short time to decide about a 'yellow crowned umbrella '

[KBEquine]

Yeah, you read that right. The owner says he has a 'yellow crowned umbrella' cockatoo for sale.


It is supposedly female, 3 years old pictured below.

So, is it citron, triton, sulphur-crested, lesser sulphur-crested, or something else entirely?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[Mare Miller]

My guess would be, if it really is an umbrella 'too, she/he has been crossed with another type. Pretty bird.

 

[greycloud]

Appears to be a lesser sulphur- crested.

 

[melissasparrots]

Without seeing its crest up, I'm going to go with a Triton. A lot of sulfurs are crossed with each other. But Tritons have more umbrella style body shape, beak shape and feather shape, with a yellow crest. Most Tritons have a very blue eye ring, however its variable in the species, and if it was crossed with a eleanora/medium sulfur crest, it might have diluted the blue a bit. I'd have to see the crest up to know if it was an umbrellaXsulfur cross. But for now I'm going with Triton or mostly Triton. Lesser sulfur crests usually have very noticable yellow cheek patches and are smaller so he's definitely not that.
Melissa

 

[ann]

When i first saw this, i thought you meant a cross between a cockatoo and an amazon! I was like "is that even possible, who would do that". lol I'm just glad its only a cockatoo. here's a link that tells how to distinguish the different species of sulfer crested cockatoos
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...teX7Bg&usg=AFQjCNG5xp_AHzkxKAhT0HIS_DDrYEupdw

good luck !

 

[KBEquine]

First, thanks for your responses. And Ann, I had been looking for information on distinguishing the sulphur-cresteds, so thanks for the link.

Second, I got the owner to send me a few more pictures & fortunately, I got a 'crest-up' picture. To be honest, I hadn't even considered the possibility of a cockatoo-cross until several of you mentioned.

At first I thought there was no cheek-patch & then I thought there was a faint one. To me the crest looks a little the worse for wear-and-tear, but maybe they always look like that? I've tried comparing it to a couple of the sub-species photos, but would love 2nd (3rd, 4th . . . ) opinions.

Thanks
Kim

Edited to add: I don't know if the owner really knew the species, just that he has a young cockatoo.

 

[Safira]

Aww I saw that ad. Pretty bird.

 

[KBEquine]

Yeah, and the other person who was interested (I was hoping he would take her so I didn't have to think about it) just backed out.

I get the impression she will be homeless after tomorrow.

So the real question is whether I want to get back to 9 parrots from 8. The eight are a very compatible group, easy to deal with & seem to enjoy each others' company.

Or whether I am willing to give her a soft place to land, while trying to find her a more permanent residence.

Or to pass, since I can't save them all.

What to do, what to do . . .

 

[melissasparrots]

First, thanks for your responses. And Ann, I had been looking for information on distinguishing the sulphur-cresteds, so thanks for the link.

Second, I got the owner to send me a few more pictures & fortunately, I got a 'crest-up' picture. To be honest, I hadn't even considered the possibility of a cockatoo-cross until several of you mentioned.

At first I thought there was no cheek-patch & then I thought there was a faint one. To me the crest looks a little the worse for wear-and-tear, but maybe they always look like that? I've tried comparing it to a couple of the sub-species photos, but would love 2nd (3rd, 4th . . . ) opinions.

Thanks
Kim

Edited to add: I don't know if the owner really knew the species, just that he has a young cockatoo.

He's definitely not crossed with umbrella. I suspect then that he's a cross between one or more varieties of sulfur. His first pic looked more triton. This one looks more eleanora/medium sulfur crest. He might be a mix of the two. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't really keep track of the sulfur subspecies and breed to keep them pure. Undeducated breeders see a yellow crest and pair it with another bird with a yellow crest, so you get a lot of these hard to ID birds and mixes. The large sulfur crests are one of my favorite birds.

 

[MikeyTN]

I have to agree with Melissa there. The people whose selling him obviously don't know anything....

 

[Mare Miller]

Awww, KBEquine...you obviously have a huge heart! I totally understand and that's why I have to stay off Craig's List!!

 

[KBEquine]

Awww, KBEquine...you obviously have a huge heart! I totally understand and that's why I have to stay off Craig's List!!

Yeah, I should stay off craigslist, too.

melissas parrots, that's pretty much what I saw, too. Except I wasn't even thinking the bird might be a hybrid - I was just trying to figure out why I couldn't ID it.

 

[luvmytooo]

That is a very pretty bird , no matter what she is/isnt crossed with...
I refuse to go on Craigs List .....how can I with my flock ?
I hope you decide to take her then try to find a permanent home
If your availability allows it , go for it !
You can't save them all , but you sure can try

 

[KBEquine]

Well, my main concern isn't what kind of 'too, but whether she will like us, how she behaves & how it will affect the rest of the flock, if she comes home. And what the rehoming fee will end up to be - I know the asking fee already, but the owner says a good home is more important & I guess we'll see how much more important.

In other words, we will be visiting this little bird tomorrow & may be bringing her home. Whether she stays with us depends on her, the rest of the flock, etc.

And I won't lie - I am nervous about upsetting the rest of the flock. But I think she needs a little help right now & hopefully, we will be able to figure out if she (and the boys) will be happy with her in our house, or if we will need to find her a person of her own.

[Yes, if she comes home, she will be quarantined as best we can with them all in the same house.]

OK.

Wish me luck.

 

[luvmytooo]

Good luck KBEquine !! Hope all goes well

 

[KBEquine]

Well, Cookie is here. I still don't know exactly what she is, or even if she is a "she." From what I can tell, the guy decided the bird was female because it is moody . . . I told the bird if she indeed IS a she, she's coming to a place where estrogen is revered, not feared.

She is in better shape than I thought & was receiving a weird combination of good & loving care & mediocre care. There was a 'real' umbrella 'too in the house, along with Cookie & another bird the owner called a 'red crested african' and I called either a lilac crowned or a red lored amazon (I saw the bird briefly in a dark hallway, so can't actually say for sure what it was, except it was definitely an amazon.

Anyhow, she is here. She is scratching her head, saying, "I love you!" & has more feathers than I expected (but not as many feathers as I hope she has in the future).

For now, I'm going with "she" & we will take it one day at a time.

I THINK if you click on the terribly ill-adjusted picture, it does a video (that is more in-focus than the picture itself). Or not.



So, more physical description:

About 14” long
Her crest does seem to separate into 3 parts like a triton
Very faint bluish eye ring
Very faint yellow cheek patch
Very faint few yellow feathers above eye
Yellow under tail & wings

At her size, I am leaning toward something (triton?) crossed with lesser sulphur crested?

 

[luvmytooo]

Oh how adorable she is Im glad you got her !
Hope she fits in well with your current flock
Keep us posted , thanks for the update and video.

 

[TortoiseLady17]

She is beautiful! Thanks for taking her! I hope it all works out well!

 

[MikeyTN]

A bath will do him wonders!!! Is he pretty big? He looks big in that pic. Greater Sulphur Crested perhaps?

 

[KBEquine]

A bath will do him wonders!!! Is he pretty big? He looks big in that pic. Greater Sulphur Crested perhaps?

She (or he) is smaller than she looks - she wasn't too keen when I put the measuring tape by the cage, but I think she is less than 14" so maybe lesser sulphur crested?

She appears to be more sure of herself than I expected & is a screamer (having lived in a townhouse, I suspect her every scream was answered with attention, to not disturb the neighbors.)

Right now she is screaming & screaming & when that doesn't work, there is a moment of silence, followed by a whispered, "I love you!"

We're ignoring the screams & responding to the whispers. We'll see how it goes.