The 35-year-old woman from Mindelheim convinced parrot owners across Germany whose birds seemed to be feeling blue to send them to her.
She told them she had a flock of potential parrot partners, and that she would allow them all to fly together and pick out a mate themselves.
The parrot owner promised to send back the originally depressed parrot – now feeling much chirpier – with its chosen partner.
People sent her their birds from the Augsburg area, Günzburg, Nuremberg, from Baden-Württemberg and even all the way from Berlin.
Police say she had got more than 40 parrots in this way, each worth between €400 and €2,000.
But rather than finding their one true love, the birds were sold and shipped off, sometimes to places abroad.
After detectives knocked on her door, the woman admitted the con, and is said to be helping them trace the parrots she has sold. Five have so far been found and returned to their original owners.