Thieves steal $9,000 worth of exotic birds from local shop

Local residents enjoy checking out the exotic birds at Birds-N-Paradise on Encanto Drive. Photo courtesy Birds N Paradise Facebook page

The owners of an exotic birds store in Menifee are joining other Southland bird store owners in canvassing area swap meets and a bird show in Pomona this weekend, looking for birds stolen in what they say is a string of such burglaries in recent weeks.

Thieves broke into Birds-N-Paradise, located in the 27000 block of Encanto Drive north of McCall Boulevard, about 2 a.m. Friday and stole a number of birds, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Lori Lister, co-owner of the shop, said employees arrived to open the business and discovered a broken window in the back of the store and six birds missing, valued at a total of nearly $9,000.

Lister said she has been in contact with a number of bird store owners whose businesses have been burglarized in recent weeks, including stores in Redlands, Cypress and Brea. She believes it's a ring of thieves who are knowledgeable about birds and the value they can bring in re-sale.

"One person goes in and the rest stay outside, typically," Lister said about the thefts. "They grab real quick and get out because they know an alarm goes off. They got six of our birds. It could’ve been way more devastating, because you know how many birds we have in our store."

Birds-N-Paradise sells hundreds of birds in a variety of species and rehabilitates injured birds as well. Lister identified the birds stolen as three Patagonian conures (above), a white-bellied caique parrot, a rose-breasted cockatoo (below) and a yellow nape Amazon parrot.

"The Patagonian conures ... they knew they were valuable," Lister said about the thieves. "They’re very rare birds. We had priced them lower than usual because we got a deal on them. They could very easily turn around and sell those for more.

"Our employees were doing a new thing where they weren’t putting the four baby Patagonias together in one cage like they always have before. They put them in four different cages. That actually slowed [the thieves] down."

Lister said the room through which the thieves entered was filled with bird cages for sale. They had to be moved in order to quickly grab birds and run. She said the business is intalling a new security monitoring and alarm system.

Meanwhile, she and her employees attended the Everybodys Birdmart, a one-day event Saturday at Fairplex in Pomona. The event featured a variety of exotic birds for sale, in addition to pet accessories. Lister said many of the stolen birds can be identified by tattoos applied for such purposes.

"Two of the birds have been found from one of the other stores, at the Chino swap meet," Lister said. "We have people down there right now, searching for my birds. And we will be at the Pomona bird show. Because these break-ins have been happening for the last month, [the thieves] could be collecting them for that show."

Lister said the rose-breasted cockatoo was already purchased by a woman in Northern California who had been searching for one for a long time. Lister was on her way to deliver the bird to the woman last week but had to turn back because of mechanical problems.

"She doesn't even know yet," Lister said Saturday morning.

Anyone with information regarding the investigation is asked to contact Investigator Wyatt at the Perris Station by calling 951-210-1054, or by email at PerrisStation@Riversidesheriff.org