Northampton budgie Luna hides in a drain a mile from home – and gets spotted by her beak

When Storm Boelo blew a kitchen window open last month, 11-month-old pet budgie Luna took her chance and flew out of a Northampton flat.

Owner Cimberley Frost had been watching her eat, then the house went quiet. She played budgie noises and posted on social media. That trail eventually led Animal Rescue Officer Ellie Grindod and the RSPCA back to Luna.

Stock photo: a budgie (2023) – not Luna. Photo: H. Zell / CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons).

About a mile (1.6km) away, a passing motorist saw a bird jump into a storm drain and called the RSPCA. On 26 October, Inspector Richard Durant and Trainee Animal Rescue Officer Rosie Cowie peered into Luna’s “hidey hole”.

“Luna hadn’t gone far when we believe she must have been frightened by something and she hopped down into a drain to hide,” Durant said. “Luna saw it as a hidey hole, but if she hadn’t been seen then no-one would have known she was down there.”

Real photo: York Road, Northampton (2023) – not the rescue street. Photo: David Howard / CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons / Geograph 7541019).

Cowie’s first rescue was unforgettable: “We peered down the drain and there was Luna’s little beak peeking out from a pipe. I gently grabbed her and popped her in a pet carrier; my first rescue, and one I certainly won’t be forgetting.”

AI illustration – imagined escape. (Spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere in this picture.)

Back home, Frost said the house had been “so quiet without her; she’s always squeaking and talking.” Now Luna is “back to being lady of the house.” “It’s her first adventure, and hopefully her last.”

AI illustration – imagined reunion; not the actual home.

Reported by BBC News (Alex Pope, Northamptonshire, 5 Nov 2026); also UPI Odd News (Ben Hooper, 5 Nov 2026).