• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Cockatoo Adventures

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
I thought Orlando was fascinating. I've always had a soft spot for GSC2s.
Orlando is a customer favorite and I could write pages about his antics. Dive bombing people to watch them scream and jump out of his way. Throwing products off the shelves and chewing things open. He's completely fickle with me. If I'm in the store on a day off he will talk to me and sometimes let me scratch his head. If I'm working he wants nothing to do with me. His breeder was a friend of mine and I used to tell Orlando that he better behave because I have Jack on speed dial and I was going to call him up and tell him one of his babies was misbehaving. Last April we got a message that our hand-feeder had passed away that morning after a brief illness. I was standing near Orlando's cage telling some of the other employees about it. At the same time, I got a text message letting me know that Jack had passed away two days before. When I said it out loud, Orlando started screaming and was fussy the whole day.
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Kiwi surprised me last night. I left early because we had plenty of people working and it was slow. A few hours after the store closed the owner called me about an issue with the printer. I went back in to see what was wrong with it. She went into her office to get some things to take home with her and I sat on the floor in front of the printer to see what was wrong with it. The store was pretty quiet and I heard this click, click, click noise coming across the floor. I leaned over a little and Kiwi came around the corner. He knew I was there and had gotten down off of his stand and walked across the store to visit me. When the owner came back she asked where Kiwi was because she was going to put him in his carrier for the trip home. There he was, sitting on my shoulder. It's still strange that this bird who has such a reputation for being a biter has warmed up to me and come to see me by his own choice. I'm not complaining. I love seeing his personality shine through his exterior. He's more than just a cockatoo that's had a rough start to life. He's a biter, a cat killer, and has a potty mouth, but underneath he's got some love to share.
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Kiwi likes the pear-shaped quick links. His goal is to bend it and pull the connector off, then hide it somewhere in his feathers. We save the defective ones for him and use them to keep him distracted when he needs to be away from his cage or his stand. Yesterday I had Kiwi with me at the front of the store with me while someone was cleaning around his stand. I held one up for him and he grabbed it. You can see what he does with them. I need pliers to bend them, but he did that with his beak. I had to put him back in a cage for a while because he got excited and started rubbing himself on my shoulder. Both Kiwi and Kookie have decided they love me in that special way and there isn't anything I can do for them.

Kiwi.jpg
Link.jpg
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
One step forward, one step back with Kiwi. The store was crazy yesterday and when we had a few minutes of quiet in the afternoon two of us made a run to Sonic for drinks. Kiwi was in a mood and I should have left him behind. It was windy and he loves to spread his wings and scream while you're walking into the wind. Kiwi came along and was his usual silly self. When we got back to the store he snapped at my face. I tapped him on the beak and told him to knock it off, but he managed to scratch my glasses. I thought maybe it was something from his mouth on the bottom, but when I cleaned them off there are two spots where he scratched the lens with his bottom beak. Kiwi had been on his mom's shoulder and was excited in that special way and I should have left him at the store to calm down. I don't believe he was trying to bite me out of aggression, but he was excited and I should have left him behind. The scratch is at the bottom of the lens, but they are progressive lenses and when I look down it is in my line of sight. I've not been happy with these glasses since I got them, so it's a good excuse to replace them anyway. Live and learn.
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Miss Daisy May has improved. No one has come in to see her about a potential adoption. I think people are intimidated by her needs. I was at home sick most of last week but others were able to get her out and onto her tree. We've discovered that she hates it when the other guy wears a bright green shirt. She wants nothing to do with him when he wears it and will try to bite him. When he wears a dark shirt she will step up and cuddle with him. Maybe it has something to do with her past trauma. I found a shredded feather on her tree on Monday, but it looked chewed off, not pulled out. She didn't do it on Tuesday so who can say what caused it. I'm hoping maybe it was a broken feather that was uncomfortable and she chewed it off. We're seeing more new feathers starting to fill in on her back and fuzzy down on her belly. Baby steps, but I'll take it.

IMG_5541.jpeg IMG_5544.jpeg
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
I think we've finally found the perfect home for Daisy. We have some customers that have adopted 2 African Greys from us. One had been horribly abused and would scream when touched by a human. In the last 2 years, they have shown that bird what it means to be loved. The other was given up because the owner had passed away. Both came in for grooming and are now the sweetest birds. They met Daisy last weekend and came in today to see her. She prefers men and was happy to cuddle up to him, but she wasn't aggressive with his wife. I take those both as good signs. A few more visits will be needed to make sure it's a good fit. I'll miss my little naked chicken but I feel good about it.
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Daisy May went to her new home today. The couple that had been visiting put in the time to see her and all of their visits went very well. When I was there I had to step out of Daisy's line of sight or she would focus on me while the guy was holding her. Once I was out of the way she turned back to him and cuddled just like she did with me. She would say things to him that she didn't say to me, so I took that as a good sign. I hope she will blossom and thrive once she gets settled in. I love it when our babies that have had rough lives land in just the right place.
 

scrape

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
2,504
That is the best feeling. Sometimes a bit bittersweet, but still rewarding.:hug8:
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
I found this again and thought I would share it. A friend was breeding rose-breasted cockatoos and had two babies that he was hand feeding. They are like very large baby cockatiels with crowns growing out of their heads.

B2910DB0-BF07-418C-BBE9-F859CE20D6E4.JPG
 

Tyrion

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
1/22/15
Messages
6,797
Location
Oh Canada
Real Name
Annette Thompson
so cute :)
 

rocky'smom

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/14/14
Messages
17,442
Location
minnesota
Real Name
laurie
Little Mohawks are so cute.
 

scrape

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
2,504
@BrianB Do you have any updates on Daisy? How is she doing in her new home?
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
@BrianB Do you have any updates on Daisy? How is she doing in her new home?
I haven't seen Daisy, but her new owners have been in and they said she's doing really well. She's shredded some of her feathers but isn't actively plucking herself. I think the shredding will be a lifelong habit, but I'll take that over feather plucking. They are such friendly people and they've done really well with the two greys they adopted from us.
 

scrape

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
2,504
I haven't seen Daisy, but her new owners have been in and they said she's doing really well. She's shredded some of her feathers but isn't actively plucking herself. I think the shredding will be a lifelong habit, but I'll take that over feather plucking. They are such friendly people and they've done really well with the two greys they adopted from us.
Awesome, I'm glad it worked out!
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
I found this again and thought I would share it. A friend was breeding rose-breasted cockatoos and had two babies that he was hand feeding. They are like very large baby cockatiels with crowns growing out of their heads.

View attachment 407883
Just looking at this picture I can hear the screeching sound that goes with it! Lol!
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
My little girl Daisy came in for nail grooming today. She was happy to see me and it looks like she’s doing really well. She’s plucked the fuzzies that were on her chest, but she’s stopped shredding her full grown feathers. Her owner said he fell asleep on the sofa one afternoon and he woke up with her snuggled up next to him.
.
831AAFA4-DBBD-4C80-BE6B-0C6D98B1DB6C.jpeg
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
My little girl Daisy came in for nail grooming today. She was happy to see me and it looks like she’s doing really well. She’s plucked the fuzzies that were on her chest, but she’s stopped shredding her full grown feathers. Her owner said he fell asleep on the sofa one afternoon and he woke up with her snuggled up next to him.
.
View attachment 409046
Sweet girl!!
 

scrape

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
2,504
Yay! So happy for her! Go Daisy!:swoon:
 

BrianB

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
2/22/17
Messages
1,780
Life changes for people and this handsome boy came to stay at the store today. It’s started out rough for him. He got his beak and wings trimmed today and since he doesnt like women he jumped away from her as soon as she was done. He landed hard on the floor and cracked off a back toenail. I picked him up and he cuddled right up to my chest. A few minutes later I looked down and my arm was covered with blood. We had to remove the remnants of the nail and wrap his toe. Now he’s sitting here with me getting some love. Moluccans scare me but he letting me comfort him so Im good.

42844008-90DE-4606-9C1F-E30EF67CF1DB.jpeg
 
Top