A blue macaw from the Adelaide Zoo is still missing after deciding to take an “extended flight” on Boxing Day.

Zoos SA Presentations and Nature Theatre manager Nic Bishop said the parrot, known as Manu, took off during a routine training session at the zoo on Saturday morning.

Staff have been looking for the bird ever since and have asked the public to help.

• Huge luxury liner labelled a ‘floating disaster’
• Koala saved from fiery death
• The top new words that got us talking in 2015

“It’s about going out to the local area and actively seeking him, but also staying vigilant, so someone can spot him and recover him should he return to base,” Mr Bishop said.

“The more eyes and ears that are out there, the better off we’ll be and the better off Manu will be.

Zookeepers believe Manu may have gone for an ‘extended flight’. Photo: Zoos SA

“He’s a large parrot, golden belly, blue back with a long tail, pretty unmistakable.”

Mr Bishop said there were several reasons why Manu may have flown off during the training session.

“He’s had a change of living space and there’s been some relations there that have taken some time for the birds [to get used to],” he said.

“He’s been a bit concerned about the magpie attention he’s received recently, but also on that morning there were some wind gusts that sprung up that may have compromised things a little bit.”

This is not the first time Adelaide Zoo has dealt with a runaway parrot.

In 2010, another of the zoo’s macaws, Tambo, experienced a day and night of freedom after flying off from a training session.

“This is just part of working with free-flight birds,” Mr Bishop said.

“Sometimes the environment intervenes, or there’s another motivational drive and it will just go for an extended flight from time to time.”

-ABC