Very interesting. Cockatoos are clever and i like when you said that doesn’t mean they think and act like humans. Understanding them seems to be a fascinating and endless quest
Yes! In many ways they are a comparable species, but their social structure is different which creates lots of misunderstanding... I'll cover that at some time...
Bite type 3: “ you are a tasty nut, no you say that’s your finger but I know it’s a disguised nut and you will not keep my beak from it you nut hiding bipedal nuisance.” ( Most I’ve ever cried whilst still doing the friendly-cutesy I’m talking nicely to feathery friend voice ever 😂)
@@drfill9210 Jamie Leigh said that her least favorite cockatoo species is the Umbrella Cockatoo (a.k.a, the White Cockatoo). I, however, actually have personal experience with several different cockatoo species, and I like them all, including the Umbrella Cockatoo.
@A.V.M25367 speaking from partial ignorance here... I THINK the reason she doesn't like them is because they are a commonly discarded species- ie people don't do their research before acquiring one. This results in unnecessary cruelty and misery which she cannot tolerate. And can't do much about as its a species she can least manage. Also if you raise them wrong they are unpredictable and have epic bite pressure.. not a good combination!
Well the other reason she doesn't like them is Its HARD to read their "Physical Cues", which makes them much harder to work with compared to other birds. This unpredictability makes them her least favorite bird to work with. @@drfill9210
The biggest mistake humans make with birds is they treat them like a human. They have human expectations. Your bird does not need to behave like a human. The keeper needs to be the best bird they can be for their bird. I am an excellent bird 90% of the time and my birds are happy, content and enriched. They act like birds, scream like birds, play like birds, chew like birds. The only time I really intervene in a human way is to stop the chewing of non-toy items. I redirect and move on. My birds are so well behaved that they are in a room where the only time the door gets closed is when I go to bed. They have 2 big cages that they go in and out of freely. They only leave their room when I bring them out and yes, they prefer to be carried lol. When they no longer wish to be out, they take themselves back to their room.
@@drfill9210 Awww it’s the saddest thing to hear. My cockatoo came to me at 3 years old and I’m his third home. He arrived with a half a bag of “wild bird seed” and not a single toy. He’d never been touched or held and from the videos I saw, spent a lot of time in a round cage, screaming. He was badly plucked with butchered wings and barbed feathers. Here we are just over a year later….his wings molted into feathers that allow him to actually fly from one room to another. His chest is no longer bare. He’s happy and funny and playful and snuggly and he is best friends with my little 9 year old cockatiel. They are inseparable. I wish all the best to you and your birds and I hope Max is doing better and feeling more content and trusting. 🫶🏻🇨🇦
I have a new cockatoo. She needs to go to the vet. I have to make her go into a travel cage. She will be made for days after this. How do you handle something like that? How do I help her get over it? Any suggestions would be so helpful! Thank you!
There are video instructions on how to do it properly. If you have a few days, do things like keep the carry case in the cage, take her out, play with her, leave her with the open case and put seeds in. Learn target training. Reward her every time she gently bites a stick. That way she will follow the stick around.
So far no video about cockatoos has detered me from wanting one, definitely not as my first parrot, but there's so many unwanted cockatoos out there and we need more people taking them in, all those videos about how bad cockatoos are is only making the situation worse for rescue centers, since they almost never talk about what to expect in case you do want a cockatoo. Yea sure, they mention noise, biting and hormonal behavior, but that's just the standard for parrots, what they don't tell you is stuff like, cockatoos get bored easily and they are highly social, so having more than one cockatoo is best.
A tough problem for sure. Reducing demand ensures that cockatoo chick's don't sell for 1000 us a piece... if all you have left are cranky abused cockatoos, that reduces the number of people wanting one further still. The flip side is... if that person still wants the cockatoo and has the necessary patience, then a vicious finger removing creature is transformed into a loyal companion. That's what happened to Max. His relationship with myself and the kids is just so good... we love our life together... but that is not for the faint hearted! I don't blame you for wanting a parrot. I've had pets in the past as well- and it's been owning parrots previously that made me realise just how smart they are, and how much of a disservice to them our typical standard of care is! For these reasons I'm willing to put their happiness above my own and recommend we phase out keeping them as pets. Like you said, there are plenty around in shelters- go get one- re homing a neglected bird solves problems!!!
@@drfill9210 Sadly it's unlikely I can adopt one, since shelters aren't really a thing in my country, so I would have to buy a parrot from a private owner who no longer wants it. There's plenty of those, especially amazon parrots, which is a shame.
@Phoenix.Sparkles that is perfectly legitimate mate! My challenge is to get yourself a REALLY cranky one. Max is ok ish after nearly 3 years so it's a patient thing to do... I think a youtube guy by the Monica "a chick called Albert" comes from your neck of the woods... he probably needs a hand with all the random birds he hatches...
Prevention is much better than cure, but not an option now. I suspect that this bite feels exactly like a bite but it's really called beaking. They explore, preen you, test strength of their perch etc with their beak and they don't understand necessarily that it hurts you. When you react, they note it as a positive interaction. It encourages more of the same. He probably thinks it's a game. So when he does this, try to keep yourself safe, but try not to pull away and make loud noise. Lower the tone of your voice, put the bird in the cage for 10 minutes, so not make eye contact or react, then play with him again after that time so he knows he's still a part of the group.
There’s a cockatoo that spent his whole life in a cage untamed. I tried to let him get comfortable with me first, he was doing well. The bird was preening my hair, trying to get on my hands, and didn’t refuse my touch. But he has a habit of biting and im not sure why? Today he bit my hand really hard and wouldn’t let go. I ended up having a big injury because of it. I had parrots for years but never a big sized ones, only cockatiels, love bird, and conures (I even got few of them to free flight) but it just seems to be difficult to tame this particular cockatoo since hes already full grown and untamed. I tried reaching out to him but he keeps biting, is there any way to stop him from biting?
Will it not be a great idea for me to be the one taming him? Bare in mind, hes not my pet, im just there to spend time and is willing to tame them. (Yellow crested cockatoos, black palm cockatoos, caique, lorikeets and more) since they are in a large area where my dad built for me next to his company (40 minutes away from my house) is it genuinely okay as a 14 year old girl to attempt on taming them? Or will it be dangerous.
@Jeyik be very careful, their beaks are not to be trifled with, they can cause serious injury. All of this will take time. Max will still bite me if I'm not careful. This process will take years. There is no quick fix. There must be consistent steps to do all the time if you are to stop the bites. First and most importantly, don't put yourself in a position where it will bite you! This no biting thing is like a contract between you and the bird. My body is to be respected if you respect the birds. If they bite, you simply withdraw the opportunity. That's enough for about 6 months to get right.
@@drfill9210 Thank you! But is there anything to do for “punishment” when they do bite? I’ve seen people saying that they should do a “time out” and put their parrots back into a cage or hold their beaks.
@Jeyik you have to think what the consequences are down the road. If you time the bird out it will learn if it wants to be alone it will bite. If you hold its beak, you may escalate a conflict. I bet you know the situations in which the bird will bite, simply don't create that situation. It's honestly the best way. Now once you've avoided the situation, you have to think the action through step by step and focus out a way to do that thing with the bird again using only positive rewards. Is the bird target trained?
Nope ALL Birds Take Punishment as reinforcement so it just doesn't work.@@Jeyik Your not even supposed to make any Noise or violent reaction to being bit as it just makes them Bite More!. Its weird but your just supposed to quietly Ignore the pain and free your self as gently as possible, hard to do with those nut cracker beaks.
I just got my long billed corella 3 days ago, it will let you touch it but sometimes not, but his bites are not that painful like those cockies.. I let him go out of his cage but scared at me and wont jump up on me
@@alitoroganan2442 they are a little more neurotic than other cockatoos. Their reaction time is lightning fast. Most other birds at least give you some warning signs, but corellas think so fast that if you annoy them, they will go from placid to bite faster than you can pick up on the signals. Don't ever punish it, no matter what it does, respond with kindness. They can also be a lot of fun.
Why u shouldn't keep cockatoos as a pet: most of the time you can't understand their body language if they are being hormonal or if they are trying to warn you or if they are dancing but actually aggressive
You forgot that they are intelligent and it's a 100 year commitment. Yes, cockatoos don't make good pets, but if you are desperate for one, don't get one from the pet store, get an unwanted pet. Sadly there are plenty.
@mehere8038 I'll take that as a compliment, so thank you 😊. This isn't a competition though, so if you have a bird and are doing your level best, you have my respect
@mehere8038 just looked at some of your vids. I LOVE your lorikeet setup! Also the noises they make- ridiculously contented! Of all the parrots, lorikeets are among the hardest to keep. You ARE good. Keep it up
@@drfill9210 It was a compliment :), I liked the way you explained things & watching a few more of your videos, I like overall how you handle your birds too, you seem to have a really good head for it :) & thank you for your compliment too :) I don't find the lorikeets to be hard to keep so much as the rescue component being the real issue, which you seem to have too, so know it really well! My 2 came from a neighbour who died & relatives intended on dumping them outside a local pet store before it opened one morning, before leaving the state, so I said I'd take them. I have a wildlife rescue background & actually intended on rehabilitating & releasing, but there's NO WAY that's an option & I've kinda fallen in love with them now anyway, even though they have so many issues, due to years of abuse. Both were in separate little cages with the neighbour for a decade, the girl in a budgie cage so small she couldn't even fully extend a single wing, resulting in her elbow joints fusing & losing all use of them (that would have been super painful for her for months while that was happening). Before that I'm not totally clear, but best info was that she was wild born & found with an injury (probably broken wing) & "rescued" by being stuck in that little cage, instead of getting care 😢Boy was acquired as company for her, no idea his history before that, he was considered a "horrible bird" & didn't even have a name! He seems like probably hand raised & probably bit & so was left in his cage with no interaction for years, dunno, he arrived with a glove for changing his food & water & used to bite, now he's the sweetest thing, but still won't tollerate touch from me or his girl, due to his history, so I have a bit of a nightmare with them now, cause he gets hormonal, sets girl off, but won't mate with her, so leaves her constantly "on" I got them both hormone implants about 6 months ago, so that helped a lot, we'll see where it goes as they're wearing off. They share a cage & are much happier with that set up & do like each other's company & boy is actually really protective of girl & I think that might have been part of why he was biting originally (plus he was in physical pain), cause he was trying to protect her, cause I know she would be screamed at in her old home. If I even tell her "no" loudly now (which I have tried to try to stop her plucking) he does a stalking thing at me & bites me for it, he's very protective & sweet :) I never saw them before adopting them, I think neighbour knew how I would react if I saw them & kept me away from them because of it, I did hear them though. Anyway, yes, my little girl does make the sweetest little contentment noises & she does it a LOT, tiny things make her happy, like yummy food (which means veggies, they won't even eat sunflower seeds, cause they had a decade of them/junk food & so now love healthy foods lol) & even a comfy bed, she does those noises often when she goes to bed at night. In her old home, apparently she used to sleep on the cage wire at the bottom of the cage, pulling her heavy metal food dish onto her head, presumably it was the only way she could sleep with no cage cover & tv & lights on in the same room as her till all hours everynight - and that was seen as "cute", not a problem that needed to be addressed! Anyway, I can totally relate to your birds, you seem to have a pretty similar situation to me with Max, is SO hard isn't it! The wild birds are so much tamer & more trusting than abused rescue ones! Just so hard to teach them to "be birds" & to enjoy life. I mean I think mine (and yours) do enjoy life now, but just not as fullfilling as their life would be if not for the abuse history, just so sad what's been done to them - and it's been done through pure ignorance, not intentionally hurt I'm sure. I'm sure my neighbour thought he was "helping" my little girl in particular, saving her life, just not understanding the suffering he was causing her. I mean her cage was cleaned daily for a decade, you don't do that if you don't love a bird, do you! Especially with how messy lorikeets are! So clearly he did love her, just didn't understand her needs - and that she needed that companion he got for her to be in WITH her, not just on the other side of the room to talk to, although that was clearly better than nothing for her. No toys, nothing but sitting screaming & plucking their whole lives :( At least they have better conditions now (and I know they know it & appreciate it, boy actually flew away early on, but came back & refuses to even fly now, has decided he really likes being a pet bird living with me & his girl :))
Very interesting. Cockatoos are clever and i like when you said that doesn’t mean they think and act like humans. Understanding them seems to be a fascinating and endless quest
Yes! In many ways they are a comparable species, but their social structure is different which creates lots of misunderstanding... I'll cover that at some time...
My cockatoo hates the phone too, he attacks it.
I think it's because it's a foreign object, and you pay more attention to it than the bird... jealousy?
That's an interesting point about eyes on the side of the head means they're prey! Something I never thought about but makes perfect sense!
Yep- they have a definite prey mind set even though you attack one at your own risk!!!
Bite type 3: “ you are a tasty nut, no you say that’s your finger but I know it’s a disguised nut and you will not keep my beak from it you nut hiding bipedal nuisance.” ( Most I’ve ever cried whilst still doing the friendly-cutesy I’m talking nicely to feathery friend voice ever 😂)
I've been meaning to do a vid on bite types... I'll have to add your comment when I do!!!🤣🤣
I luv them 😍😍
I love that you reference Birdtricks. They’re great…even though they don’t like white cockatoos!
Yeah, the lady is scared of them but loves galahs! Those things are nuts!
@@drfill9210 Jamie Leigh said that her least favorite cockatoo species is the Umbrella Cockatoo (a.k.a, the White Cockatoo). I, however, actually have personal experience with several different cockatoo species, and I like them all, including the Umbrella Cockatoo.
@A.V.M25367 speaking from partial ignorance here... I THINK the reason she doesn't like them is because they are a commonly discarded species- ie people don't do their research before acquiring one. This results in unnecessary cruelty and misery which she cannot tolerate. And can't do much about as its a species she can least manage.
Also if you raise them wrong they are unpredictable and have epic bite pressure.. not a good combination!
Well the other reason she doesn't like them is Its HARD to read their "Physical Cues", which makes them much harder to work with compared to other birds. This unpredictability makes them her least favorite bird to work with. @@drfill9210
Great tips🤗
Thank you!
The biggest mistake humans make with birds is they treat them like a human. They have human expectations. Your bird does not need to behave like a human. The keeper needs to be the best bird they can be for their bird. I am an excellent bird 90% of the time and my birds are happy, content and enriched. They act like birds, scream like birds, play like birds, chew like birds. The only time I really intervene in a human way is to stop the chewing of non-toy items. I redirect and move on. My birds are so well behaved that they are in a room where the only time the door gets closed is when I go to bed. They have 2 big cages that they go in and out of freely. They only leave their room when I bring them out and yes, they prefer to be carried lol. When they no longer wish to be out, they take themselves back to their room.
Good to hear! Max is a different story- being a pretty severe rescue but I get your point 😀
@@drfill9210 Awww it’s the saddest thing to hear. My cockatoo came to me at 3 years old and I’m his third home. He arrived with a half a bag of “wild bird seed” and not a single toy. He’d never been touched or held and from the videos I saw, spent a lot of time in a round cage, screaming. He was badly plucked with butchered wings and barbed feathers. Here we are just over a year later….his wings molted into feathers that allow him to actually fly from one room to another. His chest is no longer bare. He’s happy and funny and playful and snuggly and he is best friends with my little 9 year old cockatiel. They are inseparable. I wish all the best to you and your birds and I hope Max is doing better and feeling more content and trusting. 🫶🏻🇨🇦
@@ResinEssenceByCheri ua-cam.com/users/shortsqctdSdwzzXQ?si=kkBYFdRHZyMrHYYZ
SNAP! Max when I got him
@ConceptArtByCheri he loves a good scratch but you have to scratch with a stick first, then you can remove pins with your hands.
Correct its not even a Mammal closer to a Reptile in behavior.
I have a new cockatoo. She needs to go to the vet. I have to make her go into a travel cage. She will be made for days after this. How do you handle something like that? How do I help her get over it? Any suggestions would be so helpful! Thank you!
There are video instructions on how to do it properly. If you have a few days, do things like keep the carry case in the cage, take her out, play with her, leave her with the open case and put seeds in. Learn target training. Reward her every time she gently bites a stick. That way she will follow the stick around.
So far no video about cockatoos has detered me from wanting one, definitely not as my first parrot, but there's so many unwanted cockatoos out there and we need more people taking them in, all those videos about how bad cockatoos are is only making the situation worse for rescue centers, since they almost never talk about what to expect in case you do want a cockatoo. Yea sure, they mention noise, biting and hormonal behavior, but that's just the standard for parrots, what they don't tell you is stuff like, cockatoos get bored easily and they are highly social, so having more than one cockatoo is best.
A tough problem for sure. Reducing demand ensures that cockatoo chick's don't sell for 1000 us a piece... if all you have left are cranky abused cockatoos, that reduces the number of people wanting one further still. The flip side is... if that person still wants the cockatoo and has the necessary patience, then a vicious finger removing creature is transformed into a loyal companion. That's what happened to Max. His relationship with myself and the kids is just so good... we love our life together... but that is not for the faint hearted!
I don't blame you for wanting a parrot. I've had pets in the past as well- and it's been owning parrots previously that made me realise just how smart they are, and how much of a disservice to them our typical standard of care is! For these reasons I'm willing to put their happiness above my own and recommend we phase out keeping them as pets.
Like you said, there are plenty around in shelters- go get one- re homing a neglected bird solves problems!!!
@@drfill9210 Sadly it's unlikely I can adopt one, since shelters aren't really a thing in my country, so I would have to buy a parrot from a private owner who no longer wants it. There's plenty of those, especially amazon parrots, which is a shame.
@Phoenix.Sparkles that is perfectly legitimate mate! My challenge is to get yourself a REALLY cranky one. Max is ok ish after nearly 3 years so it's a patient thing to do... I think a youtube guy by the Monica "a chick called Albert" comes from your neck of the woods... he probably needs a hand with all the random birds he hatches...
What do you do about the number 2 bite? I have a boy cockatoo who loves to do this...
Prevention is much better than cure, but not an option now. I suspect that this bite feels exactly like a bite but it's really called beaking. They explore, preen you, test strength of their perch etc with their beak and they don't understand necessarily that it hurts you. When you react, they note it as a positive interaction. It encourages more of the same. He probably thinks it's a game. So when he does this, try to keep yourself safe, but try not to pull away and make loud noise. Lower the tone of your voice, put the bird in the cage for 10 minutes, so not make eye contact or react, then play with him again after that time so he knows he's still a part of the group.
There’s a cockatoo that spent his whole life in a cage untamed. I tried to let him get comfortable with me first, he was doing well. The bird was preening my hair, trying to get on my hands, and didn’t refuse my touch. But he has a habit of biting and im not sure why? Today he bit my hand really hard and wouldn’t let go. I ended up having a big injury because of it. I had parrots for years but never a big sized ones, only cockatiels, love bird, and conures (I even got few of them to free flight) but it just seems to be difficult to tame this particular cockatoo since hes already full grown and untamed. I tried reaching out to him but he keeps biting, is there any way to stop him from biting?
Will it not be a great idea for me to be the one taming him? Bare in mind, hes not my pet, im just there to spend time and is willing to tame them. (Yellow crested cockatoos, black palm cockatoos, caique, lorikeets and more) since they are in a large area where my dad built for me next to his company (40 minutes away from my house) is it genuinely okay as a 14 year old girl to attempt on taming them? Or will it be dangerous.
@Jeyik be very careful, their beaks are not to be trifled with, they can cause serious injury. All of this will take time. Max will still bite me if I'm not careful. This process will take years. There is no quick fix.
There must be consistent steps to do all the time if you are to stop the bites. First and most importantly, don't put yourself in a position where it will bite you! This no biting thing is like a contract between you and the bird. My body is to be respected if you respect the birds. If they bite, you simply withdraw the opportunity. That's enough for about 6 months to get right.
@@drfill9210 Thank you! But is there anything to do for “punishment” when they do bite? I’ve seen people saying that they should do a “time out” and put their parrots back into a cage or hold their beaks.
@Jeyik you have to think what the consequences are down the road. If you time the bird out it will learn if it wants to be alone it will bite. If you hold its beak, you may escalate a conflict.
I bet you know the situations in which the bird will bite, simply don't create that situation. It's honestly the best way. Now once you've avoided the situation, you have to think the action through step by step and focus out a way to do that thing with the bird again using only positive rewards. Is the bird target trained?
Nope ALL Birds Take Punishment as reinforcement so it just doesn't work.@@Jeyik Your not even supposed to make any Noise or violent reaction to being bit as it just makes them Bite More!. Its weird but your just supposed to quietly Ignore the pain and free your self as gently as possible, hard to do with those nut cracker beaks.
I just got my long billed corella 3 days ago, it will let you touch it but sometimes not, but his bites are not that painful like those cockies.. I let him go out of his cage but scared at me and wont jump up on me
How old is your corella? And a word of warning, corellas are probably one of the more difficult birds to keep
@@drfill9210 fark me, any reason why they're hard to keep,, seller says 9-10mos old but who knows really
@@alitoroganan2442 they are a little more neurotic than other cockatoos. Their reaction time is lightning fast. Most other birds at least give you some warning signs, but corellas think so fast that if you annoy them, they will go from placid to bite faster than you can pick up on the signals.
Don't ever punish it, no matter what it does, respond with kindness. They can also be a lot of fun.
i got bit
Sorry to hear mate! Don't punish, just try to interact without threatening
Why u shouldn't keep cockatoos as a pet: most of the time you can't understand their body language if they are being hormonal or if they are trying to warn you or if they are dancing but actually aggressive
You forgot that they are intelligent and it's a 100 year commitment. Yes, cockatoos don't make good pets, but if you are desperate for one, don't get one from the pet store, get an unwanted pet. Sadly there are plenty.
@@drfill9210 true
Talk to much around the point she is trying to make…..spit it out…..stop wording us to death…nothing brief about this!
Noted. What bird do you own?
@@drfill9210 I thought it was good
@mehere8038 I'll take that as a compliment, so thank you 😊. This isn't a competition though, so if you have a bird and are doing your level best, you have my respect
@mehere8038 just looked at some of your vids. I LOVE your lorikeet setup! Also the noises they make- ridiculously contented! Of all the parrots, lorikeets are among the hardest to keep. You ARE good. Keep it up
@@drfill9210 It was a compliment :), I liked the way you explained things & watching a few more of your videos, I like overall how you handle your birds too, you seem to have a really good head for it :)
& thank you for your compliment too :) I don't find the lorikeets to be hard to keep so much as the rescue component being the real issue, which you seem to have too, so know it really well! My 2 came from a neighbour who died & relatives intended on dumping them outside a local pet store before it opened one morning, before leaving the state, so I said I'd take them. I have a wildlife rescue background & actually intended on rehabilitating & releasing, but there's NO WAY that's an option & I've kinda fallen in love with them now anyway, even though they have so many issues, due to years of abuse.
Both were in separate little cages with the neighbour for a decade, the girl in a budgie cage so small she couldn't even fully extend a single wing, resulting in her elbow joints fusing & losing all use of them (that would have been super painful for her for months while that was happening). Before that I'm not totally clear, but best info was that she was wild born & found with an injury (probably broken wing) & "rescued" by being stuck in that little cage, instead of getting care 😢Boy was acquired as company for her, no idea his history before that, he was considered a "horrible bird" & didn't even have a name! He seems like probably hand raised & probably bit & so was left in his cage with no interaction for years, dunno, he arrived with a glove for changing his food & water & used to bite, now he's the sweetest thing, but still won't tollerate touch from me or his girl, due to his history, so I have a bit of a nightmare with them now, cause he gets hormonal, sets girl off, but won't mate with her, so leaves her constantly "on"
I got them both hormone implants about 6 months ago, so that helped a lot, we'll see where it goes as they're wearing off. They share a cage & are much happier with that set up & do like each other's company & boy is actually really protective of girl & I think that might have been part of why he was biting originally (plus he was in physical pain), cause he was trying to protect her, cause I know she would be screamed at in her old home. If I even tell her "no" loudly now (which I have tried to try to stop her plucking) he does a stalking thing at me & bites me for it, he's very protective & sweet :) I never saw them before adopting them, I think neighbour knew how I would react if I saw them & kept me away from them because of it, I did hear them though.
Anyway, yes, my little girl does make the sweetest little contentment noises & she does it a LOT, tiny things make her happy, like yummy food (which means veggies, they won't even eat sunflower seeds, cause they had a decade of them/junk food & so now love healthy foods lol) & even a comfy bed, she does those noises often when she goes to bed at night. In her old home, apparently she used to sleep on the cage wire at the bottom of the cage, pulling her heavy metal food dish onto her head, presumably it was the only way she could sleep with no cage cover & tv & lights on in the same room as her till all hours everynight - and that was seen as "cute", not a problem that needed to be addressed!
Anyway, I can totally relate to your birds, you seem to have a pretty similar situation to me with Max, is SO hard isn't it! The wild birds are so much tamer & more trusting than abused rescue ones! Just so hard to teach them to "be birds" & to enjoy life. I mean I think mine (and yours) do enjoy life now, but just not as fullfilling as their life would be if not for the abuse history, just so sad what's been done to them - and it's been done through pure ignorance, not intentionally hurt I'm sure. I'm sure my neighbour thought he was "helping" my little girl in particular, saving her life, just not understanding the suffering he was causing her. I mean her cage was cleaned daily for a decade, you don't do that if you don't love a bird, do you! Especially with how messy lorikeets are! So clearly he did love her, just didn't understand her needs - and that she needed that companion he got for her to be in WITH her, not just on the other side of the room to talk to, although that was clearly better than nothing for her. No toys, nothing but sitting screaming & plucking their whole lives :( At least they have better conditions now (and I know they know it & appreciate it, boy actually flew away early on, but came back & refuses to even fly now, has decided he really likes being a pet bird living with me & his girl :))