A COCKATOO held at Heathrow since August in a paperwork blunder has been crying “I want mummy” as he longs to be freed.

Four-year-old Charlie, who loves watching other birds through a window at home, has also been chirping “Wanna see the birdies”.

He was being shipped from the US when his original export permit went missing and is now being kept in a small, windowless room.

The rose-breasted cockatoo, known as a galah, is not allowed visitors.

But owners Joe Adlard, and wife Jess, who moved from Pennsylvania to join her husband in Britain, have had updates from staff and are allowed to FaceTime.

The couple, who live in Loughborough, Leics, say he has been plucking feathers and banging his head — common signs of distress in birds.

One disturbing video obtained by The Sun shows him dragging his head side to side against a wall.

Joe, 36, said: “We applied for every permit, had him checked out by a vet and met every requirement before shipping him from the US. In total it has cost us £6,000 to get him here.

“But somehow the paperwork went missing in transit. They have a photocopy but they say they need the original. It’s ridiculous.”

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They have applied for Charlie to be returned under a process called restoration and have also set up a GoFundMe page to help his fight.

Pharmacy technician Jess, 33, said: “We have this huge empty enclosure waiting for him at home with dozens of toys.”

Staff at the private animal facility in Heathrow have been playing the movie Rio on a tablet to calm Charlie.

Jess said: “They say he’s been asking, ‘Is Charlie a good boy?’.

“I can’t help but think he’s asking because he thinks he’s done wrong.”

The Home Office says officials are following international and domestic protocols.

It added: “We take the welfare of animals in our care seriously.”