August 1, 2025 | London, UK — It was supposed to be a straightforward animal rescue, but firefighters in North London quickly learned that one bird had other plans. Jessie, a multilingual Macaw parrot, had spent three days perched stubbornly on a roof in Edmonton. When the London Fire Brigade (LFB) arrived to bring her down, the rescue turned unexpectedly colorful.

Crew manager Atinc Horoz climbed a ladder to reach the stranded parrot, armed not with equipment but with words. “Say ‘I love you’—it’s the best way to bond with her,” he was advised. Dutifully, he tried. To everyone’s surprise, Jessie replied, “I love you” right back—before launching into an expletive-filled tirade that sent the crew into laughter.

“She definitely had a foul mouth,” admitted watch manager Chris Swallow. “One minute it was ‘I love you,’ the next minute she was telling us exactly what she thought of our efforts.”

As it turned out, Jessie’s vocabulary wasn’t limited to English. She also understands Turkish and Greek, and the crew tried coaxing her with “come” in both languages. But the parrot had no interest in polite cooperation. After a few choice words, she simply spread her wings, flew to another rooftop, and then into a nearby tree—very much alive, very much in control, and clearly enjoying the spectacle she’d created.