Weird behavior from my cockatoo

My cockatoo, Peanut, has been breaking pieces of his toys and sticks and stuffing them into his feathers instead of just playing with his toys. I notice he tries to pluck his feathers when he is doing this behavior. He has alot of toys currently and has been eating more fruit and vegetables. I even put some vitamin powder in his water for parrots so make sure he gets the nutrients he needs. He recently took his first shower and has been trusting me alot more. Anyone know why he is doing this. When he acts like this, he tends to pluck his feather and pick at his feet. He also lifts up one when when I pet him as if he wants me to pet underneath his wing. I refrain from doing so since I heard it is a big no no.

Hello! From what I can find out it is nesty behaviour most common in females. Is Peanut definitely a male? You could try him with some preening toys to see if this helps a bit? If you are feeding pellets then additional vitamins should not be necessary btw. If this is possible more exercise will not hurt. This could be the start of a hormonal period so be prepared for some different behaviour. If you can rotate his toys round to create interest in something new. Make some toys of foods ie stuff some leaves through the bars, skewers of fruits and veggies probably most will be shredded but it certainly will not hurt ok?

Glad to hear Peanut is behaving better! Nice to see you *both* rewarded!!

My female cockatoos often place objects, including dry food, below the wing where it falls to the ground. On rare occasion the males will do similar.

I too would recommend not adding vitamin supplements unless suggested by a vet. As with humans, unneeded nutrients are excreted, but can overtax the kidneys and cause toxicity in high quantities.

Peanut wants to start a family. Our Rocky is just coming out of that behavior and he got so needy and noisy while it was going on we thought we would lose our minds.

Siobhan said:

Peanut wants to start a family. Our Rocky is just coming out of that behavior and he got so needy and noisy while it was going on we thought we would lose our minds.

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Glad to hear Rocky is calming down and that you (his human family) managed to make it through with him

Hubby suggested Rocky is depressed because "his breeding season didn't go well and he didn't get any eggs." I said we could buy him some fake eggs if it's that important to him (to Hubby, I mean) and he said, "No, no, don't do that." LOL I don't know if daddy cockatoos help sit on the eggs or if that's all the mommy's job, but if it would make Rocky happy, we could probably accommodate. The problem is, I don't want to encourage nesting and breeding urges. I want him to get OVER IT. Peanut shouldn't be encouraged, either. It makes life very difficult for the humans when a cockatoo is broody. TRUST me on this.

They don't get "depressed" after they have a breeding season they get no chicks from, their hormones levels driving the infuriating behaviors just naturally drop once mating season is over and they snap out of it. Parrots do not reproduce year round or feel 'urges' to reproduce year round. That said, while I am unsure about cockatoos, I know with amazons they get a few years of non-stop outrageous hormonal behavior at the beginning of puberty (we adopted Kiwi during that phase of life!). After that though, if the negative behaviors have not been encouraged, they mellow out significantly as mature adults and only experience hormonal behavior for a few weeks every year. Cockatoos may experience a similarly unpleasant puberty time before mellowing out into adult parrots who are only inclined to mate once a year during a brief window of time.

I took him to the vet and she told me that Peanut is a male. Sometimes when he's on the t stand, he spreads his wings a little and it looks like he's about to take off and fly, but he never does. He's been doing this for the past week. Its nothing that I can't handle. For the most part, he is pretty relaxed throughout the day. Sometimes his cage is open and he'll step out for a second then go back in. I recently purchased a very large cage for him that should be arriving sometime next week with a huge load of new toys for him. He mostly doesn't play with his toys though. It's as if he doesn't know how to play with them. When he interacts with his toys, its to break pieces off and stuff them into his feathers. And I also gave him his first shower. He was scared at first, but he adjusted quickly and enjoyed being dried off by the hair dryer.

Erick123 said:

I took him to the vet and she told me that Peanut is a male. Sometimes when he's on the t stand, he spreads his wings a little and it looks like he's about to take off and fly, but he never does. He's been doing this for the past week. Its nothing that I can't handle. For the most part, he is pretty relaxed throughout the day. Sometimes his cage is open and he'll step out for a second then go back in. I recently purchased a very large cage for him that should be arriving sometime next week with a huge load of new toys for him. He mostly doesn't play with his toys though. It's as if he doesn't know how to play with them. When he interacts with his toys, its to break pieces off and stuff them into his feathers. And I also gave him his first shower. He was scared at first, but he adjusted quickly and enjoyed being dried off by the hair dryer.

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FYI https://studentswithbirds.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/is-blow-drying-safe-for-parrots/

Sounds like Peanut is settling in. In response to your original inquiry, my dad's cockatoo (presumed male, though never DNA tested) enjoys sticking stuff under his wings as well as bouncing rounder things like nuts on top of his wing. Almost like a game (for him at least), not really a hormonal behavior. When he 'plucks' his feathers is he preening (grooming himself) or actually damaging them and/or pulling them out of his body?

Thanks for the info on the blow drying. As for the plucking, at times he seems to be grooming himself, but I see him grab the root of one of the feathers that are trying to grow back. He puts in his mouth and plays with it. He had quite a few of them growing back on his chest but just recently, I've noticed that they are not there anymore. I spend at least 4 hours with him a day and he's finally starting to branch out to different vegetables and fruits. There are days where he'all start to scream and when I leave the room, he'll stop. Almost as if he wanted to be alone.