A FIFE man has spoken of his joy after the return of his beloved bird of prey.

Stuart Milne described himself as “over the moon” after the Harris hawk he has only had for eight weeks flew off on Sunday evening after becoming distressed by a nearby dog.

Mr Milne, a falconry expert with Cluny-based Elite Falconry, keeps the bird as a personal pet and appealed for public assistance in finding Miss McNab—a name of one of his old school teachers—earlier this week.

However, while searching for the bird in a nearby field yesterday morning, he was relieved to find her tucking into a breakfast of freshly-hunted rabbit.

Speaking of his delight, Mr Milne said, “She’s absolutely fine and has probably been staying in the local area over farmland and areas where she can find food.

“If she had been away for much longer then she would have gone back to the wild and tried to establish a small area of territory for herself so it was great to get her back.”

Harris hawks originate from the southern states of America and are frequently hunted by large, four-legged creatures like coyotes.

This natural fear is what is believed to have caused Miss McNab to fly away from the approaching dog though Mr Milne believes that the creature could happily survive in the wilds of Scotland.

He said, “She hunts things like crows, pigeons and rabbits and should be able to live in the wild, although she would be pestered by other birds.”