When Nigel the African grey parrot was still under his first owner’s care, he used to have quite an impressive British accent.
Undoubtedly, that is due to the fact that his owner, Darren Chick, although living in sunny southern California, was indeed British-born. One day in 2010 Nigel disappeared from his US residence and did not make a return until four years later.
However, something was very different about the animal when he was reunited with Mr Chick- he spoke in Spanish!
After someone had found the bird who had flown away again in 2014, it was helpfully taken to a veterinarian’s office who managed to find out his owner’s details through accessing the bird’s microchip.
Although being overjoyed by the news of having his pet back, Chick gave back Nigel to the Torrance family with whom he had stayed throughout all these years.
The Torrance Daily Breeze wrote that someone from the family had emailed them after hearing about the bird’s return to his previous owner. Furthermore, they mentioned how devastated they were after the bird flew away from their home.
Liza Smith, who actually wrote to the media outlet, explained that her grandparents had purchased the parrot, who they named Morgan, at a garage sale for the sum of $400. So, in reality, Nigel or ‘Morgan’ had picked up on the Spanish language from her Guatemalan-born grandad.
Smith told the newspaper that they were “just over the moon” after having their beloved pet back, as it had built a special bond with her grandfather, especially after he lost his wife.
The parrot is considered by the family as “one of the last mementoes ” for her grandad, as she worded it in her e-mail to the Torrance Daily Breeze. Furthermore, she added that “Morgan’s loss has been hard on him. They have a very special bond.”
In addition, some of Morgan’s many talents, Smith has said, include knowing the first bars of the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly , as well as the names of the family’s three dogs. What’s more, he also likes to imitate the way they bark and enjoys to mimick beeping sounds made by the early-morning trash trucks.
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