Pet macaw survives 2 days in tree, attack from hawks before rescue by Texas firefighters

A North Texas man's beloved pet macaw is safe after surviving a hawk attack and spending two days stuck in a tree after getting spooked while outdoors on Sunday.

Between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, Giulio Ferrari spent roughly 48 hours trying to rescue his 15-year-old brightly-feathered Catalina Macaw named Samba from a tree near Lewisville Lake.

The bird flew the coop Sunday afternoon after getting spooked during a photoshoot.

“My heart is broken. It’s like your child is on top of a tree,” Ferrari said on Monday. “This big gust of wind blew out of nowhere, and that's what startled him. I wasn’t fast enough to run after him, and he just flew.”

On Tuesday, Ferrari told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that a bag of chips eventually convinced Samba to move within arms reach.

Ferrari said Samba had been stuck on a tall tree with vertical branches and that he was hesitant to climb down the limbs. Overnight Samba moved to a shorter tree with more horizontal branches. When Ferrari rustled a bag of chips, a sound Samba was apparently well acquainted with, he moved close enough for Ferrari to reach him.

"He knows it's chips from the rattling so when I started rattling the bag of chips he got the gusto and the courage to go down the tree to a point where I was able to reach him and catch him," Ferrari said.

Ferrari celebrated by taking Samba out for a treat -- mango gelato.

"It's like my soul has reentered my body. When this happened my soul left my body for three days," Ferrari said. "I haven't been sleeping well, I haven't been eating. It's been tough. I'm exhausted, physically and mentally."

For two days, Ferrari said he tried to lure Samba out of the tree.

“Until 9:30 p.m.. Until he went to sleep,” Ferrari said. “I was shooing off the hawks.”

At the base of the tree, Ferrari left a flashlight to mark his place, water, and a note for those walking by.

The note read, “My macaw flew up this tree. If you can help, please call.”

On Monday morning, Ferrari returned to still find Samba in the same tree.

“He’s squawking. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m here,’” Ferrari said.

Several visitors stopped to try to help.

“The call I heard wasn't your typical bird. it was a little different,” Mohammad Jilani said. Jilani had the day off and wanted to decompress by the pier.

“I kind of walked up to it and I noticed it was a macaw stuck up in the tree,” Jilani said. “He’s in distress. He’s stuck up there. He’s crying for help almost like a person … I’m concerned for him, yes. So, I hope someone can get him down.”

The goal on Monday was to get Samba to fly to a smaller tree nearby.

“His wing is clipped. So, he will not be able to fly long distances,” Ferrari said. “He will stay within a 100-yard radius.”

By the afternoon, a fire engine with the Lewisville Fire Department arrived to help recover Samba. For about two hours, firefighters tried to rescue Samba by propping up a ladder and using the truck's bucket. However, Samba continued to fly away.

On Monday evening, Samba was attacked by several hawks. Samba survived the attack but was exhausted. Ferrari, meanwhile, said he had not given up hope in reuniting with his pet macaw.

This is not Samba’s first escape. In 2012 NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported on the Samba's three-day adventure after he got spooked by fireworks.

“You guys came out and on the third day of it being on the news, a guy with a construction company who had a cherry picker came. I got up on it,” Ferrari said.

Ferrari said he thinks a donated cherry picker or boom lift could once again be the solution.

“I really need someone that has an all-terrain boom lift that will go all the way up,” Ferrari said. “We are hoping he flies onto a shorter tree.”

An all-terrain machine is needed to make it through the grass, mud, and inclines throughout the shoreline of Lewisville Lake.