A couple with two 'messy' pet parrots have absolutely no regrets about homing the giant birds, despite losing their deposit on rented homes.
Nimal Fernando and Claire Atallah, who live in the village of Harlington, brought macaw Mikey home in 2016, then welcomed Mia 18 months later.
The pair love taking their brightly-coloured pets out for daily walks, and have full license for the animals to roam freely when they're taken to a park.
But that's not to say being owners to eight-year-old Mikey and five-year-old Mia comes without its challenges.
Nimal, originally from New Zealand, said: "Our lives would be very different without them, I can't imagine it."
"The mess gets to another level - and they break a lot of things," she continued.
"We've had three flat screen TVs broken, the majority of our clothes have holes in, and we have lost deposits on most places we've rented."
Nimal said while the early months were difficult, not least the challenge of training the birds to fly, he and Claire have become experts in the field.
"They are extremely hard to care for," he said. "We didn't realise the noise these birds make, they are extremely loud at all times of the day.
"We started documenting our journey with them and people started telling us that we were feeding them all wrong. So we started learning all about their nutrition, and basically became experts."
The couple offer meet and greets with the birds and even parrot training courses for people considering adopting macaws. Yet Nimal says owning a tropical bird like theirs is not for everyone.
"Only consider it if you have a very specific set of skills," he said, adding: "Both of them were confined to a cage, so it's really nice we've been able to re-home them.
"They have grown so much and are living much better lives. Plus they are really funny to have, they make us laugh with their weird antics."
Pet pic
Amid all the pomp and pageantry of the King's Birthday Parade last weekend, there was a little bit of history you may not have noticed.
Leading the way down the Mall was the first mare to be made a Drum Horse in the Household Cavalry.
The Shire horse, formerly known as Willa Rose, was renamed Juno by Queen Camilla in a ceremony at Clarence House earlier this month before taking on her starring role.
Juno, who was raised at Dyfed Shire Horse Farm in Pembrokeshire, carries the rank of Major.
The 10-year-old followed Major Apollo, also from Dyfed Shire, who held the prestigious title during the King's Coronation in May and Queen Elizabeth II's funeral last year.
Juno was bought by the Household Cavalry in 2021 and completed two years of training before she was ready for her new role, after proving she could cope with crowd noise and carry an adult in full ceremonial uniform, along with two heavy silver drums.
Rescue of the week
This lucky pooch was rescued after falling 20m down a mineshaft in Wales.
The dog fell into the shaft at Llanferres near Mold on Father's Day morning during a walk with its owners, and was brought back above ground after a four-hour operation.
Rescue teams from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, North East Wales Search and Rescue and North Wales Cave Rescue Organisation all played a part.
A spokesperson for North Wales Cave Rescue Organisation said: "The dog appeared to be unscathed and was eager to get back to her owners and doggy treats."
Story of the week
Officers in the West Midlands were shocked to discover a boa constrictor on a busy Birmingham road.
They were driving along Park Lane in the city when they spotted the reptile on the road. They stopped an managed to get it into a pillow case with the help of a sweeping brush.
The snake was then taken to Birmingham Reptile Centre to be checked. Chloe Clarke, team supervisor at the centre, said she believed the snake had escaped, rather than having been abandoned.
She said: "It's just a shame that a lot of people think snakes are dangerous, but they are just an animal. They (boa constrictors) are not venomous and not capable of harming a human."
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