It may be premature to call it an “escape”. It may not be an “escape”. That word best applies when it is no longer under the control of someone. It
could still be someone’s pet. They can be free flown and trained to return to the owner. I am not suggesting I know, as I don’t.
There is also a case for use of the name “releasee” (basically “introduced”). A bird or colonising group that has been released, mainly because it
is too hard to handle, rather than having escaped. That is believed to be the origin of the Rainbow Lorikeet population around Perth.
Philip
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Saturday, 5 September, 2026 10:38 AM
To: Canberrabirds <>
Subject: [Canberrabirds] Macaw
On the Facebook Canberra Notice Board group there has been an interesting report of a blue and gold macaw in the Macarthur area. In some parts of the world categories of exotic sightings have been classified with a high degree of sophistication
for eBird purposes. The Macarthur macaw would fall into the category ‘Clear Escape’, which I believe is the category of least relevance for eBird purposes. The eBird category should be distinguished from a ‘Clean Escape’, which is the name of a well-known
science fiction short story about an amnesia sufferer who as a result of a corporate conspiracy becomes president of the United States and destroys most of humanity in a nuclear event.
