Spate of exotic bird thefts leaves SoCal parrot lovers on edge
LOS ANGELES — Michelle Martin has done most everything she can think of to find the treasured parrots callously stolen from her Orange County feed store late last year, their feathers left scattered across the shop floor.
She's contacted people from Craigslist selling birds that resemble Cody, a double yellow-headed Amazon, Baby Love, an umbrella cockatoo, and Sweetie, a Congo African gray, only to meet with disappointment. She's lost hundreds of dollars to scammers who have reached out on social media, avowing they knew the birds' location and would share it for a price. She's scoured swap meets that feature exotic birds, but again, to no avail.
She even consulted a pet psychic who professed to sense their presence in a neighborhood near the Mexico border, but decided it was too risky to go knocking on doors on her own.
The December break-in at Martin's Feed Barn store in
