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FAQ About the Hiking Cockatoos

Chapter 4 A Nice Personality

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What are the rewards you give them?

We do not feed them candy though it may appear so because we use a TickTacks container to hold Pine nuts (Pignola nuts) as a reward for good behavior such as talking. These are the same nuts that many people like on their gourmet salads. Mozart likes them both in the shell and out. Pine Nuts in the shell are small and hard to crack for humans, but seem to give Cockatoos a lot of pleasure.To keep him active in his cage, we hide pine nuts in the shell throughout the toys in his cage so he keeps busy finding them. We have found that using Pine Nuts as positive reinforcement for good behavior is a very powerful tool to shape the behavior of a Cockatoo. Punishment does not work and cannot be used with Cockatoos. That does not mean you cannot express disapproval, but you have to be careful not to go overboard with it. Cockatoos love drama and will repeat behaviors to get the drama from humans.

Kaipo and Amadeus are not being rewarded with Pine Nuts. Instead we use praise. But they do enjoy eating Almonds in the shell, and we put the nuts in plastic toys that require the birds to work at extracting the nuts. This helps keep them busy with problem solving during the day.


Personality: What are they Like?

Cockatoos are known for being very cuddly and loving, sort of a cross between a puppy and a teddy bear. They can be very dependent, and have strong emotional needs that must be fulfilled to keep them happy. They need companionship, they cannot be used as a "decorator accent" in interior design. Cockatoos insist on becoming part of the family -usually the spoiled child! They like being around people and interacting with them. This is one reason why we take our boys hiking, so they can interact with other humans and feel like part of a larger flock.


Mr. Hyde

If Cockatoos become frustrated and unhappy, they can be self destructive, chewing and mutilating their feathers, exhibit phobic behaviors and scream. Screaming is something that they can do non-stop for hours. Screaming can happen because the bird is unhappy, or if it is happy. The scream is very grating on the ear and can drive one crazy. Mozart used to scream much more when he was younger, now he does not seem to scream very much. But that could change as he grows older. Kaipo and Amdeus scream when we move out of sight, television seems to encourage large expressions of noise.


Cockatoos scream for a variety of reasons. They do it to greet the Sun at dawn, they do it to inform the universe of their continued presence, they do it because they are unhappy, and they do it for the joy of making a great noise. If you cannot abide the noise, then you cannot live with a Cockatoo. They are probably too loud for an apartment or condominium and there is no way to "de-bark" them.


Mozart out exploring the house

Powerful Beaks

Cockatoos have large powerful beaks. They can be extremely gentle with their beaks. It is like a "hand" to grasp and manipulate objects. The beak is usually warm to the touch and covered with a light grey-white dust as a result of preening their dusty feathers. They can also be quite aggressive with their beaks and pinch or bite. Yes, bite, as in breaking the skin with blood and pain. If you cannot tolerate an occasional pinch (or a rare bite,) and keep your temper/feelings under control, then you cannot "play" with a Cockatoo. Mozart bites or pinches us on a regular basis. He gets frustrated or we "push one of his buttons" (remember those wild instincts mentioned previously?) But I hasten to add that Mozart has never used the full power of his jaws on me. It seems that even when one of his "buttons" has been pushed and he is provoked he still seems to hold his strength in check. Both Kaipo and Amadeus are very gentle, and seem more gentle than Mozart but they are both very young and that gentleness may change as they age.


Strangers may Look but don't Touch!

Mozart could be aggressive toward strangers. Kaipo seems more reserved and rarely allows strangers to touch him, while Amadeus is more at ease with strangers and will permit a fair amount of gentle caresses. We cannot predict what they will do. That's why we tell people "Don't touch." Other breeds of Cockatoo, such as Umbrellas or Moluccan's, can be more friendly toward strangers. It took Mozart a while to accept some people, others he either liked or disliked instantaneously. He did remember people he had met. Once he accepted someone into "the flock", then they had the responsibility of providing back rubs and cuddles. Yes, he craved physical contact, petting and stroking his back are something he insisted on from his friends. He would gently pick up my fingers and put them on his back when he wanted me to rub his back or gently scratch him behind his ears.

Supervision

When the weather would not allow me to go hiking or work in the garden Mozart shifted his supervision from outdoor activities to computer technology. Mozart was very skeptical of the usefulness of computers -though from his perspective, keyboards made wonderful bird toys! To his ears, the keys pop out with the most delightful sound when he prys on them with his beak and he gets a really interesting response from me!

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