A PARROT which plucked out his own feathers and refused to talk following the death of his owner is on the road to recovery - and has even started swearing.

The nine-year-old African grey parrot Jesse arrived at the RSPCA Ashley Heath animal centre following the death of his owner and quickly began to display signs of grief.

The centre staff decided to seek advice from behaviour and welfare advisor, Hannah Hawkins, who also has her own African Grey parrot.

She said: “The team noticed one day that Jesse had plucked out some of the feathers on his chest and had made his skin red and raw.

“It became clear that it was grief and stress that was causing the plucking.”

Bournemouth Echo: Jesse the parrot

Staff at the centre also said Jesse refused to speak but would occasionally whisper ‘goodbye’ to them.

She added: “We believe he’d been in the same home for his whole life and was much-loved so it’s not surprising he was struggling after such a sudden change.

The team knew that they needed to get Jesse into a stable home environment as quickly as possible.

Bournemouth Echo: Jesse the parrot

Hannah said: “We made sure Jesse got lots of attention and additional enrichment to try to help him while we screened potential homes to find the right match.”

It was Rachel Leather, a dog behaviourist from Aberdare, who was able to offer Jesse a forever home.

Rachel said: “He’s only been with us for a short time, but I can’t imagine how we ever existed without him."

Since joining Rachel in her South Wales home last month, Jesse has settled well and has started to talk again. Some of his feathers have started to grow back too.

Rachel added: “I cannot wait to watch him grow in confidence and personality and develop as he settles in more. We absolutely love him and it’s going to be a wonderful adventure with him joining the family.”

The cheeky parrot has also learned that Rachel’s partner calls her ‘Babe’ so shouts ‘Babe’ to get her attention and swears.