RSPCA searching for owner of singing cockatiel
Peek-a-boo was rescued on 14 November, in the Kearsley area of Bolton.
The RSPCA is hoping to reunite a talkative and tuneful parrot with his owner, after he was found straying in Bolton.
The charity believes that the male cockatiel, which they have named Peek-a-boo, originally came from a loving and caring home, due to his tame behaviour and ‘charming’ personality.
Peek-a-boo was rescued by the RSPCA on 14 November, after a member of the public found him near a bench on a road in the Kearsley area of Bolton. He was found uninjured, and taken into private boarding accommodation.
He soon impressed his rescuers when he broke into song while being moved from his boarding accommodation to stay with one of the charity’s foster carers. Once he had settled with his foster carer, he began to sing and talk more often.
A popular favourite of Peek-a-boo’s is ‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands’, which he sings regularly to claps of encouragement, and rounds off with a loud peck on his perch.
The RSPCA say that his intelligence and personality indicate that he is a loved family pet, meaning it is likely that he escaped accidentally. However, his ring did not provide enough information for them to locate his owner.
Helen Chapman, an RSPCA animal rescue officer, said: “Peek-a-boo is extremely tame and is a delightful character who has been well looked after and loved by someone, who must have spent a lot of time on him.”
She added: “Once he settled in with one of our regular foster carers, he was singing happily. His voice sounds like he is mimicking an older woman.
“It is such a shame that he is in this situation and if he has escaped accidentally then whoever owns him will surely be heartbroken that he is missing.”
Anyone with useful information should contact RSPCA’s appeal line on 0300 123 8018.
Image © RSPCA
Joanne Webster, a professor of parasitic diseases at the RVC, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).
