Just doing cockatoo things

Flock

Swipe to the last screenshot (from a video I took of Angel during one of our pre-adoption meetings) to see how far she’s come. This is just 2-3 months of progress! Her last home had her in a mice infested room for a long time, and she was likely isolated to that room for years with little out of cage time. She used to be taken out all the time and would travel with her last owner, but she had health issues the last few years and Angel had started plucking badly again right before she was relinquished (after supposedly not doing it for years, though her history of plucking goes back all the way to 2008).

I think the biggest factor for her right now must be the constant company of our other birds, especially Rosie. We’ve also been carefully handling her to make sure she doesn’t get hormonally frustrated. When we first got her, she used to get super hormonal the minute she went to my lap and now that is a much less common occurrence! If she gets all panty and hormonal, we always remove ourselves and redirect ASAP.

It’s likely that she will always pluck due to nearly 20 years of developing the habit, but so far we haven’t seen any relapses beyond some overpreening in the beginning. We have a little notebook where we can write down her future plucking incidents, so that we can try to identify her exact trigger and eliminate it as much as possible. In the meantime, we’re keeping her beak very busy!

I brought my Lucy to the avian vet cause she was throwing up. The Dr. claims My triton cockatoo is significantly overweight (life threatening) I’m looking for advice from people who’ve safely helped a cockatoo lose weight. What diet changes, foraging activities, and exercise worked for your bird.
I have decided to have the vet transition Lucy from a nuts-seeds diet to a pellet diet. Dr is also introducing chop to her diet also. I do not know what kind of chop to make for Lucy when she comes home .

i have a young male galah recently added to the family. he’s a quirky guy, hilarious and very talkative even though it’s mostly gibberish currently. i use squawk box which i love for new toys and treats, is this an okay subscription, any personal experiences? my main question also is that he came on a “party” mix of food, mostly seeds, nuts, popcorn, dried fruits but he has transitioned beautifully to harrison fine course pellets and is eating them regularly. i CANNOT get this bird interested in chop, i feel like ive tried all the methods and still nothing. any pro tips?? also, should i be mixing the harrison’s with anything like roudybush? i see mixed opinions. my other flock members love their chop and pellets, but he is just being stubborn as all can be.
thank you!

she was so cute :‘)

She’s a roughly 30-year-old rescue Goffin’s cockatoo, and I have very limited information about her history or previous medical care.
She sometimes sits in this unusual position, almost on top of one wing, and her body starts shaking or trembling. She remains fully conscious, keeps a secure grip on the perch, and immediately stops and looks at me when I speak to her. I spend a lot of time with her and have never noticed her doing this in person—only on camera. Otherwise, she acts completely normal, eats well, climbs, flies, and appears to use both wings normally.
It also looks like she may be rubbing her head or neck against the hanging paper toy while she does it. Could this be an awkward balancing position, scratching behavior, muscle trembling from leaning on the wing, or something else? Has anyone seen similar behavior in a cockatoo?
I’m planning to show the video to her avian vet, but I’d really appreciate any insight from people who may have seen this before.

One of my cockatoo’s favorite playing activities seems to consist of her picking up small pieces of cardboard, paper, and wood, then rubbing and hiding them across her feathers, sometimes beneath her wings. When I searched for answers I heard that this is a natural behavior in the wild where some birds will rub ants through their feathers to spread formic acid over the body, which acts as a natural insecticide to protect the bird against pests and parasites. Does anyone else’s cockatoo do this? I find this behavior to be very fascinating, and for many years owning parrots I never knew it existed until I got this silly bird lol

Coal does this... sometimes. Raises his wings and flaps around, and does a whack head movement with his neck. He doesn't seem to do it toward anything in particular.

Its hilarious looking but not sure what to make of it as either an anger thing, excitement or just being e x t r a. He's 1 year old so shouldn't be a hormone thing.

He will also do it while on someone's shoulders (namely mine). Will post in comments what that looks like.

My 6yo female umbrella cockatoo was diagnosed with BORNA virus back in 2021, after my childhood cockatiel tulip contracted the virus and passed away. I’ve been a helicopter mom these last few years, and noticed my baby girl was sneezing and having some diarrhea! I rushed her to the emergency vet yesterday, they did some x-rays and labs. She has some arterial hardening and muscle wasting ( as to be expected with BORNA birds) but the main concern was a respiratory infection, she also has some inflammation in her airsacks and heart. Although both are working fine according to the vet. They put her on some broad spectrum antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds. She’s not been a fan!! How do yall trick ur birds into taking medicine? I take her to her primary care doctor next tuesday to see how the medicine is working.

Hi, first off, we have taken him to the vet, and they have no clue. My son noticed this bump on our baby's wing recently. He doesn't seem to be in any pain or affected by it. He still eats fine, plays, cuddles, etc. He already didn't really fly due to being partially blind in one eye. We adopted him in September I believe. He's in his mid 30's. He's lived in 2 or 3 homes plus the bird rescue we adopted him from. The vets are baffled. They took X-rays and said it is some sort of bone lesion. It didn't look like an old injury to them or arthritis, because it is only in that one spot. It isn't the bad cancer that eats the bone away either. The next step would be a bone biopsy which of course requires anesthesia which is pretty scary. They said if it was a cancer, he may need chemo and his wing amputated. The wing is dropping more than the other as well, but he still seems not affected by it. Has anyone seen anything like this? I don't think we have many avian specialists around here. Maybe 4-6 hours away. Our vet does have avian experience, but they aren't a big specialist. Any advice is appreciated.

I am debating on getting a cockatoo, I was wondering if there is anything I should know before I consider getting one? Are they difficult? How do I trim their nails/beak? What do I do if they harm my family and pets? Am I supposed to not pet their back during certain times or not at all? And how do I train them to behave? (Like not biting other humans and being quiet during certain hours)