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True Story of an Intelligent Parrot That Disappeared, Learned Another Language, and Starred in an Emotional and Unexpected Reunion Between Two Families Forever in the United States
Scientific research has been showing over the years that many animals have surprising cognitive abilities. Crows can solve multi-step challenges, chimpanzees are capable of stealing objects from humans and then trading them for food, and dolphins, when trained, learn to differentiate complex verbal instructions. These examples help to understand why stories involving animal intelligence continue to spark curiosity and emotion, like in the case of the parrot Nigel.
An Unexplained Disappearance
It was in this context that the story of Nigel, a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) who lived with his British owner, Darren Chick, in the city of Torrance, California (USA), gained prominence.
In 2010, the animal simply disappeared, leaving the owner without any clues as to what might have happened.
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Four years later, the owners of a pet shop in the area found a parrot that appeared to be lost and decided to search for its owner.
Although the animal had a microchip, the device was not registered. The first suspicion was that the bird belonged to a local breeder who was also searching for a missing bird.
The Search That Led to the Reunion
The parrot was not from the breeder, but she, Teresa Micco, decided to help. The investigation led her to a pet store called Animal Lovers, which still kept old sales records.
From this information, Micco went to the home of the man listed as the owner.
“I introduced myself and asked, ‘Did you lose a bird?’,” she recounted. Darren replied “no,” believing it was a recent case.
However, as soon as he saw the animal, he immediately recognized his former companion.
Speaking Spanish: A Detail That Changed Everything
There was, however, an unexpected fact. Nigel, previously known for repeating words in English with a British accent, now spoke Spanish.
Among the expressions were “buenos días” and “loro macho, loro macho.” The polyglot parrot had changed its language.
Days later, when the case made headlines in the newspapers, the explanation emerged. During this period, Nigel was raised by a family of Guatemalan descent, who bought him at a garage sale for US$ 400.
New Bonds and a Difficult Decision
Besides Spanish, the parrot began to imitate the barks of the three dogs in the house, the sound of the garbage truck, and even the initial notes of the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Ruben Hernandez, 86, was the one who cared for the bird the most and was also searching for it. Recently widowed, he was experiencing a double mourning for the loss of his talking companion.
The family only requested one last meeting between Hernandez and the parrot. Touched, Darren decided that the best thing would be to leave Nigel, also called Morgan by the new family, in the care of the elderly man. Teresa Micco even helped to build an aviary to prevent further escapes.
All this happened in 2014. Since then, there have been no more news of Nigel or his two families.
Considering that the life expectancy of a grey parrot in captivity is about 60 years, there is hope that he is still out there, conversing in two languages.
With information from Galileu Magazine.
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