Page 3 Profile: Wunsy, the African grey parrot

Wunsy, the African grey parrot (PA)

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Right the first time. But Wunsy isn’t any old ball of feathers. He’s a crime-fighting African Grey parrot.

What’d he do, foil a holdup?

Not quite. While being taken for a constitutional in Sunny Hill Park in Hendon, north London, he witnessed his female owner being grabbed by a man and thrown to the ground. Wunsy rounded on the aggressor, squawking and flapping his wings. The man ran off. His owner was unharmed.

That’ll teach him

Perhaps, but police still want to catch the perpetrator. Pc Chris Cutmore said: “Although the parrot Wunsy came to her rescue, we are obviously very keen to trace the suspect and prevent him from attacking anybody else.”

One to have on your side in a fight then

Yes, or even a murder investigation. Earlier this year, a parrot named Hercule helped police in India catch the killer of a 45-year-old woman. Noticing a change in Hercule’s behaviour whenever his nephew visited or his name was mentioned, the dead woman’s husband informed police, who swiftly took the young man into custody where he confessed.

Keep going…

Well, there’s the Chinese “geese police” who ward off troublemakers in rural Xinjiang, the dog who phoned 911 after his owner had a seizure, the llama guards used on farms to fend off sheep rustlers…