What type of cockatoo is my wife holding here?

[Lobby]

We met this cockatoo, Chester, while at the last club meeting. He was very friendly and lots of fun. But the owner wasn't sure what type he was. She thought originally that he was a Lesser Sulfur Crested cockatoo but the pictures shes seen of those usually don't have such bright yellow check patches. I have to admit I find the whole Sulfur Crested family a bit confusing. What distinguishes the Lesser/Medium/Triton/Greater from each other. I've never met a Greater but I have met 2 Triton and they both were awesome.

As I understand it Tritons are a subspecies of the GS2s but the owners of the first T2 I met were made a big deal that a T2 was not the same species as a GS2. But then again they would not believe me when I told them that petting him under the wings was a bad idea. Actually they pet him all over. I tried to explain to him what it would do to their T2 but they wouldn't believe me. They breed small birds and have 20 + parrots and thusly are experts compared to me. The T2 is only 2 (now 3) so it is nowhere near sexual maturity but I worry about its future.

 

[TypingParrot]

They will learn when they get bit, sadly

 

[Allessa]

Yep. Ive seen a lady at the birdstore i go to do that. And think im CRAZY when i tell her she shouldnt. Jaden is only 4 and i never do that.

 

[gayla]

Citron TOO's have an orangey crest, also known as the Lesser Sulfer Crested

Triton Sulfer Crested, have a yellowish cresty, also known as a Greater Sulfer Crested

I'm sure if I am wrong, someone will correct me....please

 

[Lobby]

It would help if I attached the photo wouldn't it?

 

[Allessa]

Wait, Citron and Lesser Sulfur are the same birds?

I always thought Citron, lesser, medium, greater, and triton were all different kinds. No wonder i was so freaking confused lol

 

[gayla]

Looks like a Greater, or Triton to me......

please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Allessa]

The one in the picture is the same as the Citron Gayla posted. Orange cheeks/crest.

 

[gayla]

Looks yellow to me, could be the photo.

Lobby, what color was the cresty?

 

[gayla]

Some of the Greaters have a yellow patch on their cheeks

 

[Allessa]

Ohh okay. i didnt see yellow on the cheeks in the first pic so i assumed it was the citron. It looks small for a greater tho doesnt it? I saw a greater once in person and he was a huge bird.

 

[Lobby]

They will learn when they get bit, sadly

Or it starts plucking out of sexual frustration. I have heard that is one of the reasons for plucking.

Looks like a Greater, or Triton to me......

please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Iirc it is smaller than the Triton but then it could be small for its species.

I do wish there was a really good 'too book out there. Is there one and I've missed it? I've got this thin paperback "Cockatoos a Complete Pet Owner's Manual" and will look at it and see what it says about the Sulfur Crested. Though Complete Owner's Manual it is way not.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

there are I believe 6 subspecies of the lesser sulphur crested cockatoo the citron being the one with the orange crest the rest of the lesser sulphur crested have yellow crest
the difference between the lesser medium and greater crested cockatoo is the size of the bird I am looking up for more information

Yellow-crested Cockatoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[melissasparrots]

That bird your wife is holding is a lesser sulfer crest 100% positive.
Citrons are a subspecies of Lesser sulfer crest. With the citron having a more orange crest and cheeks. LSC2 usually have much more well defined cheek patches and smaller body. They also will very often have less curl to their crest, more stray yellow body feathers and some varieties will have a much blockier beak in proportion to body size compared to the greaters. There are several subspecies of lesser, however most have not been kept separate in the captive breeding pool and therefore you will see a variety.

The greater sulfer crests have 3-4 subspecies with the nominate form(aka the true greater aka C. galerita galerita) being the least common because they come from Australia which I believe halted exportation of native wildlifein 1972. The other subspecies of greater are native to the islands around and north of australia and they continued exportation into the 80's and early 90's and therefor the tritons and eleanoras are much more common. Which is why some people make a big deal of saying eleanoras and tritons are not true greaters. Yes they are greaters, just not the nominate form.

As a general rule, tritons have a feather and beak structure more similar to umbrellas with a noticeably blue eye ring. They generally have less curl and frill to their crest feathers.

True greaters will have pale yellow cheek patches, a white eye ring and generally will have a more defined curl on their crest. Very often their feet and beak are more delicate looking relative to body size compared to the other sulfers.

Eleanoras aka Medium sulfer crest will look like slightly smaller true greaters with perhaps a slightly more bulky beak for the size and usually a little less curl to the crest and often a very slight blue eyering.

There is also a Fitzroy subspecies of GSC2 that I don't know much about.

Regarding petting under the wing, sometimes that is just cuddling and sometimes it triggers a hormonal reaction. It isn't necessarily the wrong thing all the time. I have had a GSC2 for 9 out of her 10 years and I pet her under the wing often without any problems. However, sometimes if I do it and I see her squat down and start the heaving breathing thing, then I stop. Just as with people, sometimes a touch is just affection and sometimes there is more to it. Same with birds. If the bird isn't taking it the wrong way, I see no reason to limit it. That is really something that should be taken on a case by case basis.

 

[Lobby]

Thank you melissaparrots. It is easy to see why there is such confusion when it comes to SC2s.

When it comes to the petting thing, the way these folks were petting this T2 I can only hope that they will notice any signs in the future. He was only 2 yrs old so he was very young and they were very resistant to the idea that there could ever be anything wrong with petting a too all over. They also stroked him all the way down his back iirc. I don't think they will pay attention to any problems until he is half bald. I do tend to worry to much about my own fids so I could be wrong. You would thing that people that have been breeding birds for many yrs would recognize breeding behavior when they see it. Personally I think it is just as easy to avoid the problem all together but I do respect your opinion. As I've always said each bird is an individual and needs to be treated as such maybe this falls under that category?

 

[Bokkapooh]

The lesser in captivity are; the Timnor and Citrin

The medium sulfur crested seen in captivity is the; elenora cockatoos

The greaters are; Tritons and Galerita

Home page Cockatoo Rescue and Sanctuary for info and pics

 

[wolfysluv]

Okay so let me get this straight. We shoulnd't pet tika under the arm pits? The spot/area where the wing connects to the body?? Cause we always do that.

Mostly I pet her head area, shoulders and I like to sorta pet the tippy top part of her wings that sit on her shoulders (the top third of her wings towards her head).

Mostly, we pet her "wing". Its hard to explain. Like, she snuggles up under Scotts chin, lays on her side, uses her foot to massage her own head, closes her eyes, and scott uses his thumb and pointy finger and drags the outer flight feather(s) of a wing through his fingers. He also usually has to have his other hand right near her or kinda on her or she'll get mad lol.

I'd only pet her head. But Tika has always had a bad thing about her head. We are still working on it and every year it gets better and better.

I hope we are doing okay She has never been people possessive. In fact she is the perfect bird in that she doesnt' prefer anyone and RUNS to strangers to visit.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Melissasparrots: I am so happy to hear someone say that about petting under the wing or even on the back! Sometimes touching is just touching; sometimes it is friendship; sometimes it is sexual, etc. Thank you! Sunny loves me to pet under her wings from about May to October and she does not get sexually excited. From November to April, it can literally turn her on sexually and I avoid it or just plain stop when I see her react. I could not see why I should stop what we both like when it doesn't cause a negative change in her bahavior most of the time.

Yes!!!

 

[JLcribber]

The sexual organs on a cockatoo are located under the wings and on the back. So if that's where anyone is petting them, guess what your petting?

 

[shf]

the picture is definitely a lesser sulphur crested cockatoo aka yellow crested cockatoo it is too small to be a triton,greater, and is not an citron because the color is yellow on the cheeks citrons have orange. also it could be confused with an elanora but elanoras are larger. i would bet almost 100% that its a lesser.
these are pics of my lesser.