Parakeet cages filled a room in a modest house in South Anchorage. The birds’ chattering and chirping mixed with country music coming from a boombox below the cages.

As the music swelled at the refrain “Somebody pour me a drank” the birds’ chirping increased, followed by loud squawks.

The sound keeps them company, Karen Rappe said. She hasn’t tried out other kinds of music.

“They get country, and that’s it,” she said, laughing.

Rappe is retired, and has fostered parakeets for years, but right now she has more than usual.

That’s because one man decided to let his birds mate, uncontrolled, she said.

“You start out with two or four,” she said, “and pretty soon you’re pushing 50.”

It’s part of a larger problem. It’s getting increasingly hard to find homes for cage birds like parakeets, parrots and macaws. The situation’s not entirely new though. People get the birds without realizing quite how loud they are, or how high maintenance they can be. But now, the problem is getting worse because in Anchorage, and around the state, the senior population has more than doubled in the last 15 years.

When older people go into assisted living, die, or move down South, their birds often need a new home. The original owner of those 48 parakeets moved South, Rappe said. She found homes for the first batch of 20 earlier this year. They were babies, she said. They were cute and easy to adopt out. She’s working through the rest now, but it’s slow going. The parakeet market is flooded, she said.

Amber Morris is with the Alaska Bird Club, which helps rescue and rehome cage birds like macaws and cockatiels. The man called the club, she said, asking for help rehoming the parakeets when he realized he couldn’t keep them. It’s something she’s seeing more and more.

“Birds owners are leaving them, not necessarily by choice,” she said.

In the past, she said, it was more common for the club to rehome birds when young people went away to school. Sometimes owners developed allergies, or gave the birds up when they got married. But over the last decade more and more elders are needing to rehome their birds.

It’s an issue everywhere, she said.

“It’s not just our populace in Alaska that’s getting older,” she said. “So there are a lot of people who are relinquishing birds. There are a lot of homeless birds.”

The bigger birds can live a long time, she said, 80 to 90 years. That’s a lot of life left when elderly people can’t take care of their parrots or cockatiels anymore.

When a bird needs a new home, the club writes up what Morris calls a “singles ad.” Sometimes that’s easy, if the bird is beautiful, cuddly and has a sparkling personality. Sometimes, it’s not.

The thing about birds, Morris said, is they’re a very…specific type of pet.

Some parrots can scream really loudly. In your house, she said, that’s not always fun.

And they’re messy.

“Birds don’t have lips, and so whenever they eat, food goes everywhere,” she said.

But they can be wonderful for the right person, Morris said.

“It makes you look a little less crazy when you talk to a pet that actually can talk back to you,” she said.

They’re beautiful, they can be very snuggly and they’re interesting to watch, she said. And they’re great imitators: they might cry like a baby or offer to take the dog for a walk.

But it is important to find the right fit, Morris said. They can have strong personalities, like the African grey parrot a few years ago that really hated women. A real misogynist, Morris said. But it worked out, she said, because soon afterward, a gay couple applied to adopt the parrot.

Generally, Morris said, she worries less about the parakeets. They’re easier to rehome because they’re less loud, less messy and less of a commitment in terms of lifespan. They’re great for people who don’t have experience with birds.

Bigger birds, like cockatoos, macaws and African grey parrots, are the hardest to adopt out, Morris said. They are not starter birds. That’s especially true when they’ve been living with someone for a long time, like when older people have to give up their birds, or die.

But sometimes the bird can’t be rehomed, Morris said. That’s what keeps her up at night, worrying.

She’s thinking about the birds she’s seen living in dark garages, or in closets with the door shut.

But Karen Rappe, standing in her bird room, said she doesn’t think it’ll come to that for the parakeets.

“Eventually homes will come,” she said. “I’m hoping.”

GILBERT, AZ — An Arizona toddler was found breathing inside a Gilbert hospital morgue after being declared dead hours earlier by an Arizona doctor, according to police records.

A police report and body camera video reviewed by the ABC15 Investigators show that two Gilbert police officers saw signs of life multiple times, but the toddler was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room,” which is also considered to be the morgue.

One officer wrote in the police report that the baby was pronounced dead “in error” by the Mercy Gilbert doctor even after a tense exchange about a pulse possibly being detected.

The 18-month-old was rushed to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center after he was found inside the family’s pool on Super Bowl Sunday in February.

It has taken months for the Gilbert police to release public records related to the near-drowning.

The ABC15 Investigators reviewed a half dozen body camera videos, including videos from the initial drowning scene and videos inside the hospital. Most of the videos are heavily blurred, and most of the audio has been muted, but one critical moment was captured between the doctor and the officer.

According to the police report, the officer wrote that a nurse in another room said: “I have a pulse.”

The officer wrote that when he tried to alert the doctor who was with the family in another room, the doctor appeared to dismiss the concerns, “[The doctor] arrogantly told me he was the doctor, he has the medical degree, he went to medical school for a reason, and to let him do his thing.”

Records show that shortly after that exchange, the doctor went on to declare the baby dead.

Over the next hour, two Gilbert police officers continued to document signs of life in their police report.

One officer wrote, “The release of air was audible and visible,” later writing, “It also began to sound like [redacted] was gasping for air.”

The report goes on to say that when medical staff went to move the boy’s body to the morgue, the officer wrote that she “observed what appeared to be another audible gasp.”

That was not the last time she heard signs of life, either.

While inside the morgue, the officer said, “I again observed what appeared to be a gasp or air release, which was now almost an hour later.”

A nurse who was there said those sounds could be a response to efforts to save the toddler.

Some of the last audio recordings heard on the body camera videos were of an officer telling the family that they could say goodbye.

The report says, hours later, at 11:52 p.m., the Medical Examiner’s transport showed up and found the toddler was breathing inside the hospital morgue. He was then flown to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for treatment.

An MRI said that the baby had brain damage, and we are told he will need lifelong care.

An attorney representing the family declined to comment.

Mercy Gilbert said in a statement, “This is a heartbreaking situation. We immediately conducted a thorough review of all aspects of the care provided to learn what happened and to make meaningful changes to strengthen our care. Out of respect for the patient’s privacy, we cannot discuss details. We continue to work with the family and their representative. Patient safety and exceptional care is our highest priority.”

HAVE A TIP? Email Investigator Nicole Grigg at nicole.grigg@abc15.com.

Bruce Lee Day aims to honour the San Francisco-born martial arts legend as a cultural bridge and Asian-American icon.

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee will become the first Chinese American in California history to be honoured with an annual namesake day.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon, officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day.

Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940 and returned to the city on May 17, 1959, aged 18, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong.

His daughter, Shannon Lee, CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation, said the honour reflects her father’s enduring legacy as a bridge between cultures.

“From young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy, to families who finally saw themselves represented on screen, to athletes who still draw on his teachings of discipline and inner strength, his reach is profound,” she said in a statement.

State Assembly member Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco, called Lee the “epitome of the best of California”.

“At a time when Asian Americans were too often absent from or stereotyped on screen, Bruce Lee helped generations see themselves represented with strength and dignity,” he said.

The Bruce Lee Foundation and Asian-American groups hope Bruce Lee will be celebrated each year with voluntary activities, including cultural exhibits, public events and classroom lessons.

Born to Chinese parents touring the US with an opera, Lee held birthright citizenship. He moved to Hong Kong as an infant, became a child actor, and studied Chinese kung fu before returning to the US in 1959.

He enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1961, but dropped out to teach martial arts.

In the 1960s, Lee appeared in Hollywood, most notably as Kato in the TV series The Green Hornet, but said studios typecast him in racist roles and paid him less than white actors.

He returned to Hong Kong and starred in martial arts films, including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury.

Lee died tragically in 1973 at the age of 32 after an allergic reaction to pain medication.

His name and likeness remain widely popular.

Fans gather on his birthday, and a treatment he wrote for a television series inspired the HBO Max show “Warrior”.