Mary,

After dark it was most likely a Great Horned Owl.  They are fierce
predators and your friend's presence may not have deterred the owl
from taking her parrot. My condolences to her.

Norm

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Mary LaMarca
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 3:36 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Behavioral question: Parrot predators?

A friend of mine from Damascus, MD, owned a young, captive-bred
African Gray Parrot, and had lovingly had her as a companion for three
years. She recently told me that she tragically lost the parrot this
summer. The bird escaped when the wind blew open a door while she was
out of her cage. My friend spent all afternoon trying to call her
back, and finally found her perched in a high tree at the edge of a
small clump of woods. As it was getting dark, and the parrot had moved
in towards the trunk of the tree and hunkered down for a "safe"
night-time roost, my friend decided to return at dawn the next morning
to lure the parrot down with food and her favorite toys.

When she went back at dawn, she said that the woods were "too quiet".
The parrot was no longer visible in the tree. She went into the woods,
calling for the bird, but then found the bloody remains of just the
parrot's wings on the ground. Neighbors said they had seen Red-Tailed
Hawks in this wooded area before.

What would the most likely nocturnal predator be? I wouldn't think a
Red-Tail would take a pigeon-sized bird in a wooded area after dusk or
early in the AM. I'd expect a Coopers, perhaps - what times of day do
they hunt? Do owls prey on perched birds? Or would it more likely have
been a mammalian predator?

My friend was devastated, and wonders if she should have camped out
beneath the tree...

Mary LaMarca
Silver Spring