Jessi: Hi, guys! Welcome back to Animal Wonders! It's been really busy around here, so today we have an unscripted show, and I'd love to introduce you to our newest ambassador.

[whistles a fanfare]
[Animal Wonders intro plays]

Meet Steve the Cockatiel! I'm still getting to know Steve. He came to us about two weeks ago, and he has been obviously loved. He couldn't move with his owner into their new apartment, and so she called us up and said, "Will you please take him?" And we said yes! He's just starting to show his personality, which is pretty fun.

Getting to know a new animal's like kind of getting to know a new friend. And I kind of have to do it from scratch... Just figuring out as we go. For example, all the little vocalizations he makes are so fun, and just learning those and learning how I can respond to him to make him have fun, and enjoy his new home has been pretty exciting.

Whenever we take in a new bird, we really hope that they find a bird companion within the rescues that we already have. And so we were hoping that he would bond with Agent Perry, our parakeet. They've just been introduced and they're getting along so far, which is really good news.

Right now, they don't love each other, but because neither of them are being aggressive towards each other, there's a really good chance that they'll become friends in the future. There's a few things that we do need to work on. He's being really good right now staying on my finger, but whenever he gets excited or nervous, he wants to jump to my shoulder, and, like, climb right up into my face.

So we're just working-on finger holding right now. And I would like to be able to put my finger on his... foot... You can see- oh! Good job! Can put on that foot too? [gasp] Good boy! Look at you go! Nice work. The reason that I want to be able to put my thumb over his toe is for safety reasons. It's going to help protect him if he does get spooked or startled. He's not going to be able to jump off, or fly off my hand completely. He's going to stay nice and safe.

I think Steve is going to be an amazing ambassador, just because he's so relaxed, and he does enjoy a lot of different people's company. Good job, buddy. So he's going to help create an emotional connection when we take him out and do presentations.

I'm so thankful that we were able to take in Steve, and I hope that him and Agent Perry become the best of friends, and they have a wonderful life with us. And I'm really excited to learn all about him, and all the new things that you can show me. You're cute. [Steve smooches] Thank you!

Thanks for joining us! If you'd like to go on an adventure with us every week, subscribe to our YouTube channel, Animal Wonders Montana! If you have any questions for me, or Steve, or about Steve, or anything about animals, leave 'em in the comments below. And we'll see you next week!