A CLEVER parrot realised something was wrong when a burglar entered his owner’s home — and swooped into action.
Monk parakeet Steve, who weighs just five ounces, bravely repeatedly dive-bombed the intruder.
3
Steve’s crime-fighting act, worthy of author Agatha Christie’s sleuth Hercule Poirot, put the thief into such a flap he fled empty-handed.
Yesterday, Steve’s praises were sung by owner Lynsey Williamson, 41, who had been at home with ten-year-old daughter — also called Agatha.
Lynsey said: “If we were here alone, who knows what could have happened.”
Steve was out of his cage to exercise when his squawking raised the alarm.
Customer service worker Lynsey ran into the living room of her ground-floor flat in Manchester.
She said: “Steve was dive-bombing the intruder relentlessly. His feathers were flying everywhere.
“We were all scared. My daughter was crying. I feel blessed that Steve was there to save the day.
She added: “The guy clearly panicked and thankfully he didn’t notice a bag of Euros for a holiday. He muttered something about walking into the wrong house, which I didn’t believe for a second.
“The bird just had this instinct. He knew that this man shouldn’t be there.
“He is able to tell him apart from a visitor — that’s what’s incredible. I just want people to know how clever birds are.”
Police are investigating the attempted burglary.
Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective who featured in 33 of Christie’s novels, two plays and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.
He was played in movies by the likes of Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, Kenneth Branagh and David Suchet — who also portrayed him in a hit ITV show from 1989 to 2013.
3
