Who doesn't want a Parrot for Halloween?

This did not just happen, but I was reminded of it just now and it's such a strange story I feel like sharing. 

One Halloween, I was at home hanging out with my dad, since I had forgotten to actually plan and had no costume.  I was upstairs and heard a strange scrabbly sound on the roof.  I ignored it (because ghosts) and decided not to be the person who goes to investigate first and dies.  Until I heard a squawking sound.  So I walked outside, looked up...and there was a parrot on the roof of my (desert) home.  Not even a small one.  A macaw. 

I calmly walked back inside and yelled to my dad, "There's a parrot on the roof!  Get the ladder and I'll get the crackers!"  To which he responded, appropriately, "What!?"  Despite his confusion, he got the ladder and I took the crackers on the roof and approached the nervous bird.  He didn't seem to be great at flying, which is confusing, because he had made it ON THE ROOF.  He was a bit upset, which is also fair because it was Halloween and there were a lot of strange creatures wandering the neighborhood also squawking.  And because he was not on the roof of his own home.  I gave him some crackers, which calmed him down a bit. 

The thing about Macaws is...they are big, and they have powerful beaks.  This guy could take off a finger or a chunk out of my arm if he was too upset, and he didn't know me.  I used to babysit a Macaw, and I had learned how to read them a bit, and this guy was still nervous.  I figured a stranger, even a nice one who gave you crackers, picking you up and carrying you down a ladder (awkwardly) would be upsetting enough to make him bite, so I thought I'd just...sit with him until I figured out a better plan.  So we sat together watching the sun go down, and then I heard people calling out a name.  They were walking along with flashlights looking in bushes.  Assuming it wasn't some strange Halloween ritual, I yelled out to ask them if they were looking for a parrot.  They were very excited, and the parrot's real mom came up and climbed the ladder.  The bird was very happy to see her, and she was able to get him safely down the ladder.

And that is why sometimes it's worth exploring strange noises on your roof.  It may not be monsters.  It may be a very nervous bird in need of some crackers.