Twitter has confirmed that it owns live streaming service Periscope, Digital Spy reports.

Earlier this week, it was rumoured that the microblogging site had acquired Periscope for around $100 million.

Although Twitter has not divulged the exact price it paid, it has revealed that it bought the yet-to-launch streaming platform in January.

"You may have heard some news: It involves a blue bird. #YouCanGuessTheRest #WeJoinedTheFlockInJanuary #AreWeUsingThisRight #IsThisThingOn," Periscope's twitter profile announced.

Twitter's VP of product wrote back: "Excited to officially welcome @periscopeco to the Twitter team. Can't wait for everyone to see what they've built!"

Periscope specialises in video streaming, but its debut mobile app is still undergoing beta testing.

Last year, Twitter bought out SnappyTV, a San Francisco-based startup that develops tools for editing real-time video footage.

The social networking giant has gradually added video features and now allows users to include 30 seconds of footage within their tweets, reducing its reliance on rivals such as YouTube.