Employee insists on keeping parrot in Zoom calls during WFH. His reason will crack you up

Work-from-home culture has given us many hilarious moments, but this one might just top the list. A techie shared on Reddit how one of his coworkers has made his pet parrot an “official” part of their remote team. What started as a funny cameo soon turned into a full-blown routine, complete with the bird chiming in on plans and creating chaos in serious meetings. And wait till you hear the excuse the employee gave when asked to stop.

According to the post, their online meetings were usually routine and professional—until a colleague began showing up with a parrot perched on his shoulder. At first, it was all in good fun, with the bird squawking random words here and there. But soon the man started introducing it like an actual teammate, saying things like Polly also approves this plan or let’s hear from Polly.

What made it even more chaotic was the parrot’s habit of screaming whenever anyone raised their voice. Meetings often spiralled into uncontrollable laughter, with people struggling to mute themselves or regain focus while the bird squawked away.


Eventually, the manager stepped in and politely asked the employee to keep the parrot off-screen. But instead of agreeing, the employee doubled down—claiming that the bird was “crucial for morale.” This response left the entire team in splits, unsure whether he was joking or absolutely serious.

Internet reacts

One user imagined how awkward it would be to bring up something serious, like asking for extra time off due to health issues, while a colleague and his parrot stared back on screen. Another simply found the whole situation hilarious. Some felt the novelty of the bird would wear off quickly, while others admitted there would definitely be days when they just wouldn’t want to deal with it at all.