A beloved African Grey parrot that vanished from a family home in southern England four years ago has stunned its owners — not only by returning out of nowhere, but by speaking fluent Spanish. The extraordinary story has captivated animal lovers across the UK and beyond, with many calling it one of the most heartwarming and bizarre reunions in recent memory.
Nigel, a talkative grey parrot once known for mimicking his owner’s accent flawlessly, disappeared from a seaside town in Hampshire in 2021. At the time, owner Darren Collins launched a desperate search, putting up flyers, contacting shelters, and speaking with local radio stations. “I never thought I’d see him again,” Darren told BBC News. “Then one day, I get a call — and they say, ‘We think we’ve found your parrot.’”
When Darren arrived at the rescue center, he immediately recognized the grey feathers and piercing yellow eyes. But something was different. Instead of greeting him with the usual cheeky “Alright mate?” Nigel squawked “¡Hola amigo!” and then broke into rapid Spanish, leaving his stunned owner standing speechless. “I swear I thought I was dreaming,” Darren said. “He didn’t even recognize me at first. But then, he started laughing — the same old laugh. That’s when I knew it was him.”
A missing parrot in the UK has been found after 4 years… speaking fluent Spanish. 🦜 @BBCNews
According to the RSPCA, Nigel was found wandering in a garden nearly 150 miles from where he originally went missing. A woman who noticed his distinctive red tail feathers brought him to a nearby veterinary clinic, where workers scanned his microchip. “He was healthy, feisty, and talkative — just in a completely different language,” a vet technician told The Guardian. “We had to use Google Translate to figure out what he was saying.”
Experts believe Nigel may have lived with a Spanish-speaking family during his disappearance. African Grey parrots are famous for their extraordinary ability to mimic human speech and even adopt new accents and languages. “He likely absorbed everything around him,” animal behaviorist Dr. Lucy Markham explained to The Independent. “For parrots, language is just another way of bonding. The fact that he now speaks Spanish tells us a lot about where he’s been.”
Darren says the reunion wasn’t instant. “At first, he kept calling me by some other name in Spanish,” he laughed during an interview with ITV News. “He didn’t respond to my voice like he used to. But after a few days, the old Nigel came back — just with a much bigger vocabulary.” The bird now switches between English and Spanish effortlessly, often mixing the two languages mid-sentence, to the amusement of Darren’s family.
“He squawked ‘¡Hola amigo!’ instead of ‘Alright mate?’ I nearly fell over.” — Nigel’s owner @itvnews
The story has exploded on social media, with hashtags like #ParrotReturns and #BilingualBird trending across X. Thousands have shared memes and jokes about Nigel’s “gap year abroad,” while others say his incredible linguistic switch shows how intelligent parrots truly are. “This parrot lived a better life than I did in four years,” one user joked. “He came back bilingual.”
Local reporters say Nigel has become something of a celebrity in his town overnight. Strangers have been stopping outside Darren’s house just to catch a glimpse of the talkative bird, who now greets everyone with a cheeky mix of “Hello!” and “¡Buenos días!” “He loves the attention,” Darren said. “He’s soaking it up like a little star.”
Animal experts told The Telegraph that Nigel’s case isn’t entirely unique — parrots have been known to vanish for years and return with new speech patterns. But few stories have captured the public’s imagination quite like this one. “It’s a beautiful reminder of how intelligent and adaptable these animals are,” Dr. Markham added.
Nigel the African Grey is back home after 4 years — and now speaks Spanish fluently. 🦜 @guardian
Since his return, Nigel has resumed many of his old habits — dancing to music, mimicking the sound of the kettle, and interrupting phone calls with loud, well-timed jokes. Darren admits, though, that their conversations are now a little more complicated. “I’ve actually started learning Spanish on my phone just to keep up,” he laughed. “I guess it’s his world now — I’m just living in it.”
The RSPCA has used Nigel’s case to remind pet owners about the importance of microchipping their birds and reporting lost pets right away. “His chip was the only reason we could find his original owner,” a spokesperson said. “Otherwise, this beautiful bird might never have made it home.”
For Darren, the reunion feels almost miraculous. “Four years is a long time. I thought he was gone for good,” he said softly. “But here he is — my cheeky boy, just a little more cultured than before.”
