Macaw named Winston is 2nd from zoo bird show to fly away and die


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SALT LAKE CITY — Something spooked a blue-and-gold macaw named Winston, a 10-year performer in the Hogle Zoo's bird show, sending him across the street and under a car Tuesday.

Winston is the second bird to perish during an open-air bird show at the zoo. On May 7, a falcon named Max dove into a wolf den and could not be rescued from the carnivores.

The additional loss Tuesday was devastating for about a dozen staff members of the show, Steve Chindgren, founder of the World of Flight Bird Show, said in a statement.

"We're all trying to process it a little bit so that we can even come to work tomorrow. We're sick," he said.

"He's never ever flown off that perch," added spokeswoman Erica Hansen.

The bird darted across Sunnyside Avenue at the end of the 11 a.m. show, flying close to the road, and a car with a couple inside could not stop in time, Hansen said.

Stefan Bach, who lives in Emigration Canyon, said he was driving southbound next to a maroon hatchback near the zoo when the car's front and rear passenger-side wheels struck the parrot at about 30 mph.

"They swerved, hit it, and feathers shot up into the air. At first, I thought it was a pillow or something. Then it kind of rolls and...it's a gorgeous, huge old parrot," Bach said late Tuesday, adding he believed the macaw was killed on impact.

The driver and passenger in the hatchback drove off, he said. He drove back to collect feathers and planned to create a memorial for Winston.

"I see plenty of things get run over in the canyon, but not like this," Bach said.

The zoo was a second career for Winston, a rescued parrot who began life at Hogle as an adult about 10 years ago.

He typically closed out the show, soaring from the back of a zoo amphitheater to the front, over about 15 rows of spectators, Hansen said.

He was not the only macaw talent. Another blue-and-gold version, plus a red one, also flew for families. The birds are native to Panama and northern parts of South America.

Winston did not have a partner, Hansen said, but was loved by zoo staff, who considered him especially friendly and good-natured.

It's uncommon for birds to go rogue during the performance that has run for 23 years, Hansen said, even though the falcon, another veteran performer, also flew off.

"We've had two fluke events," she said, adding that zoo administrators aren't sure what went wrong in both cases. "It's one of the challenges of doing a free-flight bird show, but that's also what makes it so exhilarating."

Hansen and her colleagues believe both Winston and Max lived healthier lives working in the fresh-air program than others who stay inside all day, even if their time was cut short.

"That's what happens when wildlife and urban life mix," Hansen said. "You can't always anticipate what wildlife will do."

Zoo employees buried Winston in the foothills Tuesday afternoon. In May, they also had a service for Max in the hills nearby.

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