Hyacinths & Black Cockatoos: Adelaide Zoo

[Somebirdie]

My absolutely lovely boyfriend made the fatal mistake of taking me too the zoo today!


He is a real champ and listens to me dribble on about each species without complaint!


First up is this lovely black cockatoo male.
There were about 4 thirteen year old boys hassling him. Pretending they were going to hit him, trying to scare him etc. I was watching VERY closely, Kris could see I was about to go absolutely freaking crazy and intervened by nicely walking over, inbetween the boys, instantly patting the bird and said in a playful tone "if you're not a bloody idiot, you can pat him!"
They were all then REALLY amazed by the bird and all pet him nicely for ages!
After woods he said too me "yeah I had to get in there 'cause I could see you boiling over and loosing it any second! And I thought 'oh boy...this will be bad!' I was just hoping he actually would let me pat him!"

Anyway we gave him tonnes of scratches and everyone in the area caught on too be nice and gentle and the bird lets you pat him, so that was nice.
I preened his pin feathers and he followed me when I left.

[video=youtube;_FNifbRyzXA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FNifbRyzXA&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]


Then there was this lovely guy
Id NEVER seen a Hy, we have about two pairs in the country.
He was sitting at the back of a HUGE aviary and came over too us, allowing scratches.
We left and came back later, again he was at the back, and he got VERY excited the second he saw us and flew right over. I guess birds know bird people!
Only problem was with such a HUGE beak, even a tiny bit of pressure is very firm, something I understand as a bird keeper...but others don't.
So there ended up with a big crowd of people since we seemed the only ones he was interested in!
One lady walked up and said to her kids "oh pat the birds tummy while the man keeps him busy!"...so volunteered my boyfriends fingers ultimately!
He was stunning. Hy eyes are the most beautiful things!

My boy Kris and the Hy

[video=youtube;J_gXMxc0Fy8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_gXMxc0Fy8&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

[video=youtube;a7ALfh6VVdQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ALfh6VVdQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]


My finger after the above video! I know he didn't mean it, he's just strong!

 

[kcbee]

Wonderful photos. Looks like a fun day!

 

[waterfaller1]

Wow..have to get back to see the videos later. The too is gorgeous..so is the Hy. So is the BF. Do tell...last I heard you were pining for the ex...when did this gem show up? Did you rehome him?

 

[Somebirdie]

Thank you

It was fun, we're lucky enough to have a lot of birds at our zoo!

 

[Somebirdie]

Wow..have to get back to see the videos later. The too is gorgeous..so is the Hy. So is the BF. Do tell...last I heard you were pining for the ex...when did this gem show up? Did you rehome him?

Well,
A few things came out about the ex over time. Its over a year on and I dont miss or think about him.
I think I missed the situation more than him.
It had been hard as he stole some of my stuff for a year, I pretty much said give it back, so you can be gone forever, or get a letter from a lawyer in a week.
I got it back. And no longer have to think about it vs it being a weigh on my mind beforehand.

New boy appeared a couple of months ago! Certainly showed me how much better a relationship can be, without even trying!

 

[waterfaller1]

That is wonderful. I am so happy for you!

 

[Anne & Gang]

beautiful birds..and smoking hot new beau!!

 

[expressmailtome]

What an amazing day!

Matt

 

[Holiday]

This one sounds like a keeper Love the post and the pics!

 

[Greycloud]

Gorgeous photos, vids and birds! Good for you stepping forward and showing the kids what kindness can get you! And I agree, the new Beau is definitely gorgeous and a keeper!

 

[Lady Jane]

Lovely time you had with the birds. I am so jealous!

 

[MsCreature]

Ohmygoodness! I can't imagine someplace that amazing. Gotta say the boy is pretty fab, too! I love hearing of people finding a wonderful relationship after something less than wonderful. :] <3

Someday I hope to meet a 'too like that! c: I don't know if there are a lot of places/zoo/sanctuaries where you can actually pet the birds, probably because of situations where people might taunt them or not know how to treat them.

 

[Katy]

Now THATS a romantic date! You go girl.

 

[Somebirdie]

Thanks for all the love!

Ohmygoodness! I can't imagine someplace that amazing. Gotta say the boy is pretty fab, too! I love hearing of people finding a wonderful relationship after something less than wonderful. :]

 

[Somebirdie]

Now THATS a romantic date! You go girl.

Hehe the poor boy has taken me to two zoos already, agreed on another, and to go back to one.
Such a great lad

 

[MsCreature]

The only one I've ever seen that allowed hands-on was lories and lorikeets, where you can purchase cups of nectar and they all land on you. c: I always loved those so much because I don't get many opportunities to handle parrots. Maybe it's because the States don't have native parrot populations?

 

[TikiLola]

....the ones here probably are too afraid they'd get sued if someone got bit.

Gorgeous all the way around, lucky you!

 

[Taz93]

Im yet to meet a Hyacinth macaw so im pretty jealous just the other week I finally got to meet a blue and gold tho, first time ive ever seen a macaw in person what subspecies is the redtail do u know?

 

[Somebirdie]

Yes I guess the fact Australia has plenty of wild parrots may have something to do with how a lot of places let you interact with them. Ahhh well. Who knows.


I think they were probably Samueli red tails, I could be wrong though. The males just seemed smaller than Harv and with a slightly different beak, and they wouldn't have the rarer subspecies like Naso out for the public to touch (plus they have a pretty definitive look)
Who knows though, maybe they were Magnificus too


The Hy experience was just unbelievable

 

[DQTimnehs]

Awesome! Glad you found someone that's good to you and good for you!