Mystery of the Parrot that Says No to £10,000
The Sunday Times, UK
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Who’s not such a clever boy, then? Ziggy, the talking parrot said to have squawked to his owner about his lover’s infidelity, has missed out on his share of a £10,000 payment, writes Maurice Chittenden.
As broadcasters offered the bird the chance to swap his perch for a sofa on breakfast TV, his ruffled owners have gone into hiding. “Hiya, Gary,” the bird is said to have trilled in a flirtatious tone when Chris Taylor’s girlfriend Suzy Collins answered her mobile phone at their home in Headingley, Leeds.
But Taylor did not know anybody called Gary and when Collins admitted to an affair, apparently dumped the girl. But he also got rid of the bird, irritated by its mimicking of Collins’s endearments.
He was said to have found a new owner for him through a pet shop. Although the story went around the world last week — “Polly’s got a secret”, said a headline in the Chicago Tribune, “Parrot kisses and tells” announced the Geelong Advertiser in Australia — the couple refused to be reunited with the bird for a photograph this weekend.
All three were said to be spurning tabloid offers of £10,000 for an exclusive picture.
Jan 22, 2006
The Sunday Times, UK
________________
Who’s not such a clever boy, then? Ziggy, the talking parrot said to have squawked to his owner about his lover’s infidelity, has missed out on his share of a £10,000 payment, writes Maurice Chittenden.
As broadcasters offered the bird the chance to swap his perch for a sofa on breakfast TV, his ruffled owners have gone into hiding. “Hiya, Gary,” the bird is said to have trilled in a flirtatious tone when Chris Taylor’s girlfriend Suzy Collins answered her mobile phone at their home in Headingley, Leeds.
But Taylor did not know anybody called Gary and when Collins admitted to an affair, apparently dumped the girl. But he also got rid of the bird, irritated by its mimicking of Collins’s endearments.
He was said to have found a new owner for him through a pet shop. Although the story went around the world last week — “Polly’s got a secret”, said a headline in the Chicago Tribune, “Parrot kisses and tells” announced the Geelong Advertiser in Australia — the couple refused to be reunited with the bird for a photograph this weekend.
All three were said to be spurning tabloid offers of £10,000 for an exclusive picture.
Jan 22, 2006
