Talking Birds Stolen From Old Pet Shop

They go by names like Coco and Parfi. Their vocabulary includes the phrases “I love you” and “bye-bye.” And Friday morning, the three cockatoos and two cockatiels were gone, stolen from a shop on East Port Hueneme Road that has been their home for 10 years.

Karen Woo of Port Hueneme is the birds’ self-proclaimed baby-sitter. They belong to her daughter, Peggy, owner of the now-defunct Bird House pet store at 671 E. Port Hueneme Road, and have been part of the family for about a decade.

When the shop closed four years ago, Woo continued feeding the birds, who were kept in the shop, she said.

Every day Woo, who works at the nearby Marvinn Motel, would feed the birds a combination of fruit, sunflower seeds and bird food.

“A cockatoo, Coco, would say, ‘I am a pretty bird. I love you. Bye-bye.’ Oh, Coco said lots. He was pretty smart,” Woo said.

But when she went to the shop at 10:30 a.m. Friday, she discovered that Coco and the other birds were not there. “The door was open and they were gone,” Woo said.

Port Hueneme Police Officer Paul Gomez said the thief entered the building through a rear window.

The birds are about 6 years old and could be worth as much as $5,000. But it is the sentimental value and loss of companionship that left Woo feeling depressed Friday evening.

“Every time I go to feed them, they are so happy. . . . And every time I finish with the feeding, Coco would say ‘Bye-bye,’ ” Woo said. “I’m missing them.”

The cockatoos are about 20 inches tall. Two of them are all white, and Coco is green and yellow. The cockatiels are white.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Port Hueneme Police Department at 986-6530.