High flying parrots are winging it up on the moor

GARY TAKES HIS BIRDS OUT 'FREE-FLYING'

- SARAH ELMES

A DOCKYARD electrician who has been ‘fascinated’ by birds from a young age has been shocking people on Dartmoor by taking his parrots out ‘free-flying’ – so they can ‘use the wings they were born with’.

Gary Torr was allowed his first bird, a cockatiel, when he was just 10 years old and has kept them as pets ever since. But wanting to give his birds ‘the best lives possible’, three years ago he got into ‘free flight’, a growing community in the UK, where parrots are trained to fly outdoors without restraint.

Now the 36-year-old, who works as an electrical fitter at Devonport Dockyard, regularly takes his birds out onto the moors and other beauty spots where he has been turning the heads of surprised walkers.

Gary says parrots make ‘great companions’ and are ‘very intelligent’. They can also live for a very long time – 60 years. As well as free-flying, Gary also wants to spread the message that for anyone considering buying a parrot as a pet, there is a lot to take into consideration.