Visitors to Narrabri Shire Senior of the Year Roxanne Whitton’s newsagency will have seen, and definitely heard, Marvin – Roxanne’s much-loved pet parrot.

The pale blue feathered friend provides endless entertainment with his endearing words, cheeky quips and, yes, potty-mouthed lingo that has stopped a local politician and priest in their tracks when Marvin unashamedly let some expletives slip through his beak.

It’s all in good fun and community members delight in the suspense of not quite knowing what Marvin is going to say next.

“I’ve had him for about a year and a half now,” explained Roxanne.

“My daughter Emma porridge-fed him when he didn’t have any feathers and then she left him with me to babysit when she went away for 10 days.”

Roxanne fell head over heels for Marvin, and he has never returned to Emma but instead, now calls the Wee Waa paper shop home.

It seems it was love at first squawk for Roxy.

“He calls me ‘mama’ and I just couldn’t part with him,” she explained.

“The customers love him, and he’s got his favourite customers too.

“He recognises them all when they come in and he might ask them ‘what they’re doing?’.

Roxanne described Marvin’s vocabulary as both ‘naughty and nice’.

“Yes, he can be naughty and nice, very naughty and nice,” she said.

“He knows who he can be naughty to and who he can be nice to.

“Lately, when Ron Lowder has walked in Marvin will ask ‘Where’s Charlie?’.

Charlie is Ron Lowder’s golden retriever, another much-loved Wee Waa pet who often sits out the front of Roxanne’s shop, enjoying pats from locals chatting on the park bench.

“When Marvin does swear, I tell him he’s a naughty boy and he tells me he’s ‘got a smack smack’,” said Roxanne, who didn’t reveal where Marvin picked up his diverse and colourful language.

“All the elderly like him, the kids love him – they come in and pat him and the elderly talk to him.

“There’s one customer who Marvin always asks to kiss and she always leaves with a smile on her face.”

Roxanne said Marvin also has another bird buddy, Bluey who keeps good company in the cage next to him.

The Courier will keep you updated of the tricks Marvin teaches Bluey as they continue to brighten the days of many in the Cotton Capital.

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