The UK's biggest parrot sanctuary is home to over 1,000 birds. And some have learned coarse language from their former owners. That is drawing visitors from across the world.
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00:00Happy birthday to you!
00:06With this jolly jingle and a warm welcome,
00:09you'd be forgiven for thinking these colourful creatures are the stars of this wildlife sanctuary on England's east coast.
00:16But look a little further and you'll find the real VIPs.
00:21These parrots can squawk some of the saltiest swear words this side of the seven seas,
00:26persecuting visitors and staff alike.
00:31I heard that.
00:33As I'm walking past, I might hear a parrot say,
00:36are you a fat bee?
00:38And you think, that's not really good, I don't really want that.
00:41And then one will just tell you to F off.
00:43But then when you walk past and somebody uses a C word or something like that,
00:47and you think, oh my lord, that is a bit too much.
00:50They're swearing has shot these parrots to international stardom.
00:55With fans flocking to hear England's famous foul-mouthed birds.
01:01Love you!
01:03I'm not offended, sorry, don't bother me at all.
01:06You're not offended either are you?
01:08No, not easily offended.
01:10To be honest, when they're mixing with the other parrots,
01:13I think they'll probably just stop swearing with a bit of luck and be like parrots should be.
01:18Oh, behave yourself.
01:20Thankfully the staff are just as entertained as the visitors.
01:24You can never tell them not to because we laugh too much at it.
01:27The public love it as well.
01:29When they come up and the parrots are talking to them and they tell them to go somewhere,
01:34the laughs that you get, you can hear them across the park.
01:37Which is just, it's really nice to hear.
01:39Blame lies with five particularly profane parrots.
01:43Sanctuary CEO Steve took them in from private homes during the Covid pandemic.
01:48To his surprise, all five could swear.
01:51Concerned they'd ruffle a few feathers, Steve hatched a plan.
01:54We integrated them to a bigger group of parrots.
01:58And most parrots, they learn all the common noises like vehicles reversing or microwaves,
02:03or you can hear like telephone noises.
02:05And the general idea was if these rogue parrots heard more of the common noises,
02:12they'd stop using the swear words.
02:14It didn't really work.
02:16There was one or two of them that picked up the swear words.
02:19These highly intelligent African greys are quick learners.
02:23And with another sound now picking up steam, Steve has a new problem on his hands.
02:30People teach them farting noises.
02:33And they do it at the most inopportune times.
02:36And I can hear them.
02:38And they'll do everything from a very short noise to a really long noise.
02:41Then his head starts bobbing.
02:43And he starts laughing himself and walks away.
02:45And you think, oh no, not another one.
02:46So between swearing and farting, I don't know if it's a good place to bring your kids.
02:52To Steve's relief, the parrots across the sanctuary are still PG.
02:58They're yet to pick up the profanities.
03:01But they do hear their naughty neighbours are very funny.