Cockateils in a nearby solid wooden aviary were unharmed.
An unlucky Waipukurau woman arrived home to find 30 of her pet birds had escaped when their aviary was lifted up and tossed onto its side in Tuesday's severe winds.
Glenda Hartley, a Freyberg Tce resident, rushed home after getting a call from her nextdoor neighbour about birds escaping from her aviary.
"I had it tied down as best I could but the whole aviary lifted. It was just an aluminium one."
Birds in her two other wooden aviaries were all present and accounted for, she said.
But her two cockatiels - one a pale yellow (lutino), the other grey and yellow - three red rump parrots and about 25 budgies all of varying colours were gone.
"There was nothing," she said.
She later recovered one budgie near the fence and three more had been collected from neighbouring streets.
She'd received several other calls about bird sightings around the town.
There are still about 24 missing. I know where one cockateil is and I've tried catching him with a net, with no luck so far.
Glenda says she has bought and bred the birds over a number of years and some - especially three red rumps - were very special to her.
"I really appreciate what everybody's doing. It's quite amazing."
She asked anyone who saw the birds or found one to contact her on 027 622 2104.
"They may start to come into people's yards as they get hungry. They can bite if grabbed though," she warned.
On Tuesday strong northwest gales of up to 130km/h across the region brought trees and powerlines down, sent trampolines flying, suspended Napier Port operations, and cut power to hundreds of homes.
Powerlines were brought down along State Highway 2, near Te Hauke, about 11.16am today, temporarily closing SH2 and causing power to be lost to about 234 Unison customers.
Centralines customers between Te Hauke and Waipukurau, and about 60 homes near Porangahau also lost power about 11.35am.
MetService meteorologist Angus Hines earlier said peak wind speeds of 133 km/h were recorded on the Takapau Plains about midday.
'She got to live her dream for one week. It was so unfairly taken from her.'