MONTREAL–Slick thieves have been targeting parrots, stealing them from Quebec homes with surgical precision while leaving behind valuable jewellery, electronics and even cash.

The thefts are aimed at a global black market in rare exotic birds.

This winter, thieves crawled through windows to get into two households in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. They used pillowcases to bag birds in lightning-quick break-ins.

“It’s clearly part of a big racket,” said Yvon Girard, who lost a $4,000 Amazon parrot named Tommy and a macaw named Sonny, along with three purebred chihuahuas.

“It’s unbelievable. They could have cleaned out the house, but they didn’t even bother searching.”

Parrots often fetch prices from $1,500 to $3,000 and, unlike most consumer goods, the birds don’t lose their value, according to Michael Illian, bird manager at the Menagerie Pet Shop in Toronto, which has been hit by bird thieves twice in recent years.

Larger parrots can easily live past 50 years of age. The rarest species fetch up to $20,000. Details here.