The budgie originates from Australia and has the scientific name Melopsittacus undulatus, which refers to the family of budgies and parakeets. For this reason, they’re considered the same bird.

"We already feed the birds (near the apartment) anyways, and so I just felt like it's the least we could do," Laybourn said. Since Thursday, CAARE has gotten several reports of budgie sightings.

More than 400 budgie birds, commonly known as parakeets, were surrendered to the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) on Dec. 24 by the son of a hoarder.