short time to decide about a 'yellow crowned umbrella '

[MikeyTN]

Does she have a cheek patch?

 

[KBEquine]

Does she have a cheek patch?

Yes - a very faint one.

 

[MikeyTN]

Very likely a Lesser Sulphur Crested. Here's a way you tell the sex on a Sulphur Crested. Check the eye color, if light brown its a girl, if its dark its a boy. Make sure you try to check under actual white fluorescent lighting for the right color. Mines a girl and she's about 20 years old.

 

[MikeyTN]

Here's a older pic of Dixie.

 

[melissasparrots]

Congrats on the new bird. I'm going to stick with triton X eleanora or maybe outside chance triton X lesser. I know tritons are more commonly crossed with eleanoras than with lessors and there is less of a size difference between tritons and eleanoras. I think she looks like a decent sized bird. Maybe she had her neck all scrunched up when you measured her. If her weight is healthy for her size, that might be a better indicator of what she is crossed with. This might just be one of those you shrug your shoulders and say she's sweet and she's not going to be bred, so who cares what her lineage is.

 

[KBEquine]

Well, it isn't the first time we've brought a nice bird home first, asked about his lineage after:

http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/11750-name-species-pictures.html

 

[KBEquine]

Okay, somewhat better pictures of Cookie:

 

[luvmytooo]

Gorgeous ! What a lucky bird she is to have you

 

[melissasparrots]

Pretty bird. How much does she weigh? There is definitely some triton in the mix. The question is if the rest of her is galerita, eleanora or lessor. A good gram weight might give a clue depending on her body condition. The lack of a noticable curve to her crest also points to some triton influence. Her cheek patches are similar to Ariel's and Ariel is either a full galerita or a galeritaX eleanora cross.

 

[KBEquine]

Pretty bird. How much does she weigh? There is definitely some triton in the mix. The question is if the rest of her is galerita, eleanora or lessor. A good gram weight might give a clue depending on her body condition. The lack of a noticable curve to her crest also points to some triton influence. Her cheek patches are similar to Ariel's and Ariel is either a full galerita or a galeritaX eleanora cross.

I'll be happy to get a weight as soon as I can. Unfortunately, she is a bit untouchable right now - interested in interacting (calling, "I love you!" and "Hi, Baby!" right now) & will gently take a treat from my hand. But has told me on no uncertain terms that she does NOT step onto a perch and she does NOT want strange humans to touch her.

I think she was in the prior home just long enough to really bond with the guy, so i don't want to create any more baggage than she might already have.

But I don't think it will take long with her, either, so long as I go slow.

 

[Mare Miller]

She is a very pretty bird, I hope she works out for you and her/him.

 

[Purl]

She's beautiful..best of luck with her!

 

[KBEquine]

Thanks - I'm kind of laughing because it is dusk & he/she is screaming like, well, a Cockatoo.

But yeah - the devil's in the details, but I think he or she will work out just fine.

And I read the BEST post by melissasparrots on a different thread which really convinced me I NEED to put on my big-girl panties & deal with things - by which I mean, learn to be confident about toweling a bird & just TOWEL him/her & go to the vet & do the well-bird check & move on (to making friends) from there!

But thanks, all. I am partly in wonder at having a cockatoo in the house & partly in delight. Cautious delight, but delight, nonetheless.

 

[Molcan2]

Congrats on your new fid. When you go to the vet they'll be able to help determine species and I was told (don't know for 100% if true) that there is a way to DNA test to find out what species a bird is or what their mixed with.

 

[Mare Miller]

Hehe, these birds are a tremendous force! I'm happy you have her, enjoy! Not for the weak of heart, but I'll bet, you have what it takes!

 

[KBEquine]

Well, we have horses & have stood a number of stallions over the years. Also flight animals who will fight when cornered (or ticked off).

Half a ton of lazy, unpredictable & on a testosterone high . . .

The main difference being they can't really fly to attack (it just sometimes feels like they can). I kind of put an unknown cockatoo into that same category.

I know we are in the honeymoon period, but so far, so good.

I wish Cookie were perch trained so we could transfer him/her to a travel cage, playstand, etc. I haven't found the treat yet that will be a good reward to get him (her?) to cooperate. We let him onto her (gotta get the bird sexed!) playtop, and sort of herd him/her into the cage at night. Cookie is learning the routine . . . stands on the "porch" at the top front of the cage (the cage has one of those fold-down platforms) & we slowly lift the platform, sometimes having to gently press down on Cookie's head to get the platform up & latched. I am abundantly aware that my hand is within attack range the whole time, but Cookie has been pretty cooperative & seems to sort of know the drill.

But s/he will take a treat gently from my hand, let me touch the very end of the crest-feathers, shows curiosity about me & what I am doing, and really doesn't scream very much (I expect greeting the dawn & saluting the dusk). And when I've had the audacity to get closer than Cookie's comfort zone, s/he has struck like a snake - but it was clearly just a warning short (or I'd be bleeding. Instead, I'm completely unbitten. Knock on wood.)

I'm playing phone tag with the closest avian vet (who is over-scheduled & has had to be out of town a lot). And this weekend I will probably be looking for a different avian vet (possibly the one recommended in Baltimore).

Oh. And I've seen something like 4 feathers on the ground since Cookie arrived on Sunday (one of which was knocked out when the poor little guy panicked at a piece of paper that blew by), so I don't even suspect any plucking.

Again, so far, so good.

 

[melissasparrots]

Sounds like so far so good. In the picture you sent a while ago it seemed more like she needed a few good baths rather than that she did much picking. Maybe just a little bit around the legs. Maybe not. If its a girlbird, those attacks you're worried about might be few and far between. Ariel is a GSC2 and she's pinchy but not bitey. She has a sadistic sense of humor so I try to keep my face away even though I doubt she seriously wants to cause harm. She's had 1-2 slip ups where she did the attack cockatoo thing, but thats not bad after 10.5 years of ownership. There are some people she is not trustworthy around, but overall she's not the crazed maniac attack bird you read about sometimes. Her attitude sometimes stinks in the morning when she knows I'm about to leave for work. She isn't beyond trying for a little bite then and thats also the only time she's tried to charge at me. I'm just careful around her then and its no problem. Generally Ariel would rather get away than stay and fight. And I've never once recieved a nasty bite from aggression. Not that she hasn't shaved a little skin off a few times with a pinch, but literally I might be able to get a drop of blood out if I sqeezed it really hard. Female sulfur crests and quite a few males can be really great birds.

 

[Ducorp]

not sure which it is myself. but it definately doesnt look like any cross of umbrella..

 

[KBEquine]

There are a few ratty feathers & she does like a good shower/spray, so bathing is a bonding activity for us, along with handing her toys & some foods.

I think she was considering stepping onto my hand today, but decided the time wasn't quite right, yet.

But I'm really pleased with the lack of inappropriate screaming & this bird overall seems confident (except I accidentally scared her yesterday by giving her a new perch that apparently looked like a predator from her perspective).

So, I DO have some cockatoo body language questions - in fact, anyone with ANY parrot body language websites or suggestions, I'd love to hear them because this is something I still need to learn:

I read in The Parrot Problem Solver that sometimes a parrot will telegraph an intention to bite by looking at the spot it is thinking of biting & by a partially open mouth & sort of exploring its mouth with its tongue, like it is preparing for the bite.

This bird does that a lot, but I'm not sure it isn't just habit. If I am making her uncomfortable enough that she's thinking about biting, I clearly want to stop what I'm doing. But if it is habit, I'll probably never get close enough to touch her if I back off when I see "the mouth thing."

Anyone else have a bird that does that?

Also, of course, I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to tell a happy, inquisitive, excited "up crest" from an angry "up crest."

And any other tips on reading her body language would be appreciated - I have done some research on this & other forums on the topic.

 

[Molcan2]

Rome plays with her mouth a lot. Shes constantly holding it open and playing with her tongue. As far as that particular body language goes... its going to be individual. Unfortunately you wont know that until you try. As far as the crest up, rule of thumb is: if the crest is raised the bird is unpredictable. With that said though, Rome has never bitten or offered and she gets excited and raises her crest often. Also the U2 I used to have never raised his crest before he bit other people, he didn't hesitate either - it would just happen, no warning with that bird. The M2 that almost took my lip off didn't raise her crest either.

Don't handle you bird with any fear, they will read into that. Theres a good saying in the horse world: if you think your going to get thrown then you will, if you think your going to end up on the ground then you will. Riders who ride in constant fear of being thrown end up making the horse nervous - the horse thinks if the person is scared then I have really good reason to be to. Riders that constantly look at the ground when riding throw their own balance off and end up falling off. Point is if your hesitant, the bird will pick up on that. Its going to make the bird more nervous as it sees that if you are than it has good reason to be to.

My advice: I would spend a lot of time sitting next to the cage reading, sewing etc. Let the bird come out to you. I wouldn't try to reach inside the cage to pick it up. Allow the bird to come to you when it is ready. I don't reach in to grab my birds. They come out onto the cage door. If they are out on the top of the cage and I go to ask them to step up, if they in any way shape or form shy from me then I back off and leave them be. If you show the bird you respect its space then it will be a lot more comfortable with you. A lot of bites come from us pushing the bird past its comfort level.