Meet the Oban couple who love to walk their exotic birds through the streets of the west coast town, ruffling a few feathers as they go.
Laura Dailly, 25, and her partner Kyou Houghton have revealed to The Press and Journal how three of their birds – Sisu, Pablo and Nea – love to get out and about and meet people.
The trio even have special walking harnesses fitted so that if the temptation to fly away happens, Laura and Kyou can always draw them back to safety.
The couple and their birds are a familiar sight around Oban, with regular visits to shops in the town.
Back home they also keep two “feral” budgies who prefer to keep their perch warm.
Oban couple Kyou and Laura walk their birds around town
Nea, who is five-and-a-half, is an albino cockatiel – and best friends with her owner, shop worker Laura.
Nea can’t bare to be away from her and loves to give her a little peck on the cheek.
Meanwhile, Sisu, a green wing macaw who is seven months old, can’t bear to be apart from 29-year-old Kyou, an IT specialist.
The mischievous bird weighs around the same as two bags of sugar and loves taking a little nibble at Kyou’s arm to show how much he is loved.
Pablo, a blue Indian Ringback who is seven months old, was parent-reared – the term for being brought up among other birds – and is not about to be anyone’s best friend.
However, he does love a walk in the open air.
Laura and Kyou like to give the birds as many experiences as possible.
As The Press and Journal were out taking photos for the group, a collie dog took a great interest in the birds – and they took a great interest back.
A parrot on a walk in Oban – no one can believe it
As celebrity birds go, Sisu was from the same breeder as Waddlesworth who starred in 102 Dalmations as a delusional bird that thought he was a dog.
Sisu’s only word so far is “hello”, but there may be more words as she is still just a baby.
Kyou said: “The birds all have their own characters – with things they like and don’t like.
“Pablo likes corn and can be a bit picky with other foods, but generally the birds eat seeds and nuts along with sweet potato and carrot.
“At home Sisu lives in a cage half the size of our room but she likes to sit on me for hours while we watch the TV.
“Pablo is a bit of an escape artist but will go back in his cage. ”
Laura said: “People love the birds. Kids want to come and touch them.
“We get out often with them.
“There are shops we can take them to like Oban Pet Shop, Pets at Home, Homebase and Argos.
“There is one woman in Argos who will ask us why we have not brought the birds in to see her.
“People always ask us – ‘is that real?’ or ‘is that a stuffed animal’? No one can quite believe it.
“But the birds love getting out, even in the rain – they love a walk.”
The birds will be here for some time yet.
Pablo could live until he is 30 or 40 while Sisu could be here until she is 80.
The life expectancy for Nea is 15-20 years.
Love bird? Read about Aberdeenshire’s ‘parrot king’ here.
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