Parrot can whistle the Great Escape and shout 'Come on Rooney'

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Slipmatt the African grey parrot has learned England chants and songs
Owner Fran Sheridan spent weeks teaching bird ahead of World Cup
The pet can chant 'England' and 'Come on Rooney' during matches
Slipmatt has also learned to whistle national team anthem The Great Escape
But Mr Sheridan admits he's beginning to grow tired of chants after a week

Published: 06:56 EST, 17 June 2014 | Updated: 09:27 EST, 17 June 2014

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A patriotic parrot has learned to whistle a famous football anthem to cheer on the England team during the World Cup in Brazil.

The African grey parrot named Slipmatt has spent a month learning a rendition of The Great Escape in preparation for the World Cup.

The tune, the soundtrack to the famous war film, is a favourite of the England supporters band, who follow the team around the world.

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England fan Fran Sheridan taught his parrot Slipmatt to whistle The Great Escape, the song often played at England games, so his pet can support the national team during the World Cup in Brazil

Owner Fran Sheridan, from Worcester, also taught his pet to shout 'England' and cheer on his favourite player with shouts of 'Come on Rooney'.

Mr Sheridan, 42, decided to teach the bird the tune after his football-mad six-year-old son, Reilly, suggested the bird learn a football song to chant along to the matches.

Mr Sheridan said: 'Reilly is obsessed with the World Cup and asked if we could teach Slipmatt a football anthem.

'It's taken us about a month to get him to do it - and now he sings it all the time.

'He sat on his perch to watch the Three Lions' game against Italy on Saturday night and sang the anthem to the football - he sounds just like a rowdy football fan.'

The nine-year-old exotic bird also makes noises like the football whistles used on the pitch.

Slipmatt, an African Grey parrot, has also learned to shout 'England' and 'Come on Rooney' during games

After a week of his parrot's England chanting, Mr Sheridan says the trick is beginning to wear a little thin

Mr Sheridan says he plans to watch all of England's World Cup games with his talented pet.

He added: 'He is a very clever parrot - when I bought him as a baby the breeder said he wouldn't start talking until her was eight or nine months old.

'Three months later he was already chattering away - it was just amazing.'

But Mr Sheridan has admitted that since England's opening 2-1 loss to Italy, Slipmatt's repertoire has become a little tiring.

He said: 'Now he sings it from the moment I take the cover off his cage in the morning until late at night.

'I can't get him to stop singing it - I have to admit it gets a bit annoying. It didn't really help when he was squawking The Great Escape all day after we lost.'

Over 200 people have seen a clip of the parrot singing which Mr Sheridan has posted on You Tube.

Slipmatt can also whistle Mr Bojangles and the themes to Superman, The A Team and Star Wars.

Mr Sheridan chose the Great Escape tune due to it being a favourite of the England supporters band (above) and taught Slipmatt the Rooney chant due to the forward (below) being his favourite player