When Nigel, an African grey parrot, vanished from his home in Torrance, California, he spoke with a dapper British accent.
Four years later, Nigel and his owner, Darren Chick, were reunited, but during their time apart, Nigel learned a cool new trick — to speak Spanish.
Julissa Sperling was the first to find Nigel and realize he was likely someone’s lost pet.
“I own a dog-grooming business, so we put him in a little cage and brought him with us to the store,” Sperling said. “He was the happiest bird. He was singing and talking without control. … He was barking like the dogs. I’m from Panama, and he was saying, ‘What happened?’ in Spanish.”
The talking parrot reportedly spoke in Spanish regularly and frequently mentioned the name “Larry,” Sperling added.
Sperling began searching for Nigel’s owner and came across an ad for a lost bird placed by Teresa Micco. Sadly Micco saw Nigel and realized he wasn’t her bird, Benjamin.
“I felt so sorry for her. Her face changed totally when she found out it wasn’t hers,” Sperling said. “But then she said, ‘He’s microchipped, so let’s find the owner.'”
After a pretty extensive search, they found Nigel’s original owner, Darren Chick.
The reunion was sweet but interrupted by Nigel biting Chick on the hand when he tried to pick up the bird. But after a few days, the two were getting on like the old friends they were.
“It’s really weird. I knew it was him from minute I saw him,” Chick said.
In her search for her own parrot, Micco has reunited five other birds with their owners. She vows to continue to search for the bird, which she raised from a baby.
If you happen to live in the Redondo Beach area and come across a lost parrot, Micco’s bird, Benjamin, will respond to his favorite song, “A Bushel and a Peck.”
“In my pursuit to find him, I’ve recovered five other lost African greys,” she said. “So hopefully that karma is going to come back.”
More on the amazing bilingual parrot from this odd but wonderful video.
www.youtube.com/embed/OBOHPKMaZxo
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