A Sad Tale To Remind Us

[TGerard]

In a blink of an eye...

:( http://www.alexcityoutlook.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/news03.txt

[Janie]

Yep, in the blink of an eye. And the hawk was not a "mean old bird", she should accept the blame. Imagine not securing cage locks, I don't get it.

[dovelady4]

Someone must tell me what happened. Right now the link says "Website Maintenance"

[Janie]

Try again, I just did and it came right up for me.

[Tango's_Mom]

it's not working for me either

[kimsbirds]

For those who can't view it...I copied it :)

Feathered friend's flight to freedom turns tragic
By Brittany Woodby


A sunny day turned to tragedy for Luci the parrot. The bird met his demise Tuesday when he was caught by a neighborhood hawk.

"I'm just in shock about it," owner Jamie Phillips said.

Phillips and her family inherited the bird after the death of her mother-in-law in fall of 2005. Luci, short for Lucifer, was very close to his previous owner and was rarely nice to anyone else.

"I hated that bird," Phillips said. "I was dreading him living here, but soon he just bonded with me." Phillips spent a lot of time with Luci and eventually trained the parrot to say "hello."

"He was Maw-Maw's bird, but he was my little friend," Phillips said.

Phillips put Luci in his cage on Monday and set him on her front porch so he wouldn't squawk and wake her 2-year-old son. "It was a pretty day and I thought he'd be alright but he must have figured out how to get out of his cage." The bird flew down from the Phillips' home on Circle Drive and settled in a neighbor's magnolia tree. For two hours Phillips and her husband, Chad, tried to coax Luci out of the tree.
"He was only 25 feet up, but caged birds really don't know how to fly down," Phillips said. Finally, the Phillips family gave up the fight to get Luci down and placed his cage in the tree if he made his way down during the night.

The next morning, Phillips went out to check on Luci in fear that he might have frozen during the night. "He saw me and squawked to let me know where he was. He wanted to come down," Phillips said. Luci had survived the cold winter night but the 10-inch-long Quaker parrot (including his 4-inch tail) was soon to meet his adversary. While Phillips was watching Luci in the tree, a red-tailed hawk swooped down and grasped Luci in his beak.

"That hawk flew down right in front of me. I was screaming 'No! Don't get my bird!'" The bird left with Luci in its mouth. Phillip's husband got in a vehicle and took off in pursuit of the birds. "Chad said there were feathers from Semmes Street all the way to the cemetery. At least I know Lucy was fighting to get away from that mean old thing."

Phillips said that Luci's death was like "losing a member of the family."

"Let this be a warning to all bird and small animal owners," she said. "Be sure to keep your eyes to the sky."

[linda040899]

The common thought that "It can't happen to me or my family!" can be prove to be a myth all too quickly and when we least expect it. Hawks have families that need to eat, too....