THE distraught owners of Merlin the parrot have told of their desperate search for their pet after he flew out of their York home a week ago.

Amanda and John Gardiner say the African Grey is like a part of their family, and they have hardly been able to eat or sleep since he went missing.

The couple, of Maplehurst Avenue, off Huntington Road, are hoping readers of The Press can work a little magic by looking out for Merlin and calling them if they spot him.

Amanda said they had owned Merlin for more than seven years, having been given him by a friend after initially looking after him while she was away on holiday. The bird could speak, for example saying “hello” when they walked in the room and “bye- see you later” when they left.

Merlin was allowed to fly freely around their home, and often spent a lot of time sitting on top of his cage.

“Last week, I was mopping in the kitchen when the door blew open and I rushed to shut it but was a split second too late, and he flew out,” Amanda said.

“He flew to the top of some student flats nearby, and a girl let us go to her bedroom, where John was trying for ages to coax him down, but then he just flew off towards Heworth.”

Amanda said they had tried to find him by sticking notices up in bus shelters from Poppleton to Fulford and from Strensall to Bishopthorpe, as well as advertising in The Press, but so far they had received no genuine news of sightings.

About 100 members of a birdwatchers’ association were out looking for Merlin at the weekend but in vain, but Amanda believes he is still somewhere in the York area.

“We are absolutely devastated,” she said. “He’s like a member of the family. I can’t eat anything and can hardly sleep.”

Merlin, who had a distinctive red tail and a bald chest because he pecked off his feathers, needs special food and is very nervous.

Anyone who spots him should phone 01904 621296 or 07708 733938.