Fresno Chaffee Zoo asks public to help find missing macaw

Fresno Chaffee Zoo asked Fresno residents to keep watch for Sarge, a military macaw and one of its free-flying ambassador birds, after he flew off course Monday and ended up outside Roeding Park. Zoo staff searched the area but had not recovered him, pushing the search into neighborhoods, parks and yards across Fresno County.

Sarge is easy to spot if he lands in a tree or on a fence: local TV reports describe him as about 12 inches long, with bright green feathers and a red patch on his head. The zoo said anyone who sees him should not try to approach or capture him. Instead, residents should call the zoo hotline so staff can respond without putting more stress on the bird or making recovery harder.

The search is drawing attention because Sarge is part of the zoo’s Winged Wonders Bird Show, where birds fly freely and work voluntarily with care staff. General Curator Nicole Presley has said the birds in that program choose to participate each day, a setup that depends on close public visibility and quick communication when one gets loose. Fresno Chaffee Zoo describes itself as a 39-acre, AZA-accredited zoo with more than 200 species and more than 800,000 visitors, which helps explain why a missing ambassador bird can become a citywide concern so quickly.

The zoo has been through this before. Ripley, a Harris’s hawk from the same free-flying bird program, had been missing since April 2024 before a resident in Prather spotted an unfamiliar bird in a yard on July 29, 2025 and contacted the zoo. Ripley was recovered in good condition and taken to the veterinary center, after earlier reports said he had been chased away by two red-tailed hawks.

That earlier recovery is part of why zoo staff are leaning on the public again. For now, the search for Sarge is centered on one clear request: if you spot a small military macaw with bright green plumage and a red head patch anywhere near Roeding Park or elsewhere in Fresno County, do not try to grab him. Call the zoo hotline and let trained staff handle the recovery.