WHEN Catherine Thomson heard a knock at her front door she didn't quite expect to see the visitor waiting on her doorstep.

For when she opened the door of her home in Norfolk Grove, Church, she found a cockatiel sitting on the front step.

Now Mrs Thomson is trying to find the bird's owner before she has to start the search for another home for her new feathered friend. She said: "I was in the house on Tuesday morning when I heard a kind of thud on the front door.

"When I opened it there was a cockatiel sitting on my doorstep. It must have flown into my door and was looking quite scared so I took it in. I've asked around a few of my friends and neighbours if they know anyone who is missing a cockatiel but I still haven't found the owner. "I've even borrowed a cage from a friend to make it easier to feed and water it but I really want to return it to its owner as I don't want to get too attached to it."

Mrs Thomson has got a friend who would give the cockatiel a new home but she really wants to give its owner the chance to come forward and claim it before she hands it over.

She said: "Whoever owns it must be worried about it and it is making me sneeze so I really want to return it to its home."

The cockatiel is grey with white flecks on the edge of its wings and a few orange feathers on its body.

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