Problems With Parrots

For a while I've been thinking about having a parrot character in my strip.  I don't know who would be the owner of the parrot, though.  I've ruled out a pirate, but I'm thinking the character could be an elderly woman. 

But more to the point, what can a parrot say, except to 'parrot' someone, commonly his or her owner.  That doesn't give the parrot a lot of options as to what to say.  For instance it can't be too long or complex, only short phrases at most.  Half of the time parrots don't actually say anything, and a squawking or mute parrot would not provide much of a contribution. So having the parrot deliver an actual punch-line might be too optimistic.  The best I could hope for is a punch-phrase or a punch-word.

I know that many people consider birds to be quite intelligent, but I'm not one of them.  For me, part of the charm of parrots is that they can say any words at all.  It's actually very astonishing.  They are like the court jesters of the bird 'kingdom', if there is such a thing.

Of course, there is nothing that says my parrot can't be long-winded, and wise-cracking, except that most people don't like comic strips full of text.  I know people who skip them, so I would have to be careful if I let my parrot pontificate or otherwise run-on at the beak.  For that, a parrot would need its own blog.