters have been put up throughout the neighborhood, offering a $2,500 dollar reward, and hundreds of people have followed her story on social media.

Want an extra $2500? All you have to do is find Echo. She was last seen in the Bluffdale area. And it’s amazing how many people on social media are talking about her, looking for her, and asking for help. @KSL5TV at 5. #ksltv pic.twitter.com/I9t6uck6io

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) February 27, 2021

“The community support has been wonderful,” said Jackie Olson. “We have met so many amazing people on this terrible journey.”

The family even put Echo’s cage on their back patio, thinking if she happened to be flying around somewhere nearby, maybe she would recognize it and come back.

However, that hasn’t happened yet.

The family said they’re worried she may never come back.

“She did everything with us every day, from cooking, to having dinner — she ate with us — to cleaning, to doing laundry,” said Jackie Olson. “Every single moment of our day involved Echo. She’s very much a member of our family.”

One woman told the Olsons she saw a similar bird last week at the walking bridge in the Springview Farms subdivision and that a family took the bird. Nothing has come from that so far, though.

The family said they are still waiting and hoping Echo makes her way back.

“Echo belongs with us and she needs us as bad as we need her,” said Reo Olson.

Click here if you have any information on Echo’s whereabouts.