UPS driver Lee Purdy arrived at a home in Oregon for a regular delivery, but when he heard a voice calling out to him from inside he didn't know what to do. Someone was shouting "help me" from inside and he was the only one around.
"I wasn't sure what to think at first," Purdy said. He was suspicious of the calls because he could also hear a parrot cawing, but he couldn't be sure. He called the police to get them to do a courtesy check and when they arrived they found a happy little parrot who was quite proud of himself.
Sergeant Brian Jensen said, "sure enough it was Diego the parrot yelling for help. Nobody was in distress. Diego was fine."
Purdy was still wondering why this bird knew the phrase, he said "there's got to be a reason." Diego's owner, Susan Baird, was able to clear up all of his doubts when she heard about the whole mishap with a really sweet story...
Diego's flair for the dramatic goes back several decades. He was born in 1976 and has lived with Baird for around twenty years. He has grown really fond of his owner and she says he is "very personable."
Baird recalled a time when she had a group of friends over and they were in another room and Diego started to call out "help me" until she came back. He is very attached to Baird, so when she went away for two weeks he was getting a little needy.
Her daughter was staying with him in the house, but apparently when he heard someone at the door he thought it may have been Baird. He started calling out hoping she would come see him but his owner obviously wasn't back yet.
"He does not like me to be gone for a long time," Baird said. "He has really missed me." Purdy was happy to hear the explanation and said that it "sounds reasonable."
As soon as Baird got home Diego started to give her his "I'm happy you're home kind of spiel," she said. "I opened the cage and he was just wanting to make contact," Baird said. "He's just a part of the family."
