A talkitive African grey parrot is back home after making a bid for freedom into the Scottish countryside.

Anne Ferguson, 76, hatched Rio the parrot and his partner Lola around eight years ago.

But Ms Ferguson was horrified to discover Rio had escaped from her home in Spean Bridge, Highlands, when she found his cage door had been left open.

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Her daughter, Kim Ferguson, who also lives in Spean Bridge, appealed to the public on social media to keep an eye open for Rio.

After escaping on Monday evening, Rio was eventually found by a dog walker at a commando memorial near the village on Wednesday.

Anne and Kim quickly made their way to the site before Rio could make another bid for freedom.

Kim said: “We keep them at mum’s home and the door to their flight was somehow left ajar.

“He was missing for about 40 hours.

“We found him hiding among the ferns chattering away to himself. It’s a good job he hid or he could have become lunch for a crow or a buzzard.

“Rio was delighted to see my mum and I, and quite happy to be put in a net. He didn’t make any attempt to get away.”

While Anne and Kim are delighted to have Rio back, Kim is not so sure Lola felt the same, revealing that she ignored him.

Kim added: “They are both gorgeous birds, but Rio can be very noisy.

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“He says ridiculous things such as ‘Rangers are rubbish’, and I’m a Rangers fan. He also says ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a boy’ - we just can’t get him to say wall.”

“And he wolf whistles all the time.”