Last Words

Tarbu, a 55-year-old parrot, has died and he squawked his last words 'Cheerio'.

The domestic African Grey, believed to be one of the oldest domesticated parrots in the world, said his last words before his owner went to bed. The next morning he was so weak that he couldn't even say 'Good Morning' to his owner and sadly he dropped dead from his perch. His owner Mrs Morgan believes that his long life was due to the fact that she spoilt him and let him munch on his favourite food, Kit Kats.

Before living with Mrs Morgan, he had an eventful life due to being rescued from and animal trader in 1957 and was even taken into police custody after going missing. Every time his owner left the house he would shout 'Cheerio, bye, see you soon'. He would even 'woof, woof' at dogs and 'miaow, miaow' at cats that passed the window.

He even alerted partially-deaf Mrs Morgan to the doorbell by shouting "cooeee" and her name "Nina", as she could not hear it ring. Mrs Morgan, who lives alone, said she was distraught after the death of her pet who has been with her for 55 years. "He was a very intelligent bird. We never taught him to speak, he just seemed to pick up words here and there" She said. "The night before he died I went up to bed and he said 'cheerio' to me from his cage. It was the last thing that he said.

"The next morning he was on the top perch of his cage with both of his wings hanging down. I talked to him as usual and he gave me one or two little squeaks.I went to make a cup of tea and when I came back he was dead at the bottom of the cage. I cried for two days and I just miss him so much."