Twelve Steps to an Emotionally Stable Cockatoo
Twelve Steps to an
Emotionally Stable Cockatoo
Emotionally Stable Cockatoo
Cockatoos are a family of parrots that seem to inspire stereotypical thinking and it seems as if companion cockatoos are often thought of as the “problem children of the parrot world.” However, I know many people who adore their cockatoos and have positive relationships with these intelligent companions. I have been enchanted by some of these birds, especially my gentle and quiet Bare-eyed Cockatoo, Roxi-anne whose behaviors are in no way traits of the “stereotypical” cockatoo. Why is there such a vast difference in the way people think about cockatoos? I think it has a lot to do with their interactions with the people in their lives. The following are some guidelines to help you have the best relationship possible with your companion cockatoos.
1. Never stop learning. There is a lot of black and white thinking about cockatoos so don’t accept any information until you think it through to see if it is logical and makes sense for your situation with your cockatoo. Wade through the information and if it seems punishing or trust-destroying, don't follow the advice.
2. Make sure that your interactions with your cockatoo are trust-building and not trust-destroying. No matter how frustrated you become with your cockatoo, keep your cool. Slowing down your energy can make a big difference if your cockatoo is in overload. Cockatoos are quite empathic and a few deep breaths to relax ourselves will often calm down bird in the throes of overload behavior. Punishment is trust-destroying and increases negative behaviors. Cockatoos thrive on positive attention and praise.
3. Don’t think that all cockatoos are alike. For example, the smaller cockatoos (the corellas: bare-eyed, Ducorp's, Goffin's cockatoos) usually have very different behaviors than the Sulfur-crests, Umbrellas, and Moluccans. If you have a slender-billed corella, palm cockatoo or a Red-tailed black cockatoo, they are different from each other and from any of the others. For example, A bare-eyed cockatoo is a very different bird than an Umbrella cockatoo, particularly in the way that they play. Umbrellas can be very mechanical and can focus on one toy for a long time while most of the smaller cockatoos like lots of things to do and will go from one to another in a short period of time. Within a species, each cockatoo is an individual with its own unique personality. A lot of any cockatoo’s individual behavior will be a result of its interaction with the people in its life. Many of the same rules apply but they may need to be implemented in a slightly different manner.
4. If you are buying a young cockatoo, socialization is extremely important with intelligent birds like cockatoos. One of the reasons that cockatoos seem to be labeled the problem children of the bird world is that too many of them have been production-raised with little, if any, early socialization. If you are buying a baby, make sure that you buy from a source that understands the importance of the early socialization. In the wild, socialization is a process by which the young birds learn their social and survival skills. This process is just as important for cockatoos raised in captivity. Cockatoos that are given affection and fed abundantly as babies will develop a sense of security. If they are introduced to change in safe ways and meet a variety of people, baby cockatoos will develop a sense of adventure. Lots of toys and room to move around and climb will increase a baby cockatoo’s sense of curiosity. Overdependence is one of the major problems that cockatoos have as companions. A young cockatoo that is raised to be secure and curious has the potential to become far more independent than a bird that has been deprived of these elements of early socialization.
5. If you are getting a cockatoo that has been in another home, make sure that you find out as much as possible about the bird. Some birds in need of a new home will have few problems adjusting while others may require a great deal of patience and understanding. One absolute rule of parrot behavior is that parrots are more comfortable with people who are comfortable with them. Understanding the concept is one of the biggest steps in working with re-homed cockatoos. I have found that many cockatoos, even ones who may bite out of fear, respond very positively to calm energy and confidence on the part of the people in their lives. In many situations with a cockatoo showing aggression based on fear, that energy can be diffused by becoming submissive with their bird. Aggression is met with aggression and if the bird interprets our behavior as aggression, it will most likely return aggression. Being submissive with a frightened cockatoo usually works wonders in winning their trust. If you lower your head and look away, the bird is more likely to relax because it will not be threatened by you.
6. Cockatoos should not be thought of as “love sponges.” However, they need a LOT of nurturing love. The old concept that a young cockatoo should never be given any more attention than it will get the rest of its life is absolute nonsense. It is not the amount of attention that a cockatoo receives that spoils the bird; it is the kind of attention. If time spent with a cockatoo involves nothing but cuddling, chances are that the bird will demand constant cuddling and this will result in a very dependent bird. A little cuddling is alright from time to time but instructional interaction will encourage independence. This type of interaction involves teaching skills and behaviors through patterning and positive reinforcement. You can start with a few basic behaviors and, if you think it would be fun for both of you; you can teach the bird several tricks. I think all companion cockatoos should be taught to step on your hand with a pleasant “UP” command. This establishes a consistent routine for both thebird and the person. Most cockatoos love learning to wave. I use the words “Gimme Four” just about every time one of my birds lifts his foot. From patterning and association, they now know to lift their foot and wave when I say those words. I also have taught them “Eagle Boy” or “Eagle Girl” in the same manner when they spread their wings. These are very easy tricks to teach and can also be used as distractions when a cockatoo starts to scream. A simple “Eagle Girl” without eye contact or a lot of drama can actually “change the channel” when the cockatoo spreads her wings for praise instead of going on a screaming jag.
7. Don’t underestimate a cockatoo’s intelligence. One of the primary criteria for intelligence is an animal that attempts to deceive another animal. This behavior shows awareness that the animal is understand that it can change another animal’s behavior. Many cockatoos can be very manipulative with the people in their lives and we need to stay award of these behaviors before birds are running (or is it ruining?) our lives. I call one of a cockatoo’s tricks “The magician.” This is when they learn that all they have to do to get you to reappear is to scream as loud as they can … and this is loud! It is critical not to respond to negative behaviors with a drama reward. The more investment a cockatoo has in negative behaviors, the more they will continue so ignore them or teach the bird a positive distraction behavior that enable you to give the bird enthusiastic praise (see above).
8. Don’t overestimate a cockatoo’s intelligence. I think that cockatoos are “reactors” rather than “actors.” We can’t expect them to understand situations going on around them and act in a “logical” way. Cockatoo logic and human logic tend to be very different so we can’t judge them according to what we think makes sense. An example is the numbers of times I have heard people say that their cockatoos did something to spite them or punish them. This is most likely not the case. For example, one woman told me that her cockatoo bit her when she returned from a trip because it was angry with her. Chances are she moved in with too much enthusiasm and the cockatoo had become accustomed (or patterned) to her not being there and she overwhelmed it. If she had calmly greeted the cockatoo and let it get used to her over a period of a few minutes, it is unlikely that she would have been bitten. People often think that punishment works because their cockatoo will stop doing something if they scream at it, put it in a “naughty box,” cover its cage, or do any of the many other punishing drama rewards we have foolishly devised. While any of these behaviors on our part may seem to stop the behavior, the proof of their effectiveness is if they prevent future screaming and other negative behaviors. They don’t. The reason is that as intelligent as cockatoos are, they don’t have a sense of cause and effect … neither do a lot of people. To work effectively, the cockatoo would have to think the following scenario; “I was bad and because I screamed really loud, she put me in the closet in the dark. If I don’t ever want for her to be angry enough to put me in the dark closet again, I will neverscream again.” Cockatoos are smart but they do not have such an evolved cause and effect logic.Slowing down your energy around the bird or providing a distraction cue will be far more effective than any kind of trust-destroying punishment.
9. Learn to read your cockatoo’s body language. For the most part, cockatoos have very readable body language. In fact I believe that they are easier to read than most parrot family birds. All we have to do is look at a cockatoo and we know that the feather fluffing around the beak and the beak grinding means that it is relaxed and content. On the other hand, a prancing cockatoo with an extended crest and his wings out is a strong indication of excitement and enthusiasm. Whether that excitement can be determined to be playful or aggressive, often depends on how well a cockatoo caregiver knows his or her bird. Many cockatoos will flutter their wings to ask you to pick them up while with others it may be part of a sexual seduction. Cockatoos wind up before a big scream fest and once you know what the wind up looks like, if it is inappropriate time for such vocalizations, the screaming can be stopped before it starts with a distraction behavior. The same thing is often true of aggression. Years ago a woman told me that her bird bit her if she cuddled with it for more than three minutes. This was most likely due to sexual stimulation but the answer was really quite simple, stop petting the bird after two minutes.
10. Understand that an incident of aggression is an incident and does not mean that aggression will become a pattern for the cockatoo. If we change our behavior towards a cockatoo because we are afraid of being bitten again, the bird’s behavior will most likely change towards us. The comfort level will be broken as the continuing changes in the relationship spirals into mutual mistrust. If a cockatoo bites or is aggressive in any way, stop and think about why. Did he become afraid of something? Were you focused on your cockatoo when you asked him to step on your hand or did you behave in an inconsistent manner that confused him? Was something going on that overexcited the bird? Did you pet or stroke it in a way that could have been sexual? Most biting behavior starts as a reaction to fear, confusion, or aggression and if we take the time to think about why the cockatoo’s aggression occurred, we can stop it from becoming a pattern.
11. Let your cockatoo scream if he or she is screaming for joy. Most cockatoos vocalize when they are happy to be alive. Screaming is not the problem; the problem is excessive manipulative screaming. Screaming back at a screaming cockatoo just gives him a drama reward and rewards the screaming behaviors. Happy to be alive screaming and excessive screaming are two different behaviors just as play nippiness and aggression come from different parts of the brain. Happy screaming will not turn into excessive screaming unless we do something to make it happen. A well-timed enthusiastic mutual scream-fest with a cockatoo can be fun and an important part of play. Years ago I watched a Triton cockatoo spin on a branch over and over screaming his head off. While it was loud, it was really fun to see the bird having such a good time.
12. Spend lots of time playing with your cockatoo and understand when they are initiating play with you. Many cockatoos love to play on the ground. Pick a time of day and an area that the cockatoo can play on the floor. Roll a ball for him. I have met many cockatoos who love to play with balls on the floor and they particularly love the participation of the people in their lives. One Bare-eyed cockatoo I met loved to play “baseball” with a small Nerf ball. I would gently toss it to her and she would catch it and run around the room with me trying to get her. We both understood that we were playing so neither of us was afraid of the other being aggressive. I played catch with a Moluccan. I would toss her a small waffle ball and she would throw it back to me. If she didn’t catch the ball, she would run and get it and throw it back from where she found it. She was amazingly accurate in her aim and could have played this game all day. A lot of cockatoos love chasing us around the room when they are on the floor. I think that the cockatoo is often initiating play and we just don’t get it. We tend to jump around and run away and the cockatoo still thinks we are playing with them until we get upset with them. Probably if we recognized it as a game, we would have more control in setting the rules and both of us would have fun playing. I met a sulfur-crested cockatoo who had been taught to skip rope. It was pure joy to watch this. Be creative; there are many ways that you can encourage mutual play with your cockatoo. Mutual play encourages a cockatoo's intelligence and develops mutual trust. This is what creates a wonderful relationship between the cockatoo and the person.
2. Make sure that your interactions with your cockatoo are trust-building and not trust-destroying. No matter how frustrated you become with your cockatoo, keep your cool. Slowing down your energy can make a big difference if your cockatoo is in overload. Cockatoos are quite empathic and a few deep breaths to relax ourselves will often calm down bird in the throes of overload behavior. Punishment is trust-destroying and increases negative behaviors. Cockatoos thrive on positive attention and praise.
3. Don’t think that all cockatoos are alike. For example, the smaller cockatoos (the corellas: bare-eyed, Ducorp's, Goffin's cockatoos) usually have very different behaviors than the Sulfur-crests, Umbrellas, and Moluccans. If you have a slender-billed corella, palm cockatoo or a Red-tailed black cockatoo, they are different from each other and from any of the others. For example, A bare-eyed cockatoo is a very different bird than an Umbrella cockatoo, particularly in the way that they play. Umbrellas can be very mechanical and can focus on one toy for a long time while most of the smaller cockatoos like lots of things to do and will go from one to another in a short period of time. Within a species, each cockatoo is an individual with its own unique personality. A lot of any cockatoo’s individual behavior will be a result of its interaction with the people in its life. Many of the same rules apply but they may need to be implemented in a slightly different manner.
4. If you are buying a young cockatoo, socialization is extremely important with intelligent birds like cockatoos. One of the reasons that cockatoos seem to be labeled the problem children of the bird world is that too many of them have been production-raised with little, if any, early socialization. If you are buying a baby, make sure that you buy from a source that understands the importance of the early socialization. In the wild, socialization is a process by which the young birds learn their social and survival skills. This process is just as important for cockatoos raised in captivity. Cockatoos that are given affection and fed abundantly as babies will develop a sense of security. If they are introduced to change in safe ways and meet a variety of people, baby cockatoos will develop a sense of adventure. Lots of toys and room to move around and climb will increase a baby cockatoo’s sense of curiosity. Overdependence is one of the major problems that cockatoos have as companions. A young cockatoo that is raised to be secure and curious has the potential to become far more independent than a bird that has been deprived of these elements of early socialization.
5. If you are getting a cockatoo that has been in another home, make sure that you find out as much as possible about the bird. Some birds in need of a new home will have few problems adjusting while others may require a great deal of patience and understanding. One absolute rule of parrot behavior is that parrots are more comfortable with people who are comfortable with them. Understanding the concept is one of the biggest steps in working with re-homed cockatoos. I have found that many cockatoos, even ones who may bite out of fear, respond very positively to calm energy and confidence on the part of the people in their lives. In many situations with a cockatoo showing aggression based on fear, that energy can be diffused by becoming submissive with their bird. Aggression is met with aggression and if the bird interprets our behavior as aggression, it will most likely return aggression. Being submissive with a frightened cockatoo usually works wonders in winning their trust. If you lower your head and look away, the bird is more likely to relax because it will not be threatened by you.
6. Cockatoos should not be thought of as “love sponges.” However, they need a LOT of nurturing love. The old concept that a young cockatoo should never be given any more attention than it will get the rest of its life is absolute nonsense. It is not the amount of attention that a cockatoo receives that spoils the bird; it is the kind of attention. If time spent with a cockatoo involves nothing but cuddling, chances are that the bird will demand constant cuddling and this will result in a very dependent bird. A little cuddling is alright from time to time but instructional interaction will encourage independence. This type of interaction involves teaching skills and behaviors through patterning and positive reinforcement. You can start with a few basic behaviors and, if you think it would be fun for both of you; you can teach the bird several tricks. I think all companion cockatoos should be taught to step on your hand with a pleasant “UP” command. This establishes a consistent routine for both thebird and the person. Most cockatoos love learning to wave. I use the words “Gimme Four” just about every time one of my birds lifts his foot. From patterning and association, they now know to lift their foot and wave when I say those words. I also have taught them “Eagle Boy” or “Eagle Girl” in the same manner when they spread their wings. These are very easy tricks to teach and can also be used as distractions when a cockatoo starts to scream. A simple “Eagle Girl” without eye contact or a lot of drama can actually “change the channel” when the cockatoo spreads her wings for praise instead of going on a screaming jag.
7. Don’t underestimate a cockatoo’s intelligence. One of the primary criteria for intelligence is an animal that attempts to deceive another animal. This behavior shows awareness that the animal is understand that it can change another animal’s behavior. Many cockatoos can be very manipulative with the people in their lives and we need to stay award of these behaviors before birds are running (or is it ruining?) our lives. I call one of a cockatoo’s tricks “The magician.” This is when they learn that all they have to do to get you to reappear is to scream as loud as they can … and this is loud! It is critical not to respond to negative behaviors with a drama reward. The more investment a cockatoo has in negative behaviors, the more they will continue so ignore them or teach the bird a positive distraction behavior that enable you to give the bird enthusiastic praise (see above).
8. Don’t overestimate a cockatoo’s intelligence. I think that cockatoos are “reactors” rather than “actors.” We can’t expect them to understand situations going on around them and act in a “logical” way. Cockatoo logic and human logic tend to be very different so we can’t judge them according to what we think makes sense. An example is the numbers of times I have heard people say that their cockatoos did something to spite them or punish them. This is most likely not the case. For example, one woman told me that her cockatoo bit her when she returned from a trip because it was angry with her. Chances are she moved in with too much enthusiasm and the cockatoo had become accustomed (or patterned) to her not being there and she overwhelmed it. If she had calmly greeted the cockatoo and let it get used to her over a period of a few minutes, it is unlikely that she would have been bitten. People often think that punishment works because their cockatoo will stop doing something if they scream at it, put it in a “naughty box,” cover its cage, or do any of the many other punishing drama rewards we have foolishly devised. While any of these behaviors on our part may seem to stop the behavior, the proof of their effectiveness is if they prevent future screaming and other negative behaviors. They don’t. The reason is that as intelligent as cockatoos are, they don’t have a sense of cause and effect … neither do a lot of people. To work effectively, the cockatoo would have to think the following scenario; “I was bad and because I screamed really loud, she put me in the closet in the dark. If I don’t ever want for her to be angry enough to put me in the dark closet again, I will neverscream again.” Cockatoos are smart but they do not have such an evolved cause and effect logic.Slowing down your energy around the bird or providing a distraction cue will be far more effective than any kind of trust-destroying punishment.
9. Learn to read your cockatoo’s body language. For the most part, cockatoos have very readable body language. In fact I believe that they are easier to read than most parrot family birds. All we have to do is look at a cockatoo and we know that the feather fluffing around the beak and the beak grinding means that it is relaxed and content. On the other hand, a prancing cockatoo with an extended crest and his wings out is a strong indication of excitement and enthusiasm. Whether that excitement can be determined to be playful or aggressive, often depends on how well a cockatoo caregiver knows his or her bird. Many cockatoos will flutter their wings to ask you to pick them up while with others it may be part of a sexual seduction. Cockatoos wind up before a big scream fest and once you know what the wind up looks like, if it is inappropriate time for such vocalizations, the screaming can be stopped before it starts with a distraction behavior. The same thing is often true of aggression. Years ago a woman told me that her bird bit her if she cuddled with it for more than three minutes. This was most likely due to sexual stimulation but the answer was really quite simple, stop petting the bird after two minutes.
10. Understand that an incident of aggression is an incident and does not mean that aggression will become a pattern for the cockatoo. If we change our behavior towards a cockatoo because we are afraid of being bitten again, the bird’s behavior will most likely change towards us. The comfort level will be broken as the continuing changes in the relationship spirals into mutual mistrust. If a cockatoo bites or is aggressive in any way, stop and think about why. Did he become afraid of something? Were you focused on your cockatoo when you asked him to step on your hand or did you behave in an inconsistent manner that confused him? Was something going on that overexcited the bird? Did you pet or stroke it in a way that could have been sexual? Most biting behavior starts as a reaction to fear, confusion, or aggression and if we take the time to think about why the cockatoo’s aggression occurred, we can stop it from becoming a pattern.
11. Let your cockatoo scream if he or she is screaming for joy. Most cockatoos vocalize when they are happy to be alive. Screaming is not the problem; the problem is excessive manipulative screaming. Screaming back at a screaming cockatoo just gives him a drama reward and rewards the screaming behaviors. Happy to be alive screaming and excessive screaming are two different behaviors just as play nippiness and aggression come from different parts of the brain. Happy screaming will not turn into excessive screaming unless we do something to make it happen. A well-timed enthusiastic mutual scream-fest with a cockatoo can be fun and an important part of play. Years ago I watched a Triton cockatoo spin on a branch over and over screaming his head off. While it was loud, it was really fun to see the bird having such a good time.
12. Spend lots of time playing with your cockatoo and understand when they are initiating play with you. Many cockatoos love to play on the ground. Pick a time of day and an area that the cockatoo can play on the floor. Roll a ball for him. I have met many cockatoos who love to play with balls on the floor and they particularly love the participation of the people in their lives. One Bare-eyed cockatoo I met loved to play “baseball” with a small Nerf ball. I would gently toss it to her and she would catch it and run around the room with me trying to get her. We both understood that we were playing so neither of us was afraid of the other being aggressive. I played catch with a Moluccan. I would toss her a small waffle ball and she would throw it back to me. If she didn’t catch the ball, she would run and get it and throw it back from where she found it. She was amazingly accurate in her aim and could have played this game all day. A lot of cockatoos love chasing us around the room when they are on the floor. I think that the cockatoo is often initiating play and we just don’t get it. We tend to jump around and run away and the cockatoo still thinks we are playing with them until we get upset with them. Probably if we recognized it as a game, we would have more control in setting the rules and both of us would have fun playing. I met a sulfur-crested cockatoo who had been taught to skip rope. It was pure joy to watch this. Be creative; there are many ways that you can encourage mutual play with your cockatoo. Mutual play encourages a cockatoo's intelligence and develops mutual trust. This is what creates a wonderful relationship between the cockatoo and the person.
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