A pet parrot that was missing for eight days was found eight miles from home... perched on a horse.

Randy, a seven-year-old African Grey who featured in The Hunts Post last week, was reunited with owner Jean Hall on Thursday, after flying out the door of her home in Mill Lane, Little Paxton on September 18.

Very little is known about where Randy spent his week away, but the parrot was heard wolf whistling at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve three days after going missing,

The disappearance has also led to the discovery that Randy, who has been in the family for years, is in fact a girl.

Mrs Hall said: “Since he’s come back he has been eating like mad and keeps trying to get out of his cage. I’m just delighted that he is back and want to thank The Hunts Post and everyone who helped spread the word and look for him.”

Randy was found in an Alconbury field by Norma Paterson, resting on the back of her pet fell pony Pagan, who she said was “looking at her and wondering what she was doing”.

She took the bird to Tina Elliot, who she knew kept African Greys and would be able to look after Randy.

Mrs Elliot, 58, of High Street, Alconbury, said: “She was ever so thin when Norma brought her round. She ate a whole apple and massive bowls of feed. She was starving, She was very quiet, but when I phoned Jean after seeing the appeal in The Hunts Post and put the phone close to Randy she recognised her voice and said ‘hello’.

“The bird knew straight away that it was her.”

Mrs Elliot also noticed that Randy was in fact a girl – she is slighter and a lighter grey colour than a male African Grey.

However, Mrs Hall said that nothing will change now that Randy’s secret is out.

She said the bird would now be named after female jazz singer Randy Crawford who reached a career high number two in the UK charts with the 1980 single... One Day I’ll Fly Away!