LEWISTON – Employees at an area pet store are looking for help tracking down a stolen parrot they fear could be in danger because of its young age and nutrition needs.

Staff at the Kennel Shop Pet Super Store, 20 East Ave., noticed the bird missing around 4 p.m. Sept. 21. The baby African grey parrot they’d been caring for by hand since its arrival at the store shortly after it hatched in June was nowhere to be found.

“That’s the part that breaks my heart the most. If they couldn’t even afford the bird, then they’re probably not taking care of it properly,” said Jen Lewis, assistant store manager. “And feeding it regular bird seed just isn’t going to cut it and (the bird) is just going to slowly fade away.”

The African grey parrot is known among bird enthusiasts for its gift of speech, according to a Web site about the species. The birds are excellent mimics, and some have a vocabulary of more than 2,000 words.

Chelsey Hill, an employee who worked closely with the bird over the past several months, said staff remain perplexed over how the bird could have been stolen, given that it was kept in a locked cage and both store entrances go right past the front counter.

“We were hoping that he was just loose in the store. He loves attention, so he would have come out and interacted with people,” Hill said. “We’re just not sure how the bird got out. He’s a pretty big bird; he’s loud and he bites.”

Police Sgt. Randy St. Laurent said that store employees reported the $1,500 parrot missing on Sept. 22, but that an official report has not been filed with the department. He said the case is under investigation.

Meanwhile, a week has gone by with no word about the bird. Store employees grow more concerned by the day over the parrot’s health because the bird was young and its diet consisted primarily of formula. Hill said that staff was just starting to wean the parrot off formula and introduce it to solid food pellets and fruits.

“Without proper nutrition his survival is in jeopardy. We were hand-feeding him,” Hill said. “He was just starting to eat solid food, but he didn’t eat enough of it to stay healthy.”