POLICE are seeking a parrot worth £2,000 that was stolen from a Timperley pet shop in the early hours of this morning.

An offender threw a wheelie bin through the double glazed window of Timperley Aquatics in Stockport Road at around 3am on Tuesday, August 4.

They entered the store and then threw an empty lizard terrarium through a 6ftx4 ft glass aviary containing ‘Baby’ – an 8-year-old green winged macaw.

The female bird, whose actual name is ‘Charlie’, is a well know feature at the shop, known as ‘Baby’ for its habit of saying ‘hello baby’ to greet customers.

“It’s a targeted attack. They have known exactly what they’re going for. Baby is worth around £2000,” said pet shop manager Graham Ralston, who has helped hand rear the bird.

“There’s glass everywhere and feathers scattered all over the place. She must have put up quite a struggle. All her tail feathers have been pulled out.”

Green winged macaws can live until sixty years old. They are highly intelligent and form lasting attachments with their owners.

“She’s a gorgeous parrot. She’s going to be very stressed at the moment,” added Graham.

“We have a keypad lock on the door and there are signs they’ve tried to jimmy open that before throwing the bin."

Because Baby was hand reared, she is very tame and is often found out and about in the shop with customers.

Police are currently on the scene of the burglary taking finger prints.

Graham has filmed damage to the store and provided video footage of Baby.

A police spokesman said: “In the early hours of this morning we had a call from residents who had seen a male riding down Grove Lane, Timperley on a push bike with a parrot on his handle bars.”

The man is described as white, in his early 20s, of slim build. He was wearing dark clothing and had short hair.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.