Bird lovers flock to adopt a foul-mouthed parrot

Chantelle Rogers, administrative assistant at the Forever Paws Animal Shelter in Fall River, Massachusetts, was tasked with writing a blurb to help Hendrix get adopted. She opted for honesty.

“If you adopt Hendrix, you’re basically adopting Samuel L. Jackson,” Rogers wrote on Facebook, referring to the actor who is known, in part, for his delivery of profanity-laced dialogue in movies. “This bird’s language is not for the faint of heart.”

Her post only made people more interested.

Thousands of people shared the post, which got traction for its candor and its humor. The next day, the shelter received a windfall of about 60 adoption applications, prompting employees to close applications that day. One person was soon selected, and Hendrix’s new owner took the parrot home June 21 after hearing the bird curse a few times.

“It’s so quiet without him,” Rogers told The Washington Post. “We do definitely miss him, but we know he’s where he’s supposed to be.”

Hendrix first arrived at the shelter in April. He was surrendered to Fall River Animal Control by his prior owner of two decades, said Cynthia Berard-Cadima, the department’s supervisor. Blue-and-gold macaws can live for more than 70 years, according to the Australia Zoo, and Rogers said Hendrix is about 30 years old.

Rogers said the first person who popped into her mind when she saw the colorful macaw was the late singer and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. But many of Hendrix’s feathers were missing on his roughly 3-foot-tall body and 40-inch-wide wingspan, Rogers said, probably due to malnutrition.

The shelter mainly houses cats and dogs, so Hendrix was the only parrot in a room with a few rabbits and a guinea pig. Hendrix was initially scared of people, shaking when an employee approached his cage.

The shelter bought Hendrix an extra-large Chewy pineapple toy that employees hung in the parrot’s cage and discovered the bird’s favorite treats: strawberries, blueberries, dried bananas and peanuts.

A few weeks after arriving, Hendrix began opening up, saying “cracker” when the parrot wanted a dried banana chip and “thank you” when he received one. Hendrix once told Rogers: “Good morning, baby.” Hendrix chirped when he wanted attention and tried to mimic barking noises he heard from the shelter’s dogs.

Near the end of May, employees heard Hendrix curse for the first time. After that, Hendrix used more vulgar language - and said it louder.

A new employee was cleaning Hendrix’s cage near the beginning of June when the parrot cursed at him. Employees told customers that if they hear profanities, it’s coming from a parrot who wants attention, not a person.

Hendrix might’ve learned the vulgar words by hearing them in his previous home, Rogers said, but his foul language probably meant he was becoming more comfortable at the shelter.

Hoping to discourage Hendrix’s language, employees turned around or left the room to laugh after Hendrix cursed.

“How do you not laugh at that? Like, the bird just cussed you out,” Rogers, 32, said with a laugh. “So, like, you have to react at some point.”

While his language remained salty, Hendrix grew new feathers by eating soft-pellet bird food. By mid-June, Rogers said, Hendrix was ready to be adopted.

“One day he will call you baby and the next day he’s calling you a...hmm. MFer I guess is the politest way to type it out,” Rogers wrote on Facebook on June 11. “He says thank you when you give him snacks but will also tell you to shut up.”

“This bird is rated R, parental advisory required, a real sour patch kid if one side was sugar and the other side was arsenic,” Rogers added.

Dollface thread

[quote]Hendrix was initially scared of people, shaking when employees approached his cage

Oh my god. 😟 Poor feathery goober.

Dataloungers could refine his output with a more generous use of the word CUNT.

Cuntface thread.

Apparently r5 got lost on the way to a Kate Middleton thread.

Maybe the parrot has Tourette's Syndrome.

[quote]“One day he will call you baby and the next day he’s calling you a...hmm. MFer I guess is the politest way to type it out,” Rogers wrote on Facebook on June 11. “He says thank you when you give him snacks but will also tell you to shut up.”

Lol! I've always been a parrot person and this just reminds me of my precious little hearts, now cursing away in Elysium.

[quote]The culprit? Hendrix, a blue-and-gold macaw who came to the shelter the prior month, surrendered by his longtime owner.

And the previous owner will face no consequences over the bird lacking most of its feathers due to malnutrition, and being scared of people for some reason? 🙄

Dollface thread

[quote] Employees told customers that if they hear profanities, it’s coming from a parrot who wants attention, not a person.

[quote] Hendrix might’ve learned the vulgar words by hearing them in his previous home, Rogers said, but his foul language probably meant he was becoming more comfortable at the shelter.

[quote] He was surrendered to Fall River Animal Control by his prior owner of two decades

[quote] Hendrix was initially scared of people, shaking when an employee approached his cage.

This is kind of a sad story.

Of course Hendrix learned the bad language from his owner of "two decades."

My guess is that the owner would constantly tell him to shut the fuck up, whenever the bird got too loud, or started talking. In a quiet home, it must seem VERY loud, to hear a bird squawking.

And to make a bird that nervous, that it would be shaking when humans approached him, the previous owner must have either thrown things at him, or beat him.

I'm just glad he's in a new home. Maybe he'll learn some "better" language.

As long as we’re speculating, r10, the bird was living his best life with a loving owner who then ultimately was involved in a domestic abuse situation that continued to escalate. The owner had to flee, possibly to a shelter that wouldn’t accept pets, and had to surrender him to the shelter.

Happens more often than you might expect.