Labour of love to find mate
Charlie the lonely love bird is pining for a feathered friend after flying into trouble in Finchfield, Wolverhampton.
The colourful fella was spotted by nature loving seven year old Matthew Darby in the back garden of his Woodland Crescent home last week.
A neighbour provided a bird net to catch the tiny visitor and a cage to keep it out of harm's way while the schoolboy and his mother, Alison, tried to find where the bird had come from.
They were helped by his father, Peter, and sister, Joanna, 14, to plaster the district with home made posters in a unsuccessful bid to solve the riddle.
Mrs Darby, , a 41-year-old nurse, said: "Matthew could not believe his luck when he discovered he had a peach-faced love bird from Africa in his back garden.
"The bird has obviously been a pet because it is so tame and we realised that it would not survive for long in the wild. So we caught it and have put it in a cage, but it really needs an aviary and a mate.
"Love birds get their name because they usually live in pairs. A friend has warned us that it could die of a broken heart if it is on its own for too long, so we face a race against time."
The family believe that the bird is a male because of the distinctive bright green body, blue tail, orange chest and beak and red head.
They have called him Charlie and temporarily added him to their pet collection of two guinea pigs and a rabbit.
Mrs Darby added: "We have had no response from our poster campaign."
Anybody who recognises Charlie or thinks they can offer him a suitable home is asked to contact Mrs Darby on 0779 124 1310.
