A cockatoo who spent three months at Heathrow after being detained over a paperwork issue has been freed.<br /><br />Charlie, four, was supposed to be reunited with Jess Adlard, 33, in August.<br /><br />She moved from Pennsylvania in the US to the UK in November 2022 but had to leave her pet behind.<br /><br />Charlie was supposed to arrive nine months later - but was held at Heathrow over a missing form on landing.<br /><br />This week, Jess and husband Joe, 36, a customers clearance agent, drove down to Heathrow to take Charlie home and said he is chatting up a storm.<br /><br />Jess, a former pharmacy technician, from Loughborough, Leics., said: "I feel relief and joy - I feel so complete.<br /><br />"He has coped brilliantly, I didn't expect to be hearing 'I love you' for a month or two at least.<br /><br />"For him to say it on the first day we pick him up is amazing.<br /><br />"Charlie is a tough little guy, he is settling in great - he has exceeded every expectation."<br /><br />Joe, 36, a customs clearance agent, flew out to the US to bring Charlie to the UK.<br /><br />But once they landed the cockatoo was held over a missing document, they say.<br /><br />Jess, said: "They said the original export permit was missing - but it was with Charlie when he left the airport in the States.<br /><br />"It has cost us £6,000 to get him here.<br /><br />"We have sent picture copies over to them but they say they need to see the original but it was with Charlie.<br /><br />"We haven't heard anything from them since September."<br /><br />Jess bought Charlie, a rose-breasted cockatoo in December 2019 and said he is "a cheeky chap".<br /><br />She was unable to speak to Charlie for months and said staff at the private animal facility have been playing the movie Rio - about a talking bird - on a tablet to calm him.<br /><br />Joe and Jess are both over the moon to have him home and are excited to start the next chapter of their life.<br /><br />Joe said: This morning is the first time Jess has been able to wake up and give Charlie his good morning routine.<br /><br />"He likes his new digs pretty well, I have bee whistling to him and we have been bobbing our heads together.<br /><br />"I have been whispering that I love him and he has been saying it back, he is so ready to be part of our lives."
