BOSTON - Watch dogs are a pretty common first line of security for US homes and businesses. Watch birds not so much.
But that didn't stop Merlin, a seven-year-old blue-and-gold macaw who scared off a burglar at a Massachusetts pet store this week. Intruders smashed the front windowof Pet Palace in Leominster, about 72km west of Boston, and as they entered the store the bird began to shout, said store manager Lori Oltman on Thursday.
"When he hears someone come into the building, or the puppies get riled up or whatever, he'll start calling for Rhonda, who is the woman who used to own him," Oltman said. "He was screaming for Rhonda and they weren't aware that it was a bird and not a person. And so they took flight rather quickly."
Macaws are a variety of parrot, a highly intelligent group of birds known for their ability to reproduce human speech.
Oltman said police figured out what happened when they arrived and heard the bird screaming in the back room. She said the burglar escaped with just US$15 in change.
It was not the first time the bird's voice confused a person, she said.
"He has some really colourful language, so he spends a lot of time in the back of the store," Oltman said. "And you really can't tell that it's a bird. He sounds just like a person when he talks, a lot of times people are fooled by that."
