The Brooklyn painted bunting. (Photo by Paul Chung)
The Painted Bunting of Brooklyn—the borough's celebrity bird—has yet to head south and remains a resident of Prospect Park, probably because it's still summer. But as we all know, with fame comes enemies, and Painted Bunting has met his match: cat.
Cat had been lurking around Painted Bunting since at least Sunday, according to one birdwatcher, Rob Bate, who told the NY Post, “It actually made a run at it, but the bird took off." Despite having the ability to fly away from the cat, the Prospect Park Alliance and other concerned citizens wanted to make sure Painted Bunting was safe, so they captured the cat.
(via the Brooklyn Bird Club)
On Facebook, the Brooklyn Bird Club posted this message after the capture, noting that you may soon be able to adopt Painted Bunting's nemesis.
Marty, wildlife expert for the PPAlliance, managed to catch and remove the cat that had been seen stalking the Prospect Park Painted Bunting. The cat can be seen unharmed in the humane and ubiquitous "Hava-A-Heart" trap. He may be a little embarrassed but is unharmed. Off he goes to Sean Casey Animal Rescue for care and adoption or, if he has a microchip ID tag and the owner can be found he will be returned with a stern warning to keep your cat indoors! I had received the other, very grainy, photo a few days ago and this is definitely the culprit.
Phew! Luckily there are definitely no other feral cats or animals out there that will harm this bird.
