A dating agency for parrots

VIa Ananova:

An ornithologist who set up a dating agency for lonely parrots says it has been a huge success.

Rita Ohnhauser has already brought 1,300 lonely hearts together in Berlin and unlike other matchmakers she knows her pairs will never split - because the birds mate for life.

"In the wild parrots search out a life partner and then spend every minute of the day with them, but when they are kept as pets they are mainly alone and get very depressed," said Ohnhauser.

She added that parrot owners across Germany had started bringing their feathered friends to the sanctuary to find a mate, and she currently had 150 parrots busy "getting acquainted" with other birds.

"Birds experience love at first sight just like humans. But others make a really careful choice before entering a relationship. It can take up to three months," she said.