Sir Winston Churchill's foul-mouthed, 104-year-old parrot refused to surrender to newshounds yesterday after a British newspaper tracked the bird down and discovered it is still alive.
"They've been trying to get him to talk all day, but he's not saying much," said Sylvia Martin, who manages Heathfield Nurseries, where Charlie the parrot has lived for the past 12 years.
Charlie, a blue macaw who kept the British prime minister company during the Second World War, was famous for occasionally squawking four-letter obscenities about Hitler.
But Ms. Martin said the bird has mellowed.
"He doesn't say very much any more, usually just hello and goodbye. But he does get so excited about music and dances to it. He's very fit."
Charlie -- invariably referred to as "he" despite being female -- is now owned by Peter Oram, the garden centre's owner, Ms. Martin said. Mr. Oram's father-in-law sold Sir Winston the bird and was asked to take it back after the prime minister died in 1965.
Steve Nichols, founder of Britain's National Parrot Sanctuary, said that although parrots do not often live longer than 40 in the wild, some have lived to up to 110 in captivity.
As for Charlie, he said, "It's obviously had the best life possible."