A rare and expensive bird has taken up residence in Hoon Hay.
In the past month, the large white cockatoo has been sighted at several properties between Lyttelton St and Hendersons Rd.
Caroline Claver first heard the cockatoo's squawking three or four weeks ago, but could not work out what the noise was.
On Thursday, she had her first sighting of the bird, which would generally cost more than $1500 in a pet shop.
"It's huge.
"It's about the size of a duck," she said.
The bird had been flitting between properties and was hard to see.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) biosecurity team leader Brent Glentworth said it was probably an escaped pet.
He said cockatoos were social birds and it was unusual for one to be out on its own.
Glentworth said there was a wild population of cockatoos on Banks Peninsula that the bird could also belong to.
ECan had been monitoring the colony, which last year consisted of 61 cockatoos.
There were similar sightings in 2007 of the noisy birds in the Little River-Port Levy area.
If the number of cockatoos built up, they could become pests, as they would take away vital food sources for native birds.
Glentworth said it was probably best to "leave the bird to it".
Claver said she had taken a shine to her unexpected visitor, but her main concern now was to find out whether the white parrot had an owner.
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