Shelter jokes that parrot up for adoption has explicit vocabulary: ‘He’s not for everybody’

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WJAR) - A Massachusetts parrot that’s up for adoption has gone viral because of a unique trait.

Dozens of people have applied to be the forever home for a blue and gold macaw.

There’s one issue: the parrot has a rough vocabulary.

At Forever Paws Animal Shelter in Fall River, employees there would likely say the best part of the job is when an animal is successfully adopted.

“You see them blossom into the animal you know they can become, and then you see them go to their forever home,” Chantelle Roger said.

But currently, there’s one pet that might take a little extra patience.

“We’ve definitely seen him come out of his shell,” Roger said. “When he first came here, he was terrified.”

Roger is talking about the parrot Hendrix, because while he’s colorful on the outside, so is his language.

“We try not to react because we don’t want to encourage it, but there’s times we have to leave the room to laugh,” Roger said.

Two months ago, the roughly-30-year-old feathered pet was surrendered by his owner, who had him for about 20 years.

“He was being fed human cereal, white bread; that’s why he’s missing most of his feathers,” Roger said. “It’s malnutrition. He wasn’t getting any of the minerals, none of the vitamins.”

Staff at the animal shelter have been helping him readjust, but when it comes to his vocabulary, that’s been more of a challenge.

“If you call him a pretty bird, he’ll say, ‘Thank you.’ He’ll say, ‘Good morning, baby,’” Roger described. “Other than the niceties, that’s as far as the niceties go.”

That’s right; Hendrix is a rated-R bird.

“The rest of it is slurs, cusses, things I can’t repeat on camera,” Roger said.

He’s partially nude, rude and crude. He may not flip “the bird,” but he’ll voice it.

“There was nobody in this room with him. Everybody was up front and we just heard him start cussing up a storm, so we’re not sure,” Roger said.

When the shelter posted on social media that he’s in need of a home, Hendrix was compared to Samuel L. Jackson.

“The first time I heard him drop the ‘M-Fer’ word, it was the first thing I thought. It was ‘Snakes on a Plane,” Roger joked.

They couldn’t hold back details that the bird knows a lot of words, and a parental advisory is necessary.

“We didn’t want somebody to bring him home, and then all of a sudden, he starts throwing slurs around and you had no idea you were getting into this,” Roger said.

The post describing the loud and explicit parrot in the most humorous way went viral.

“I’m just trying to get people in to see him,” the animal shelter worker said. “He’s an interesting character, but he’s not for everybody.”

Being open and honest about the parrot’s personality has resulted in over 50 applications, according to Roger, plus a lot of love toward the shelter and their efforts.

“We were getting applications from Kansas. We were getting emails from people in Canada that want to adopt him,” Roger said.

What will come out of his mouth next? They’ll never know, but they’re hoping Hendrix will vocalize or show positive affection to his forever family.

“If we don’t find his forever family in this first round, we’ll reopen them again,” Roger added.

Hendrix is not alone in his proclivity for salty language. There are reportedly five parrots in England that also have a similar problem, but officials at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park say staff and guests don’t mind, so they haven’t done anything to stop them.