Tree trimmer rescues scared macaw from Riverview tree

RIVERVIEW, Mich. (WJBK) - A bird named Captain is back with his loving owner now, thanks to someone now known by his friends as the "Bird Man."

Holly Koslowski says she was heading out the door with her daughter in Riverview when Captain decided he wanted to come, too. Koslowski's daughter tried to stop him.

"She reached down to grab him, which spooked him, and off he took [sic]," Koslowski says.

Captain flied around the house and landed at the top of a tree -- where he anchored himself for hours. Even an extension ladder couldn't reach him.

Then Captain himself was trying to get down.

"He flew out of the tree; he flew around the street many times and grabbed the first thing he could -- which was another, much larger tree," Koslowski says.

It was getting darker and colder now. Koslowski says Captain kept getting scared and was calling for her. It eventually became completely dark, and Captain had fallen asleep still up 60 feet high in the tree.

Koslowski asked for help on Facebook, and got a response from a tree trimmer, John Sueta.

"He looked at the tree and he put on his climbing gear, and up the tree he went!" Koslowski says.

"A lot of times I'll use hooks to make it easier, and my saddle and rope and just climb the tree," Sueta says.

He says he was calling for captain, but that the bird was stubborn and still scared. Sueta says at first, the bird had his back to him and wouldn't come his way, but that the bird finally came around after about 30 minutes of coaxing. 

"I put my arm up there and he just kind of crawled up," Sueta says. He gave Captain a piggy-back ride down the tree.

"Captain was very happy to see me; he was very cold and thankfully we were able to bring him home that night," Koslowski says.

She was terrified she'd never see Captain again, and thanks Sueta for taking the time to save her pet parrot.