A RARE black parrot that was rescued from a mob of attacking crows is looking for its owners.

The lesser vasa parrot, which has been given the name Treakle, is in the care of the Swindon branch of Birdline UK Parrot Rescue.

They have made inquiries with aviaries in the area but so far no one has come forward to claim it.

“He was found by a family in Cirencester in their garden, very weak and very lethargic,” area co-ordinator Stacey Vickery told the Advertiser.

They had spotted him being mobbed by crows and saw he was trying to climb their fence. When they rescued him they realised he was actually a parrot.

They looked after him for a couple of weeks before handing him over to the organisation.

“He was in very much better health than he had been,” said Stacey.

“We don’t really know if it’s male or female because it’s not the breeding season.”

The clue comes as that's when females lose all their head feathers.

And because they didn’t know if the bird’s experience had affected its breeding cycle or even if it was sexually mature, they might not find out for some time.

“At the moment he is quite active, we think maybe he’s come out an aviary, but otherwise he’s quite happy, playing and eating,” said Stacey.

She said the species was not commonly bred or kept in the UK as a pet, possibly because they were not the most social birds. However they were sometimes kept in aviaries.

The group has checked with Birdland at Bourton-on-the-Water and Cotswold Wildlife Park, but neither of them are missing a lesser vasa.

According to the Parrot Society UK, the species is rarely seen in captivity. In its native Madagascar it is known as the singing parrot because of its range of whistling sounds.

Lesser vasa parrots don’t like to be touched by people or other birds and even mate sitting side by side, rather than the usual method where the male mounts the female.

But they do like sunbathing and will even lie on the ground to catch the rays.

In Madagascar their natural habitat is under threat from deforestation and the fact that they are treated as pests by the populace.

Treakle has been registered on the national pets lost and found register and anyone who thinks they may have information can contact call 0845 6431785.