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Missing Parrot Turns Up – Speaking Spanish
Missing Parrot Turns Up – Speaking Spanish
Nigel the parrot has said “cheerio” to his British-born owner and “Buenos días” to another family.
The African grey parrot spoke with a British accent when he disappeared from a southern California home four years ago. But Nigel spoke Spanish when he was found and returned to Darren Chick of Torrance, California last week. Someone found the bird and turned it over to a vet who found Mr. Chick by accessing the bird’s microchip.
Chick, who is British, said he wept tears of joy. But on Wednesday, he gave Nigel to the family who had kept the bird for the four years he was missing.
The reunion was brought about by a Southern California veterinarian who mistook the bird, an African grey parrot, for her own missing bird. Teresa Micco tracked Nigel's microchip to Darren Chick, a Brit who lives in Torrance.
"I introduced myself and said, 'Have you lost a bird?'" Dr. Micco told the newspaper. "He initially said, 'No.' But he thought I meant recently." When she verified Chick's name and said she had his African grey parrot, "He looked at me like I was crazy." He said his bird went missing four years earlier.
Little is known about Nigel's whereabouts the past four years, but Chick says the bird's British accent is gone, and it now chatters in Spanish. Chick says last week's reunion brought tears of joy to his eyes — despite the fact that Nigel bit him when he first tried to pick him up. Micco said the behavior was not unusual and that Nigel would settle back in soon enough. Mr. Chick has decided, however, to give the parrot back to the family that sheltered him when he was missing.
The Torrance Daily Breeze said that a family member emailed the paper after hearing about Nigel’s return and said they were heartbroken after the bird flew away from their home earlier this month.
Liza Smith said her grandparents had bought the parrot whom they call Morgan – after the rum that features a parrot on the label – at a garage sale for $400. He learned Spanish from her Guatemalan-born grandfather.
“Loro macho, Loro macho” Rubén Hernández, 86, cooed to his feathered friend on Wednesday at the home of the veterinarian who found Nigel. “We’re just over the moon,” Smith said.
Smith said the bird had become a special friend to her grandfather, especially in the two years since he lost his wife, who used to whistle tunes to the bird. The parrot “is one of the last mementoes for my grandpa. Morgan’s loss has been hard on him. They have a very special bond.”
Morgan also knows the first bars of the theme from the movie The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, knows the names of the family’s three dogs, barks like them, and likes to imitate the beeping sounds made by an early-morning trash truck, Smith said.
Nigel/Morgan has obviously embraced the multicultural lifestyle. Maybe you don't have time to pick up Spanish over the weekend, but you can at least try some delicious, meat-free meals from around the world.
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Sources: http://bit.ly/1Dk7h0i, http://bit.ly/ZyD7ar
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