In Edmonton, North London, a Macaw parrot recently found itself trapped on the roof of a building for three days. When officers from the London Fire Brigade showed up to rescue the Macaw parrot, called Jessie, the bird told them to “f**k off”.
According to what Chris Swallow, fire brigade watch manager, told the Telegraph, they thought the bird was injured, so volunteers were sent up to try and coax her down from the roof. The parrot’s owners told the rescue crews to say “I love you,” to calm her down and hopefully get her to follow, yet instead she only repeatedly told members of the fire crew to f**k off.
The rescue workers tried everything they could, like using the word “come” in both Turkish and Greek, two of the languages that Jessie's owner taught her.
After a lengthy standoff, Jessie decided to come down from the roof on her own, proving that she wasn't injured. As the Telegraph reports, Jessie flew to another roof and then to a tree before she eventually ended up back with her owner.
For the longest time, it wasn't widely believed that parrots understood what they were saying. Scientists theorized that they were merely mimicking and replicating terms that they repeatedly heard from their owners. Nevertheless, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Georgia, these birds do understand the meanings behind most of the words that they say.
Among many other findings, the researchers showed that parrots alter their speech depending on the people in the room. So it can safely be assumed that something similar was taking place when Jessie was in a distressed situation, on a high rooftop while surrounded by a bunch of strangers.
Jessie the parrot in now home safe & sound with her owner and she had this to say to the firefighters who came to help her in #Edmonton https://t.co/Th2nlVCq7I pic.twitter.com/3ABkzH2nHY
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) August 14, 2018
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