Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in the United Kingdom is attempting a new strategy to curb the habits of its swearing African gray parrots.
Officials hope exposing the birds to a larger flock will curb their potty mouths.
The birds have acquired a degree of fame and notoriety, with their likenesses used in marketing strategies to attract more visitors. They have even been making appearances on radio and television. The park has also begun selling t-shirts of the birds emblazoned with a censored version of a swear word.
Park officials isolated the original five foul-mouthed birds that were donated in 2020 from the rest of the flock, and since then, three more swearing birds — named Captain, Sheila, and Eric — have been donated. Steve Nichols, chief executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, said six birds have learned to mimic men’s voices, and two learned to imitate women’s voices, forming a chorus that Nichols described as “really bad,” per CNN.
Now, caretakers have decided to take a different approach to taming the birds’ foul mouths, integrating the eight “really, really offensive” birds with the flock of 92 birds that are not prone to swearing. The hope is that the eight birds will pick up the “nice noises” made by the larger flock and swear less frequently.
Nichols told CNN that they heard a deluge of expletives when they tried to move the birds.
“When we came to move them, the language that came out of their carrying boxes was phenomenal, really bad. Not normal swear words; these were proper expletives,” said Nichols.
Nichols said that staff have heard more customers swearing at the birds than birds swearing at patrons. He noted that the parrots try to mimic what they hear, and expletives are easier to mimic because they are usually said in the same tone and context.
“I’ve just left them up there, and there’s lots of noises, which is brilliant … from squeaking gates to doors slamming, people laughing and mobile phones,” said Nichols, per CNN.
While hopeful that this exposure will curb their swearing habits, officials noted that the birds may not stop swearing entirely. If the others pick up their habits, the enclosure may become an “adult aviary.”