Five African grey parrots, named Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade, and Elsie, were recently separated due to their tendency to influence one another in using profane language with visitors at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Center in the U.K.
“We are quite used to parrots swearing, but we’ve never had five at the same time, and for some reason these five relish it,” says Steve Nichols, the zoo’s chief executive.
The profanity-spewing parrots provided considerable amusement for most visitors. As one observer put it, "When a parrot tells you to ‘f— off,’ it amuses people very highly, it’s brought a big smile to a really hard year".
African grey parrots are renowned for their remarkable ability to mimic and copy human speech and sounds. This behavior is rooted in their natural instincts and cognitive abilities.