Missing cockatiel returns after singing Addams Family

A cockatiel who flew from his cage has been returned to his owner after he was heard singing The Addams Family theme.

Six-month-old Smidge escaped from his travel cage which was accidentally left open by his owner Rhys Owen, in Hoylake, Merseyside, on Tuesday.

In an effort to get him back, Mr Owen drove around his estate playing the show's theme, which he says is the bird's "favourite song".

After a Facebook post about Smidge, the bird was returned by a local farm.

Mr Owen said he was "in shock" after the cockatiel flew through an opening in his travel cage, while he was trying to put it in his car.

"I watched him in slow motion going away.

"He sings The Addams Family - that's his favourite song - so I put it on full blast in my car and blare it out and drive around the estate, all the windows down, hoping to get him back."

After Mr Owens posted about the missing bird on local Facebook groups, a user commented that the bird had been found in a tree at a farm about a mile away.

"Everyone in the farm heard The Addams Family song over and over again," Mr Owens said.

"They knew something wasn't right so they sent this lad up to see what it was.

"He goes right up to it. It doesn't fight and he just grabs hold of it.

"Apparently the chances of finding a cockatiel are very slim so we were heartbroken. We thought he had disappeared so when I got him, it was like finding your kid, it was amazing."

The Addams Family featured a fictional household of macabre oddballs, first seen in magazine cartoons in the 1930s and later TV series and movies, which were famed for their catchy finger-snapping theme.

Mr Owens said he has now got a new travel cage so Smidge can continue to travel with him to his work at a gym.