Yahoo News North Tyneside grandmother 'hasn't been able to smile' since African Grey parrot escaped from garden
A North Tyneside grandmother says she hasn't been able to smile since her parrot escaped from her garden over a week ago.
Tracey Hall, 52, took her three-year-old African Grey parrot Tilly out into the garden in her cage on Sunday, August 18. The mum-of-two often takes Tilly out to enjoy fresh air and sun, and has never had issues before.
However, she believes that the parrot, which is among the smartest and most popular pet birds in the world, managed to open her cage and fly away from her North Shields home. Now, a heartbroken Tracey is offering a £200 to get her beloved bird back home.
Tilly is thought to have been spotted on nearby Cragside Avenue and Netherton Avenue since her disappearance, but Tracey is growing increasingly concerned with the bird now missing for 11 days.
Tracey told ChronicleLive: "She's so much fun, she just brings joy to everybody's life. She's cheeky, she's sassy, and she's really lovable."
African Greys are considered the greatest mimic of human speech among the 350 or so known parrot species, with research showing that they possess cognitive skills equal to a five-year-old human child. Tracey says that Tilly sings songs, shouts for chips and ice cream, and shouts at her nine-year-old three-legged pet Maltese terrier, Rosie.
Tracey said: "There's so much that she says really, I'm absolutely destroyed. I've never felt pain like this in my life."
Tracey, who has anxiety, depression, and physical disabilities, says that Tilly talks to her and makes her laugh when she is having a bad day. She added: "I struggle to imagine life without her being here, to me it's like losing a child.
"I haven't even been able to smile since she left, every day that passes I feel my heart hurting more. I can't sleep, eat or relax not knowing where she is, if she's still in the wild or if someone has her."
The 52-year-old has called around local vets, shared relentlessly on Facebook, and says she has stopped hundreds of people to ask them if they'd seen the charismatic bird - but the search continues. Reliving the awful moment she realised Tilly had escaped, she added: "I remember seeing her flying away and I was just screaming."
Tracey is praying for Tilly's safe return not just for herself, but for her grandson Logan, who is three, just like Tilly. She finished: "He is absolutely heartbroken, he is the same age as Tilly, they've grown up together.
"It would mean the world to have her returned safely. I ask for that one wish in life, and I swear I'd never ask for another one because I just want Tilly home."
