(Newser) – A British man in Torrance, Calif., isn't quite sure where his parrot Nigel was for the last four years—but he's pretty sure a Spanish-speaking man called Larry was involved. Owner Darren Chick was reunited with the African gray last week after it was found in a backyard and a vet was able to trace the owner through the bird's microchip. Chick was overjoyed to see the pet that vanished four years ago, but he was surprised to find out that the bird—which once spoke with a British accent much like his own—now speaks Spanish and chatters about a man called Larry, the Daily Breeze.

After a brief period of readjustment—Nigel bit Chick the first time he tried to pick him up—the bird has settled back in. "He's doing perfect," Chick says. "It's really weird, I knew it was him from [the] minute I saw him." (Read more parrot stories.)

