[BITList] Fw: Australia - A Love Story, about a cockatoo....not a joke.

Mon Jan 18 21:29:46 GMT 2010

 Australia - A Love Story, about a cockatoo....not a joke.

                                A  TRUE AUSSIE LOVE STORY...

                                A  Story of Love, Compassion, 
                                Friendship &  Loyalty

                                About  eight years ago a wild Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoo flew  into a car and broke its wing.The  motorist took it to the Vet in Nerang , Queensland , who had to  amputate the wing.

                                We adopted her - for which we needed  a National Parks and Wildlife permit - and kept her in a cage  outside where she was often visited by wild Cockatoos. One  of the things that impressed us was how she would push lettuce  leaves through the bars of the cage, offering food to  visitors.  

                                Last Sunday 23 July 2006, she  again had a visitor.

                                As usual he spent  a lot of time sitting on the cage with a tamper proof  latch.

                                There was a lot of talking and grooming. A  bloke has to look presentable when courting a bird!

                                Things got interesting when he approached  the front door...

                                The clever  fellow figured out how to undo the tamper proof latch!

                                He opened the door for a lot of mutual  grooming and food sharing...

                                Ooh that's  nice! Scratch a bit more on that side, dear...

                                He was not shy to get into the cage  and would go in and out a number of times.

                                They mated! We are looking forward to  beautiful baby cockatoos. Will keep you posted.

                                Later on, the whole extended family  came visiting but the special mate was back every day so  far.

                                We  leave the door open during the day but if we forget, it doesn't  matter - cockatoos have intelligence that rival  primates. Because  she has only one wing, she stays inside or just sits on top. Guess  what happened next...

                                The  Babies 

                                At  first it seemed as though he was annoyed because she did not fly  off with him and he would squawk a lot. He soon came to understand  that she could not fly so he just stayed. However, she was no  longer returning to her cage. The two of them would stay in the  trees in our garden and because the yard is well fenced, they were  safe from dogs but the neighbour's cat is not kept indoors at  night and we often have to chase it away. Chances are the cat  would come off second best in a confrontation with a Cockatoo but  at night cats remain a danger because they could stalk a sleeping  bird on the ground. 

                                Cockatoos make  their nests in hollow logs but we noticed the male hard at work  digging a hole under a clump of Lilly Pilly trees. We put down a  hollow log for them but they just ignored us. The nest he dug was  a hole with a short tunnel leading off to where she laid her eggs  Once there were eggs in the nest, the male became extremely  aggressive. You better not get near the nest or he will take  chunks of flesh from your foot. It was difficult to take these  pictures because I literally had to steal them while running away  from the male.   

                                We kept a vigil  to see how things were progressing. They  took turns incubating the eggs and covering the  tunnel. After  about three weeks, the eggs hatched. Have a careful look at this  picture and try to spot the bit of yellow fluff. 

                                Whenever Mum & Dad Cockatoo leave the  nest, we try to get a look but you have to do it while running  because Dad Cockatoo is chasing you!

                                Second lap  running around the Lilly Pilly trees!

                                Well, I hope  his mother thinks he is pretty and eventually I might think so too  but at the moment, both of them just look like pink balls with a  bit of yellow fluff.

                                How's that for a true Aussie  Love Story?

                                Definitely has  the awwww factor!

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