[BITList] Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoo..A true love story. GREAT STORY!

Sun Feb 24 16:53:02 GMT 2013


                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 she again had a
                visitor.


                B6D1565B5A894619A8FA64EE2F3FA2B1 at DaleFrankPC

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


                8AAD0B10E921414A8ACBC09CA11412B3 at DaleFrankPC

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


                B54E594D97024482B41679CA572318C9 at DaleFrankPC

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

                58D4F36F83E1471B9031C678EFC9598A at DaleFrankPC
                The clever fellow figured out how to undo the tamper
                proof latch!

                9ADB6E67B67D47FFBDC340B614F8C16D at DaleFrankPC
                He opened the door for a lot of mutual grooming and food
                sharing...

                EF505512E0DE49519B06B588504937D4 at DaleFrankPC
                Oooh that's nice! Scratch a bit more on that side, dear...

                D36B586A75B24D0E8E13335E8AD9DE46 at DaleFrankPC
                He was not shy to get into the cage and would go in and
                out a number of times.

                99A8BB5123F649C4A9A247DA28EFE90C at DaleFrankPC
                They mated! We are looking forward to beautiful baby
                cockatoos. Will keep you posted.

                32ADE4B30D0C4DF98152BC904C70F81F at DaleFrankPC
                Later on, the whole extended family came visiting but
                the special mate was back every day so far.

                6B2E364822F541C7B2E533D5E839143C at DaleFrankPC
                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 neighbor'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.
                6A6719ED41F5461895B9A5E201A74802 at DaleFrankPC


                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.

                28EC54B5557E4BB3B37FF257892243CC at DaleFrankPC
                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.
                CC89CEE709FB42A2980B2F7301B1030A at DaleFrankPC

                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!
                F08D546B38B8432092F2371614BB1E3E at DaleFrankPC
                Second lap running around the Lilly Pilly trees!
                EC53B831F3F646E08C21DE9AC5045C12 at DaleFrankPC
                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.
                F6D067024EEB488B8FED07D89BF483A9 at DaleFrankPC
                How's that for a true Aussie Love Story???? Definitely
                has the /aaawwwww /factor!


                *Click Here! *
                <http://www.incredimail.com/?id=621152&did=10501&ppd=2830%2c201207181349%2c9%2c%5bTypeID%5d%2c%5bIM_UPN2%5d&rui=125820018>
                	

                Image removed by sender.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 179574 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0017.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 211737 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0018.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 147255 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0019.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 53660 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0020.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 126525 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0021.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 88226 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0022.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 81925 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0023.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 79820 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0024.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 46551 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0025.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 49490 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0026.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 36424 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0027.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 46090 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0028.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 35213 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0029.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 47820 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0030.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 41297 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0031.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 36587 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0032.jpeg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 332 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20130225/eb05293a/attachment-0033.jpeg