But that attention turned sour when she was thrown against a wall on Thursday, killing her.

Sky was a pet of Ulladulla Oyster Bar manager Sam Brady, and he started bringing her to the shop last week as a novelty.

It had an immediate impact, with Skye prompting lots of discussion and “plenty of smiles”, Sam said.

“She just liked people, she loved being around people,” he said.

She mimicked people who spoke to her, regularly wolf whistled, and was happy to be patted when Sam took her out of her cage.

“A lot of people went up to her cage, talked to her, patted her, and she was good, she was a friendly bird,” Sam said.

But between 1pm and 1.30pm on Thursday someone took her out of her cage, ignoring the sign saying she could be taken out if people asked inside the store.

What happened next remains unclear, but people who were in other businesses in the Plaza have spoken of Skye being placed on the hand of a young child, and it starting to walk up the child’s arm.

The child then appeared to panic, and threw Skye against a wall.

Sam heard his bird make a noise, and went outside to see Skye lying on the ground, dazed.

Some parents were leaving quickly and ushering their two young children away, ignoring Sam’s calls for them to return.

Skye died a few minutes later, leaving Sam heartbroken over his much-loved pet which was “part of the family”.

He said he was most upset that people took Skye out if her cage without asking, and then ran away after the incident.

“You can forgive a child for panicking, but when the parents are whisking them away, it’s pretty upsetting,” he said.

“I think they were just shocked by what happened.”

If anyone knows anything about what happened, Sam would love to find out more details.

He can be contacted at the Ulladulla Oyster Bar.