Churchill's Parrot

[madape]

SHE WAS at Winston Churchill's side during Britain's darkest hour. And now Charlie the parrot is 104 years old...and still cursing the Nazis.

Her favourite sayings were "F*** Hitler" and "F*** the Nazis". And even today, 39 years after the great man's death, she can still be coaxed into repeating them with that unmistakable Churchillian inflection.

Many an admiral or peer of the realm was shocked by the tirade from the bird's cage during crisis meetings with the PM.

But it always brought a smile to the war leader's face.

Churchill bought Charlie - giving him a boy's name despite the fact she was female - in 1937.

She took pride of place in a bizarre menagerie of pets including lambs, pigs, cattle, swans and, at one point, a leopard.

He immediately began to teach her to swear - particularly in company - and she is keeping up the tradition today.

The blue and gold macaw is believed to be Britain's oldest bird.

The title was previously thought to belong to 80-year-old Cokky the cockatoo.

But it can be proved Charlie is at least 104 and was born in the 19th century.

Peter Oram bought her for his pet shop after Churchill died in 1965. But he was forced to move her into his home after she kept swearing at children.

For the last 12 years, she has lived at Mr Oram's garden centre in Reigate, Surrey.

Centre worker Sylvia Martin said: "If truth be told, Charlie is looking a little scruffy but she is very popular with the public. We are all very attached to her."

James Humes, an expert on the late PM, said: "Churchill may no longer be with us but that spirit and those words of defiance and resolve continue."

Charlie's story is in this month's Jack Magazine, on sale Thursday

[Male30Dan]

That is one old ass bird!

My cockatoo is 18!!!

[Smiles]

My dad wants to get a parrot, or a Macau (sp?), or some other bodaciously big bird. As precious as they can be, I keep trying to talk him out of it - I know who would end up "inheriting" the animal. He has a love bird - isn't that enough?

[madape]

You will inherit the bird. Then, when you die, your children will inherit it. And if it lives as long as Charlie, your children's children will inherit it.

This bird was born in the 19th century for pete's sake! He was around before flying machines.. before moving pictures.. before radio!

If your dad buys a bird, who knows what innovations he'll live through. I bet by the time he's done you could even replace his dying body with a bionic one. He could live for 500 years! He could teleport to Mars. He could get to move things with his mind. He could even travel back through time to give you a kiss.

If a strange looking parrot with robotic arms comes by to kiss you, you'll know what's up!

[Evilmav2]

I can't believe I didn't know about this. That's great...

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: Evilmav2
I can't believe I didn't know about this. That's great...

I thought the same thing.

[mercury_rev]

That's crazy! Didn't know they lived that long.

We rescued a starling who lived to be 15. Thought that was old but this tops it all!

[Male30Dan]

Dont get the wrong idea... This is not normal... Most parrots will live to be 65-75 years old IF they are taken care of properly and fed a good diet. This is simply a lucky bird!

[madape]

Mystery Deepens over 'Churchill's Parrot'

By John Bingham, PA News


The mystery of whether a foul-mouthed 104-year-old parrot really was wartime prime minister Winston Churchill’s feathered friend deepened today as experts threw doubt on the claims.

Charlie, a blue and yellow macaw thought by his owner to be the oldest bird in Britain, has long since retired from public life and is living out his days in a garden centre in Reigate, Surrey.

His owner, Peter Oram, claims his father-in-law Percy Dabner sold Charlie to the future war leader at his Croydon pet shop in 1937 and later took the bird back after Sir Winston’s death in 1965.

He says Charlie may have picked up his repertoire of swear words from the wartime leader, who was voted the Greatest Briton in a BBC poll last year.

But the Churchill family has questioned the story and experts doubt whether or not the former prime minister, ever owned a parrot.

Staff at Chartwell, Churchill’s country home in Kent now run by the National Trust, have conducted painstaking search of records and photographs without finding evidence that he even owned a parrot.

Judith Seaward, marketing manager at Chartwell, said: “We really looked and looked and know he had a budgerigar and all sorts of other animals.

“He loved animals, he had dogs, cats, pigs – but there’s no record of a parrot.

“We have searched what we’ve got here and spoken to members of the family who I really would have thought would have known.

“We do have an insight into the personal side, the more domestic side, and can’t find any record of a parrot.”

Sylvia Martin, nursery manager at Heathfield Nurseries, where Charlie is spending his retirement, defended his claim to wartime valour.

She said: “He definitely did belong to Churchill.

“My boss Peter Oram’s father-in-law sold the parrot to Churchill and when he died they were asked to go back to Chartwell and collect the birds and brought them away.

“He had him from 1937 to 1965. When he died they were asked to go and collect some birds and Charlie was one of them.”

Charlie then spent time at the family’s Croydon pet shop before retiring to Mr Oram’s nursery in Reigate.

Mrs Martin added: “He did used to swear but since he’s come to us he’s a lot more educated.

“He doesn’t swear – I haven’t heard him swear but Peter says he swears, his vocabulary isn’t very extensive.”

Mr Oram’s son Mark, who still runs Dabner’s pet shop in Croydon, testified to Charlie’s foul mouth.

“It’s mostly ’What’s my name? What’s your name?’ he’ll say ‘Mark’, he’ll say ‘Peter’, but he certainly does swear, he knows several swear words.”

Mr Oram junior would not be drawn on whether the parrot once belonged to Churchill, saying he was not old enough to remember his grandfather.

“My dad had him before I was born. We’ve had him ever since I can remember,” he said.

Whether or not Charlie really did play a part in the war effort, his Dunkirk spirit is not in doubt.

Mr Oram said: “A long time ago we had a break-in at the Croydon shop, they broke all the fish tanks and were trying to kill all the animals.

“They plucked him and stabbed him. He was in the vets and at home for about a year.

“Literally, he was lying on the floor when they came in, I was very young at the time. Obviously he was in quite a state and we had him home for quite a long time before he went back to the shop.”