Here are a few new images of Bentley. He continues to be happy hanging around my husband. He seems to not want to poop on him at all. He would start to get restless to let my husband know that he wants to go somewhere where he can do his business. Bentley doesn't really like me, but with a little persuasion (just asking him if he wants a scritch on his head), he will usually look at me for a bit and then bow his head for a little scritch session.

bentley continues to favor my husband...we had visitors from out of the country stay over at our place, one of which was a male. bentley seemed to have no problems being around this man. but with the female, he reacted the exact same way has he does to me.

bentley is, however, a great gentleman to me whenever i hold a special snack between my fingers - what bird wouldn't react that way? (especially an amazon!)

even tho he has a grudge aganist me, i don't hold it against him. i keep my distance. if i need to pass by him for any reason, i try to make sure that i announce my arrival and have something that he likes that i can present to him as a peace offering.

You think owning a parrot (or two) is for you? Have you ever thought about whether you would be able to take the chatty "contact calls" that happen every morning and every evening? Play the following movie with your sound up all the way. This is in a house with 8 parrots, just after breakfast. (We cover the ground with towels to catch the poop.) Enjoy!

PS: I look forward to these conversations...:-)

bentley really likes my husband (he usually likes men in general) but with me, he doesn't care for me hanging too closely to his cage, not unless i have a treat in my hand. however, he has allowed me to scratch all over his head and neck through his cage bars...yes, he is a sucker for a good head scritch!

as i write this, bentley is sitting on my husband's shoulder and dozing a bit. well, at least until my husband moves his arm, then he has a look on his face like "what the...? can you stop moving? im trying to take a NAP!"

he doesn't really care for me..he sometimes even tries to run towards me to fend me off from his cage, but i don't give him any attention when we makes these actions. he even gets a bad look from my husband, if he is there to see it. but overall, he's a great bird. i mean, he takes even the smallest treat from my fingers very nicely. he doesn't launch himself at me as long as i don't wear red around him (that seems to be a color that he doesn't think works for me).

bentley still has a bare chest and back, but we do see some feathers growing in. we are hoping that he keeps those feathers there, and lets the rest of the feathers grow in eventually.

bentley continues to be happily content spending time on my husband's shoulder. he will occasionally allow me to preen his head through his cage bars, but would rather keep me at a distance. i'm just glad that he doesn't try to jump on me as i pass his cage to get to the kitchen - he is definitely a well-behaved boy.

bentley doesn't like it when i wear red - it is one of those things that makes him even more resolved into keeping me away from him and his favorite person. it is funny that if my husband wears red, bentley is not in the least bit phased by it, but if i wear red...oh boy, watch out!

bentley loves to eat fresh sugar snap peas (pod and all), strawberries and, well, just about anything that he has seen YOU eat. he definitely has a good appetite and will try anything at least once.

bentley has been doing very well with me, considering he doesn't really care for me much (he just ADORES my husband). i have been starting him with targetting. he is very good at it, although most times it looks like he is running to attack it rather than just touch it. i will be working on this.

with targetting and a few pumpkin seeds, i have been able to get bentley to climb up on my leg (while sitting - legs out-stretched - on the floor) and sit comfortably on my thigh. i do think it is partially because he doesn't associate my leg to being a part of my body, but whatever works. i have not pushed the idea about being able to scratch or touch him. i have, however, been able to successfully scratch his head through his cage bars. (he bowed his head for me and i obliged!)

bentley does want to have his space when it comes to me, and i respectfully give it to him. but now, if he wants a treat, he has to work for it. after targetting, i plan on moving to holding a prop (like a ball or wooden ring) and later dropping it in something.

bentley will eat almost anything. so far, he has eaten sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots...its amazing. i guess it is that amazon hunger.

bentley playing with my husband...









i guess bentley had enough

the beautiful bentley...





here he is eating one of the first sugar snap peas i harvested today. the other bird ate it so fast i didn't get to photograph it, but bentley took his time and ate the whole thing - peas and all!

i tried targetting with him for the first time (since he was returned to mickaboo - i have done targetting with him when he first came to us and before he was adopted) and it seemed like he remembered. he went straight for the target. i hope to keep this up...as it can help our relationship.

bentley continues to be "in love" with my husband. he coos sweet nothings in his ear, until mama comes around (me) and he kinda gives me the "stink eye" to stay away, but if i do come a little close, or if my husband comes close to me with bentley on his shoulder, bentley rarely comes charging after me. whenever i do interact with him, i try to give him some treats to show him that i am not a threat. he has always been taking the treats out of my fingers very nicely.

note: he loves brown bread, pumpkin seeds, strawberries fresh from the garden, and raisins for treats!

bentley seems to have recognized my husband since day one. my husband has been able to handle and scritch bentley all over and bentley sings very sweetly to him. for me, on the other hand, he has shown the direct opposite. he climbs anywhere that is closest to me when i approach and lunges for me with an open beak. he makes his "stay away" noise if i get too close and really pins his eyes. but he has been good about taking tasty treats from my fingers without biting.

i am taking it slow with him. something about women (or me) he doesn't trust or like. it could be that he sees my husband as his "mate" and therefore i am just competition and therefore despises me. it is just his first week, so i am planning to get him to do some targetting with me, just so that we can get some positive interaction with each other.

he seems to still have a bare chest, back and upper legs like he used to have while we first fostered him...im hoping he is still able to grow them back.

Through unfortunate circumstances, Bentley is back with us (since last night, 5/11/2008) and is again available to be adopted. I do NOT believe that it is Bentley's fault for being returned to Mickaboo, but rather due to lack of information and knowledge among his adoptive family. And I'd like to share this, since it is a HUGE learning experience.

A week ago, Mickaboo was contacted by Bentley's adoptive parents stating that Bentley killed a budgie that landed on his cage. They stated that the budgie has been landing on his cage for the last 6 months without incident. They were horrified, to say the least.

Let me just say that allowing A-N-Y bird to land on any other bird's cage is a disaster waiting to happen. This was the first BIG mistake. Cages are a bird's home. It is their private space and it is their's (and their's ALONE) to master and do whatever they please in this area. This is their safe-zone. Any one (human and animal, alike) must first respect the bird who "owns" the cage before approaching or touching it. failure to do this could result in a possible serious injury. Even with friendly birds...All birds (including humans) have their good days and bad days. If you catch a bird on a bad day, it doesn't matter if you are their "favorite" or not, you will be growled at and warned to stay away. Bentley may have had an off day (considering that he allowed a budgie to land on his cage - without incident - for 6 months) and when the budge landed on his cage that one fateful day, he was really upset about this, became territorial and allowed his wild instincts to take over (remember that parrots are still wild creatures - they have not been bred for thousands and thousands of years like domestic dogs and cats for their loyalty and companionship) which is to defend his territory. this is what he did. unfortunately this lead to the death of that bird.

No matter HOW long a bird has been landing on another bird's cage without incident, this is something that should NOT be allowed or encouraged. It only takes one incident to turn this happy ritual into a serious injury or death. Please don't allow this. Parrots, by nature, are territorial about their space.

Also, parrots are basically prey in the wild. They are hunted by other animals, many of which come from "above". Something which hovers above a parrot can make him/her fearful and ready to attack.

In fact, it is because Bentley accidentally landed on a cage that held another parrot that led to the amputation of one of Bentley's toes (the other parrot bit so deeply into his foot while he was on the cage that it had to be removed). So PLEASE don't allow a bird to land on another bird's cage - it is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Bentley is NOT a child nor should he be treated like one. Bentley is an intelligent, wild creature that is an amazon parrot. Most of the time, parrots act on instincts. They do not have that intellectual capability of imprinting kindness on everything even if they are shown kindness from it's flock. A parrot needs to be respectfully introduced to anything new or situations involving his space. You seriously cannot expect more from a parrot than wild instincts kicking in, in any given situation. If s/he sings, talks, or whistles to you...if s/he steps up onto your hand/hand-held perch without incident...if s/he does tricks for you...consider yourself lucky and be in awe of your bird's ability to adapt and imprint on you their need for a flock family. all of the birds i care for says one thing or another, and all of them know how to laugh - it makes me always happy to hear their "conversations", no matter how many times they repeat themselves.

i treat all my birds with respect, but there are those that just don't like me for one reason or another (reasons I don't know). I don't question why, I just continue to try and interact with them as much as they are comfortable with and with respect to their space. you really need to do this. they may be placed in a completely new and scary situation where you are the only person that s/he knows and s/he will come to you for comfort, even if they want to bite you up to a pulp in their comfort zones, because they know they can trust you.

Another problem prone to people with animals (birds included) is idea that people believe that a bird will be a good bird as long as you treat him right. Okay, this is partially true. You need to treat any parrot with respect and love in order to gain trust from the parrot. This needs to be a daily show of respect and love to continually hold on to their trust. BUT, to think that this respect and love shown by a bird's owner should encompass all animals in the house (i.e. i show a parrot love and respect, therefore i expect that parrot to show love and respect towards everything in the house) is just completely absurd. Birds are NOT people. Birds are birds. Do NOT imprint feelings, emotions and cognitive thinking as how humans do, on your bird companions. When you do this, problems will surely arise and that's when some birds find themselves in the care of rescue organizations like mickaboo.

i hope this can be a learning experience for everyone. Again, Bentley is back up for adoption. it will take some time for him to become comfortable with us again, of course, but he has already sung for us and said a clear "okay" for us. :-) gotta love those amazons!


Bentley is a blue front amazon. He is a superb singer, whistler and can say a few words. For the most part, he is rather friendly and good bird.