The sulphur crested cockatoo AKA "cocky", is an Australian species of cockatoo renowned worldwide for their unexceeded companionship and astounding level of intelligence.
Sulphur crested cockatoos are well sought after by pet owners and bird collectors alike for their subtle beauty, charming nature, speaking abilities and general intelligence.
Although cockatoos can be excessively loud at dawn and dusk, this issue is far outweighed by the years of enjoyment and affection that you will gain from owning one.
Usually seen in flocks, sulphur crested cockatoos are a very social bird.
Cockies are commonly found associating with other large avian species including corellas and galahs.
Wild sulphur crested cockatoos spend most of their time feeding, but like to play a lot and often fly around screeching to one another. This attribute is most commonly seen around dusk before the cockatoos settle down for the rest of the evening.
When in pairs, sulphur crested cockatoos tend to spend a lot of their time grooming and playing with each other, demonstrating just how affectionate they can be.
In captivity, tamed sulphur crested cockatoos often prefer to pair up with just one human, and can be aggressive to those who they feel are competing for attention with that human. This is certainly not always the case, and many cockies will become close to several people at once.
In most cases, sulphur crested cockatoos are extremely warm and attentive birds that require a lot of attention and affection from either humans or other birds. They are extremely loyal.
Although sulphur crested cockatoos are generally not aggressive, they can certainly go through aggressive stages, especially during puberty in the early stages of their lives.
Sulphur crested cockatoos are found wild in every state of Australia with the most dense populations occurring in Eastern Australia throughout Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and much or Northern Territory.
Being a very versatile bird, the sulphur crested cockatoo can be found in a range of different forest types, most often eucalypt.
The sulphur crested cockatoo is especially common around inland rivers, making their nests in tree hollows found along the riverside.
As sulphur crested cockatoos generally do not migrate, they tend to spend the majority of their lives in the same area.
The diet of the sulphur crested cockatoo mainly consists of seeds foraged from open fields of various grasses and other plants. Other foods that sulphur crested cockatoos are known to eat include fruits, nuts, occasionally leaves and crops including oats, wheat and corn.
In captivity sulphur crested cockatoos are often fed foods like apples, bananas, nuts, sunflower seeds and bread. Although all of these foods are reasonably ok to feed to a cocky, some foods that are high in fats should be avoided or used sparingly such as sunflower seeds and peanuts.
It is actually quite easy to determine the gender of a sulphur crested cockatoo. As with many other avian species, the eyes are a giveaway. Male sulphur crested cockatoos have darker brown eyes, while the females tend to have rich red-brown eyes. {Pictured} This method can prove incorrect when used against younger cockatoos, making the gender of an adolescent cockatoo virtually impossible to determine.
Surprisingly, sulphur crested cockatoos are known to live to around 80 years old, and some have made it to over 100 years old.
It can be extremely difficult if not impossible to determine the correct age of a sulphur crested cockatoo. Often features such as the wrinkles around the bird's eye or scales on the feet are used to help determine a sulphur crested cockatoo's age, but these methods can be highly unreliable and thus figuring out the age of a sulphur crested cockatoo can be virtually impossible.
As far as pets go, sulphur crested cockatoos are one of the best that you could possibly have. Offering more companionship and loyalty than most dogs, most are completely unaware of just how much joy a cocky can bring into their lives.
A healthy diet is the key to your cockatoo's longevity.
The best diet for your sulphur crested cockatoo is one that varies. Although a steady supply of seeds and grains is crucial, regular servings of fruit and nuts are a great way to enhance your cockies diet although peanuts should be kept to a minimum. A favoured treat for many cockatoos is a porridge mixture made from rolled oats, honey and water (instead of milk), the birds love the sweet flavour and the treat is healthy and nutritious. Other treats include bread (especially grain bread), toast with honey and basically anything else that is grain or rice based with no added sugar, dairy etc.
Taming a sulphur crested cockatoo is not as difficult as it can be for many other birds, although the task can certainly have more perils. The most concerning issue that most who attempt to tame their cocky must face is the risk of being bitten. Sulphur crested cockatoos have powerful jaws with reasonably sharp beaks that are easily capable of inflicting damage, not to mention sharp claws as well.
For this reason care should be taken not to try and rush the taming process as injuries are a likely if you do.
Sulphur crested cockatoos are extremely interactive and social, and have a strong instinct to pair up and make friends, and so this instinct needs to be exploited.
To tame your cockatoo you need to gain it's trust, and this can only be done baby step by baby step.
At first, the cocky will most likely fear or hate you, depending on how long you have had it for and how well it knows you.
Spending a lot of time sitting next to the cage or aviary speaking to the bird is an excellent way to get to know each other properly. To some this may seem like a near useless activity, but it shows the bird that you are friendly and interesting making you a suitable friend.
Try to show the cocky that you are not so different to it, bob your head up and down or side to side to be playful (you will look like an idiot) and speak constantly in interesting and high pitch tones.
After doing this for days on end, your cocky will begin to take a lot more interest in you and gain some trust.
Now you can begin to try to hand feed the bird with interesting treats like bread.
At first the cockatoo may not be interested in taking the food from your hand, but that is to be expected and nothing to worry about. If the cocky does not take the food, just leave it in the cage or aviary where it can be reached. You can also try experimenting with different types of food to see what is more appealing.
Soon enough, the bird will grow fond of you and you can begin trying to pat it. This should be done very slowly and carefully. Try not to flinch as this will scare the bird and cause a setback.
After doing this over time your cockatoo will grow more and more comfortable with you and become tame enough to hold and pat as you please.
Sulphur crested cockatoos need a large amount of space to live in as opposed to other species, and this needs to be heavily taken into consideration before purchasing one.
The ideal cage size for a sulphur crested cockatoo is anywhere above the size of 2m tall x 2m deep x 5m wide. Although this size is optimum, large cages around 3 – 4 wingspans wide and around 1.5 metres tall would be sufficient, especially if the bird will be let out for a play each day.
Outdoor aviaries will need to be partially sheltered from the wind and rain, and nesting boxes or hollow tree branches can also help your bird to feel more comfortable.
Cockatoo enclosures should include multiple perches of varying sizes for the bird to climb on and chew, as well as a good supply of gum leaves and leafy branches.
Toys are an absolute necessity for those who have trouble dealing with their cockatoo's loud screeching, and they are also a great way to keep your bird happy and amused.
Generally anything that the bird can chew, jingle or swing around can be considered a toy, and most pet stores sell toys that do all of the above.
Most large bird toys at pet stores are quite expensive, especially considering that the birds will chew through them in a week or so, and therefore many people prefer to make their own for a significantly lower cost. Bought toys can be often duplicated using simple materials such as rope, sticks or other timber and small metal bells purchased from craft stores.
