Umbrella Cockatoos

The Umbrella Cockatoo

It is fair to compare one of these Umbrella Cockatoos to a hormonal teenage girl. One minute she’s adorable and cuddly and can turn your head into mush with the bat of her eyes or a bob of her feathered head.

The next minute she’s screaming, biting, charging and pulling out her beautiful feathers.

This demanding, yet lovable, bird is one of the most frequently given-up species of birds simply because owners do not know how to respond, interact, and care for them.

Which results in screeching, biting, feather plucking and a generally unhappy home. No need to stress, follow these three tips and the ones found on our training packages and; you’ll have your gorgeous pet cockatoo eating out of your hand.

Step 1. Are your Umbrellas basic needs being met?

Basic needs include a solid and nutritional diet. This means an organic pellet based diet with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. If he’s on a nuts and seeds diet – get him off it right now. The trick will be to get your bird to eat the pellets.

Consider hiding them in other food until he becomes used to eating them. (The resources found at Birdtricks.com can help you get your bird onto an optimal diet.)

The next element will be to make sure your bird is getting enough shut eye. This means 10-12 hours of sleep in a dark and quiet room.

Step 2. Is Your Umbrella Cockatoo Supervised?

Your Umbrella Cockatoo is too smart to be left without toys to entertain themselves and room to explore. It’s true, your Umbrella is a large bird. What’s also true is that there is no cage that is too large for your Umbrella Cockatoo. Size matters. Imagine spending at least half your day in a closet. Wouldn’t you want that closet to be as large as possible?

Of course you’ll also want some things to do in your closet and your Umbrella Cockatoo wants some things to do in his cage too. He’s an intelligent bird. Give him toys to chew on, puzzles to solve, and an environment that he can explore. Right now you might be thinking…gee this is going to get expensive. Well, yes and no.

A large umbrella cockatoo cage can be expensive, however you can make some of your Umbrella Cockatoos toys yourself. Additionally, consider how much money you will otherwise spend at the avian veterinarian because your Umbrella Cockatoo is ill or has injured himself due to inadequate care.

Step 3. Is Your Umbrella Cockatoo Getting Enough Attention?

But wait, you’re saying…I can’t hold him, he bites me. The answer…trick training. Yep. Trick training is the best, if not only, opportunity for you to mold your umbrella cockatoo’s behavior and create a lasting bond. Trick training is also the best way to eliminate unwanted behaviors.

Because your cockatoo is so intelligent you can actually train your bird to stop biting you as well as other more advanced behaviors like rolling over. It’s a great way to teach your bird to trust you.

Of course to generate the results that you desire, trick training must be done correctly. This means that if you’re going to trick train your Umbrella Cockatoo you’ll want to consult the advice and guidance of experts in Bird Trick Training. Look for easy step-by-step guides, like the ones found at Birdtricks. Following these steps will make training your umbrella cockatoo much easier.