THE owner of a parrot which went missing for three days has expressed her heartfelt thanks to all those who helped her find her beloved pet.
Prada, a three-year-old African grey parrot, went missing on the afternoon of Thursday, September 25.
The next day, owners Kathleen and Frank Morrison, who have had the bird who is "one of the family", since she was 15 weeks old, launched an appeal to find her, distributing 1,000 leaflets and hanging posters.
Kathleen – who is now known fondly as 'the parrot lady' in the village – was relieved when a family living close to Dart's Farm near Topsham rang her on Sunday afternoon to say they had found who they thought to be Prada.
By then, there had been two sightings and several neighbours had shown compassion by letting Kathleen, who had been searching for Prada for hours each day, sit in their gardens and call her home.
"We're so grateful to everyone who helped – people were so kind," said Kathleen who explained that Prada is let out of her cage when she or her husband are home and escaped through a veil over the greenhouse while she worked in the garden.
"I tried to keep positive the whole time, I'm sure that helped," she continued.
"I would search from dawn into the night.
"Then on Sunday, I'd been in 10 minutes from being out looking all day and I had a phone call and we went straight there.
"She was hanging upside down as they fed her seeds so it was hard to tell if it was her straight away.
"Then I said her name and she made a soft clicking noise as she does, and then jumped straight onto my finger and put her beak up to my lips, so I knew it was her.
"I couldn't believe it, we are ecstatic."
She added: "I've left the posters up because I had a call from a man in Topsham who lost his parrot around four weeks ago so if there are any more sightings it could be his pet.
"But I hope this gives other people hope that pets can return safely."
