Capt. Dan Engraf has rescued a lot of different animals during his 21 years with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“I’ve been on horse rescues. We just rescued a kitten from a sewer the other day,” he said, describing his team of burly firefighters at Station 44 in Duarte chasing down the tiny cat.

Never had he rescued a bird, though — until Valentine’s Day. His crew was just finishing up a medical emergency call around the corner from the sprawling Encanto Park when a man flagged down their fire engine.

The man told them a colorful, 18-month-old parrot — a blue Hyacinth macaw named Love — landed on top of a large tree in the park the day before and was still there nearly 19 hours later.

Love was scared and refused to come down, said his owner, Carolin von Petzholdt of Pasadena. Hawks were menacing him, and he was nervous about nearby air traffic.

An L.A. County firefighter from Duarte holds Love, an 18-month-old blue Hyacinth macaw, who was stuck in a tree at Encanto Park for nearly 19 hours on Feb. 14, 2020. The firefighters used a ladder to reach the bird and bring him down safely. (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles County Fire Department)

An L.A. County firefighter from Duarte rescues Love, an 18-month-old blue Hyacinth macaw, from a tree at Encanto Park on Feb. 14, 2020. The firefighters used a ladder to reach the bird and bring him down safely. (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles County Fire Department)

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Engraf said he was fairly flummoxed by the request, at first.

“Like, seriously? A bird in a tree?” he said. “But (the owner) seemed distraught — I didn’t want to say ‘no’ to her.”

Von Petzholdt knew she’d have some explaining to do. A trainer with years of experience, she fell in love with exotic birds when she was around 12 years old. Lately she’s been handling her small flock of rare parrots, six in all.

She said she wrote a book on “free-flight” training for birds born in captivity. She has 142,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel, where she teaches lessons in bird behavior and flight training.

Her videos show her practicing with the birds, letting them fly around an open space before cawing for them to come back. Most of the time they return immediately, landing dutifully back on her arm or in the palm of her hand.

“They come back, just like a boomerang,” Von Petzholdt said.

Over seven videos published to the channel, she documented Love’s plight and eventual rescue.

Von Petzholdt was training Love and his older, blue macaw brother named Hope the afternoon of Feb. 13. She said this was only Love’s second open air flight. He’d never landed on a tree in his life.

In the middle of his training, Love dove toward a far off treeline and landed.

“Baby birds, you never know what goes in their minds,” she said. “Stuff happens, where all of a sudden…they spook or snap. They have to decide to come back.”

Von Petzholdt first launched Hope, who strafed where Love was sitting on a branch, trying to nudge him out of the tree. She brought out a drone, buzzing it near Love, but the device crashed into a branch and broke. Love still wouldn’t budge.

Von Petzholdt resorted to climbing the tree herself. She made it at least 50 feet up, nearly to the top of the tree, but as she reached out for Love, the branch he was sitting on broke. He jumped up and flew to another, nearby and taller tree.

“When I was up in that tree I thought, ‘what am I doing up here?’ One slip and I could fall and break my neck,” she said. “All I could think was, ‘I need my bird back.’”

Hyacinth macaws are difficult to obtain in the United States. International conservation groups list the birds as “vulnerable” in the wild. Von Petzholdt spent $20,000 to obtain Love from a breeder in Florida.

Darkness left Von Petzholdt no choice but to leave Love in the tree for the night. She returned the next morning and found him still clinging to the branch.

Her friend later joined her. She said they were lucky when an L.A. County fire engine rumbled by.

The first engine wasn’t able to help — its 70-foot ladder was too short. So the firefighters resorted to spraying water at Love to entice him to take off. The bird still wouldn’t move.

The unit then called for back-up. But Engraf, the fire captain, said he wasn’t sure they could do anything.

“I’m not going to have a firefighter climb into a tree only to have the bird fly away,” he said.

But after Von Petzholdt explained Love’s situation, “I felt comfortable that if we brought up a truck company, we could get him down,” Engraf said.

The firefighters returned in a truck equipped with a 100-foot ladder. One of them, clad in his full firefighting suit and leather gloves, scaled the ladder and inched toward Love.

“(Hyacinth macaws) are the gentle giants of the bird world,” Von Petzholdt said. “They are very sweet and cuddly.”

Love, apparently grumpy after a nearly day-long stay in the tree, gnawed and scratched at the firefighter’s extended hand when he reached out to him. But the bird immediately hopped on to the first rung of the ladder, allowing firefighters to gently lower him to ground level.

Safely back with his owner, the firefighters took a few minutes to hang out with Love, snapping pictures with the bird in front of their fire engine.

“I had to — to prove to my wife we really did rescue a bird today,” Engraf said.

Von Petzholdt gave Love some water and food, and let him rest for a few days after his ordeal.

“He’s back to his normal self,” she said. “He’s happy.”