A parrot sanctuary in England has had to separate five foul-mouthed parrots who keepers say were encouraging each other to swear.
Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade and Elsie joined Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre's colony of grey parrots, and quickly overwhelmed the staff with their naughty language. "We are quite used to parrots swearing, but we've never had five at the same time," said the zoo. "Most parrots clam up outside, but for some reason these five relish it."
The zoo told BBC News that the parrots "swear to trigger reaction or a response," so seeing people shocked or laughing only encourages the birds to curse more. "With the five, one would swear and another would laugh and that would carry on."
According to the zoo's chief executive, none of the zoo's visitors complained about the parrots, and most found them amusing. "When a parrot tells you to 'f*** off' it amuses people very highly," he said. "It's brought a big smile to a really hard year."
Still, keepers thought it would be best to keep them away from children. They were moved to different areas of the park so they don't "set each other off," he said.
One of England's most revered comedians, Barry Cryer, was famous for his parrot jokes. Here's one that's particularly appropriate to round off this article:
A man owns a parrot that can't stop swearing. So he says to him, 'If you don't stop swearing, I'll put you in the fridge.' The parrot keeps on swearing. So he puts it in the fridge. Five minutes later, he takes the parrot out of the fridge, and says to it, 'Are you going to stop swearing?' 'Yes,' says the parrot. 'But what did that chicken do?'
More Barry Cryer jokes