Dublin Airport has wrapped up a heartwarming, unlikely tale of an unexpected visitor, after a lost Alexandrine parakeet was successfully returned to her owner following days of care from airport staff and a widespread public search.
The young female parakeet was first spotted perched on a rubbish bin near Terminal 1 by airport police on Easter Sunday. After taking the wayward bird into custody, the airport police team — including members of the K9 unit — stepped up to care for her while looking for clues about her owner. The team built a temporary cozy enclosure for her, and kept her well-fed with fresh fruit and water, while adding toys to keep her entertained during her unexpected stay. Staff even gave her a temporary nickname: Troy, a playful nod to Republic of Ireland star striker Troy Parrott, an inside joke the airport has leaned into after considering renaming the airport after the player following his iconic hat-trick against Hungary.
Over the following days, airport staff shared details of the lost parrot on social media to help connect her to her owner, who had apparently lost track of her before she turned up at the busy aviation hub. The clues they shared quickly helped narrow the search: the nearly two-year-old bird, it turned out, responds to the name Lola, and carried a visible identification tag with a registration number. Her favorite snacks are watermelon and strawberries, and she is not shy about demanding attention when she feels ignored. Lola even took the airport’s nickname in stride, with staff joking that she was happy to keep “Troy” as her official middle name.
By Tuesday, the airport confirmed the happy outcome: Lola had been matched to her owner Gheorghe, and was on her way home. In a playful social media post, the airport announced the parrot was “back home with her pal,” adding that staff joked Lola seemed thrilled her unpaid “shift” at the airport was finally over. During her stay, Lola even formed close bonds with the airport’s social media team, who documented her stay for followers online.
This is far from the first time an unplanned avian visitor has turned up at Dublin Airport. In 2019, an African grey parrot named Hugo was found taxiing on the main runway by a firefighter conducting a routine safety check, and was later reunited with her owner. As recently as August 2025, another talkative parrot who had not booked a ticket turned up at the airport as a surprise visitor, adding to the hub’s growing collection of unexpected feathered guest stories.