Cute Dancing Cockatoo

[LeeAnne151]

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html

[mascot]

I've seen this video making the rounds for a couple weeks...and gaining popularity.

It's easy for many people to adore the antics of a cockatoo, as they rarely get the chance to see one and when they do it's very entertaining.  But living with one that is non-stop antics changes everything...some people can tolerate it, others can't.  It's kind of like snow...fun to play in a couple times a year, but when you have to deal with it for several weeks/months in a row it loses it's appeal and becomes too much like work!

I'm lucky...because even though I own a cockatoo, he's very unique and unusual in that he's extremely quiet and very cuddly.  After almost 16 years he's been audible little over a dozen times, and usually only for a few seconds.  Most cockatoos are quiet for a few seconds in 15 years! 

This is how noisey Rocky is most of the time

[CT]

Check out the African Gray bobbing along in the background. 
I agree though, my Amazon parrots can be trying at times. They get noisy during the 6pm news every night so we find something to keep their beaks busy. Sometimes it works, sometime it doesn't. 
Kay

[Desertponder]

I've seen this video circulating around too. Its funny as heck! I didn't notice there was a grey in the background.
Cockatoos can be a challenge. I had a Goffin, the smallest of the cockatoos and when he would start screaming he would keep screaming until whatever got him started was gone. It might be a strange item near his cage, a strange person in the house, something strange outside the window or the horses might be out. He wasn't a talker and he wasn't real tame and friendly. I hated to get rid of him but I finally had to because I just didn't have the time anymore to take care of him. I felt good about the home he went to. The woman had other birds and she was an active member of a local bird rescue.
I don't think I would ever consider a cockatoo again if I were to get another bird. I like the Amazons. I also had a Mexican Redhead Amazon that I really liked. She was quiet and she was tame and much easier to deal with. She rarely vocalized loudly, when she did it was usually because she was mad about something. Birds can be fun but they are a high maintenance pet and you have to be able to make that commitment.

[CT]

It's a big commitment. I've had my Amazon's for 25 years and sometimes I just beg for peace and quiet but I wouldn't rehome them. They are family at this point. We compromise and sometimes the nighty night blanket has to come out. I have noticed that my Red Lored Amazon is much quieter than my Orange Wing.
Kay

[mascot]

That's why I say I'm very lucky to have come across a bird like Rocky.  He was listed in a small ad for $200, and when I went to see him he looked incredible and didn't make a single sound other than hissing at me.  He was in that home for over a year, and didn't like people at all, he especially wanted nothing to do with me.  Three weeks later he was playing dead in the palm of my hand because he trusted me so much.

I've never covered his cage, have never had to turn up the tv or talk in the other room because of him, and he's gentle and very docile.  When he sustained an eye injury I had to administer eye drops, and this picture is the epitome of how much he trusts me.  Keep in mind: the camera was on a timer so I had to hold this position for a few seconds, and he didn't budge.


I know people who won't hold still for that long for eye drops!

[LeeAnne151]

I had a cockatiel for a few weeks, he was in the tree outside and flew down to Bob when he whistled and held up his finger. Soooo noisy. We gave him to a friend's sister who had others and as far as I know he is still with her, fifteen years later. I cannot deal with birds. A friend's in high school drove me crazy. My cats are quiet.

[jax]

The dancing bird was so cute.  My sister lives in Tuscan and she is involved in adopting and rescuing birds out there and she has several cockatiels in her home.  Usually when she gets them they are having health problems and she takes care of them till they can go up for adoption and the ones that no one wants, she keeps.