It’s the question being uttered across the country several hundred times a day by Brits under lockdown: ‘Want a cuppa?’
A couple in London are eagerly taking up offers of a brew from their own pet parrot – and he can actually put the kettle on too.
Mary Larner, an office manager from Camden, drinks so much tea that Bertie, her three-year-old African Grey bird, has learned how to get the drink going.
Taking the nursery rhyme ‘Polly put the kettle on’ to new heights, Bertie shouts ‘want a cuppa?’ then waits for Mary’s response.
When she answers ‘yes please’ Bertie waddles over to the kettle and flicks the switch on to boil.
Mary, 60, said: ‘My husband and I are always asking if the other one wants a cuppa. We must ask it a bit too much because Bertie has picked up on it.
‘He’s managed to connect the phrase and the kettle, which does make us laugh. He also loves joining us for a morning cup of tea.
‘It’s just a pity that he can’t pour the water for us too.’
Mary filmed Bertie in action to prove how helpful he is around the house. She bought him three years ago after growing up with talking parrots as a child.
‘My husband bought him for my birthday and I’ve been besotted by him ever since,’ she said.
‘He was a slow learner but at 18 months he began showing off and now there’s no stopping him.’
Bertie also calls out the names of Mary and her children when they’re not there and when he’s not offering to make a cup of tea, he is unfortunately foul-mouthed, swearing a lot, Mary said.
It’s unclear where he picked that habit up.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
