London - He liked nothing better than to nibble on a shortbread biscuit with a cup of Earl Grey and a dash of honey.
You could often hear him singing Martha and the Vandellas hits or bopping along to some reggae.
And if trouble ever loomed for his owner Cara Cosson, he could always be relied on to bark like a dog.
But something dastardly happened to JoeJoe the parrot the day someone broke into her house while she was out.
A heartless intruder kidnapped the 16-year-old African Grey – and left a threatening letter made from newspaper headline clippings inside his cage.
The note is understood to have warned: “If you want to see the bird again text [phone number]. If you go to the police I will kill him.”
Quite what fate has befallen this remarkable performing bird is a mystery that has so far involved the police, a psychic, Parrot Society experts and an international appeal on the internet.
Alas, there has been no word from him since. Not even on Twitter.
The abductor struck two weeks ago while Miss Cosson, a 45-year-old contracts officer, was out at work.
She returned to her home in Bedford after her mother phoned her to say that there had been a break-in. But when she walked in, to her absolute despair she realised that JoeJoe was missing.
“He is not a pet, he is family,” said Miss Cosson, who has no children.
“I am devastated. People will think it’s just a bird but it’s not. It feels to me that my child has been kidnapped. I’m trying not to think the worst but I suspect the worst may already have happened.”
Nothing else was taken in the robbery and Miss Cosson, a divorcee who split up with her partner earlier this year, believes she knows who is responsible.
“The person who stole him has taken him because that is the only thing that would be able to hurt me,” she said.
The kidnap-style letter did not ask for money but said the bird would be killed if she called police.
But she did call them – and an immediate investigation was started by what ribald locals nicknamed the flying squad.
Bedfordshire police did arrest and bail a 40-year-old man on suspicion of burglary but are still searching for the bird.
Miss Cosson, who launched a Facebook appeal and pledged she would “never give up”, even consulted a clairvoyant in a desperate attempt to be reunited with the parrot that has been her companion since it was 14 weeks old.
The psychic used tarot cards to conclude that JoeJoe was still alive, and would be returned soon.
But she reportedly warned: “He won’t be in a good way.”
Looking on the brighter side, it should not be too difficult to identify JoeJoe should a stranger happen to come across him.
Play some Motown music and he will instantly dance to the beat on his perch. Wave a shortbread biscuit at him (Waitrose all-butter selection are his favourites) and he’ll happily sing for his supper.
He loves to whistle the Nina Simone version of Summertime and enjoys The Whispers’ hit Needle In A Haystack.
“He’s a real character and everyone who met him loves him,” Miss Cosson said.
“A lot of birds that are stolen actually die from shock, so I’m really worried. I just want him back.”
Who’s a pretty clever boy?
- The African Grey (Psittacus erithacus) has one of the sharpest brains in the animal kingdom, on a par with dolphins and chimpanzees
- They can develop “human” emotions such as laughter and sorrow, and imitate other birds as well as human speech
- Hand-reared African Greys are sold at 14 weeks and can cost about £750 - A singing, dancing, whistling adult with a good vocabulary such as JoeJoe would be valued in the thousands
- Humans are their most dangerous predators – 5 000 a year are traded internationally, leading to a big fall in population
- Adults are just over 1ft tall with an 18-inch wingspan
- Bored African Greys can become literally as sick as a parrot – the distress can cause them to pluck their feathers out until they are bald
- Some live to over 70 in captivity before they go to meet their maker, as John Cleese famously phrased it
- They love fruit and nuts, but chocolate is toxic to them
Daily Mail