A drunken man in central Russia is accused of stealing a neighbor's pet parrot ?€” to have a conversation with the bird while imbibing, the Meduza news portal reported Tuesday.
A woman in the Kostroma region town of Nerekht found her parrot missing when she returned from a business trip in early February, the report said.
Investigators initially suspected the woman's female neighbor, a heavy drinker, of stealing the bird, but later identified the neighbor's acquaintance as the alleged bird thief, the report said.
?€?After joint abuse of alcohol, the man took the parrot with him as a conversation partner,?€? a police spokesperson was quoted as saying.
The parrot of the Corella breed was estimated to be worth about 5,700 rubles ($75), the report said.