Elizabeth Hurley is 'mama' to parrot

Elizabeth Hurley's pet parrot calls her "mama".

The actress-and-model has been teaching her feathered friend Ping Pong - a Blue Fronted Amazonian - how to speak in recent weeks and now the bird has started referring to her as her mother.

Hurley wrote on her twitter page: "Naughty Ping Pong gave me a hard nip this morning & then put her head on one side & said 'Hello mama'. Cunning little beast."

It seems the parrot - a breed of bird that is capable of mimicking human speech - has a naughty streak and has even been trying to take control of the 45-year-old beauty's computer.

Earlier this week, she tweeted: "Ping Pong not helping much - she's sitting on my laptop, trying to send emails. Yes, she's taking over. Still a bit scared of her."

As well as saying "hello mama", Ping Pong has learnt to master some other phrases and even wolf whistles at the 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' star.

In another post on the micro-blogging website, Hurley - who has an eight-year-old son Damian from her brief romance with Steve Bing - added: "Still haven't had any parrot screeches and squawks, but lots of beautifully enunciated 'hellos' and some saucy wolf whistles."