Birds

[BigDaddyAdo]

Do any of you guys or gals keep birds?

[ivo]

I do a female cockatiel. Very high maintenance but very adorable.

[Ghoti]

No, just appreciate watching them, feathered or not :shock:

Chers,
Scott

[BigDaddyAdo]

I just bought a very tame, hand raised Major Mitchel Cockatoo.

[pfeff]

I've had over the years:

3 hand reared Cockatiels
A hand reared Indian Ringneck
And the best of all a hand reared Scaley Breasted Lorikeet (3/4 scaley, 1/4 rainbow lori)
Budgies
Quails
Peachfaces
Canaries (feed the males alittle bit of chilli, they love it! and yes it is ok for them to eat it)

Just remember as with your fish, feed them a varied diet.

My Cockatiels would eat seed & lettuce (wouldnt go near anything else).
My Ringneck would eat some fruit and seed
My Lori would eat anything! He loved bottlebrush flowers, mangoes, mandarins, apple and of course the nectar powder is a staple of their diet (they don't eat seed because of their tubular tongue)
Budgies love milkthistle

Just be sure to give your Major Mitchel a rounded diet and not too many sunflower seeds they are to birds what lollies are to us! They love them and often sift through their food to find them but they are very fattening from what i've seen and heard.

[goodoo]

They live for 100 years those cockys. I hope your kids and there kids like birds.

[BigDaddyAdo]

I already know about the SF seeds but they make a great training treat.

MM Cockatoos also love chillis. You just need to make sure they don't give you a big kiss after eating one.

I need a license for my MM so I can't take her home yet but we visit her and spend a bit of time with her when we can.

She is a great bird and very affectionate. She is housed next to a bird that talks so is already speaking quite well.

[pfeff]

Awesome! Hopefully not to many of the badwords...

Class 1 or 2? I had a class 1 license for a year when I looked at getting a pair of H/R King Parrots.

Have fun with her. As Goodoo said, I hope your kids know what they are getting themselves in for!

[BigDaddyAdo]

Class 1. Most didn't require any license. Of course I choose one of the few that does. It chose a particular bird (or rather she chose us) rather than deciding on a type of bird first.

My 7 year old has already decided that she is going to take her after we die.

[goodoo]

My cousins in Temora (out Bush) Have a cockatoo that has been through 3 generations. Its one angry bird.

[pfeff]

Do you have a flight cage for it?

Have a look around you can get bird leashes so you can take it outside with you. Also bird diapers are handy if its an inside bird.

[pfeff]

I don't know what MM's are like but my scaley was a projectile splatterer...

[mitsui]

Birds (insert shudder here)

The most scariest thing on this planet!

[Exotic Aquatic]

i have to agree!!!

[b/n guy]

I keep various parrots, if anyone in brisbane has one for sale PM me please.

[pfeff]

Birds (insert shudder here)

The most scariest thing on this planet!

What?

You've had a bad experience I guess?

[pfeff]

Any pics of the beautiful girl?

for those of you not familiar with a Major Mitchel here is a photo
http://www.birdcare.com.au/images/major%20mitchell%20pic2.jpg

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Pfeff,

I am sure that she hasn't been taken illegally but bird smugglers do still operate throughout Australia and as you will be aware with the cost of this girl, it is quite a lucrative trade.

The Major Mitchells are now quite rare and in 15 years in the Territory where you are "most" likely to see them in the wild, I have seen only 6. One of these was at a nesting site, three at a water hole 100 km out of town, and, surprisingly, a pair at the side of the road leading into Simpson's Gap about 25 km out of town.

They are my favourite cockatoo, enjoy.

Regards,

Bob

[m.ingram]

I use to have an albino Cockateil .He was my little buddy he use to Whistle the song La cucaracha while he was having a shower .He was Very Funny little fella .

[pfeff]

Hi Pfeff,

I am sure that she hasn't been taken illegally but bird smugglers do still operate throughout Australia and as you will be aware with the cost of this girl, it is quite a lucrative trade.


Not sure where the bit about bird smuggling came from, BigDaddyAdo seems to be doing things by the book by getting the correct class 1 license to keep such a bird.

I am aware of the black market bird trade and if you frequent places like petlink you often see ads posted about stolen blue/gold macaws (up to 5k per bird) etc.

I've seen some major mitchels in the wild in qld but yes they are rare.

What I find facinating is that here in sydney (on botany bay) there is a resident flock of Sulpher Crested Cockatoos but there are about 6 yellow tailed black cockatoos that flock with them. I've see what I think is the same 6 black cockies with this large flock of sulphers for about 3-4yrs now.

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Pfeff,

Hitting self in head with hammer. I saw you had posted the pic of the MM and thought you were the owner. Apologies all.

Can be weird with birds "Not of a Feather" flocking together. There is often a Sulphur Crested flocking with galahs in the vicinity of the Stott Terrace bridge over our usually dry Todd River on a regular basis.

Red Tailed Black cockatoos are also seen on a regular basis but are usually transitting.

I think I will have to try to get the camera out and take pics of some of the locals.

Regards,

Bob

[BigDaddyAdo]

Hi Pfeff,

I am sure that she hasn't been taken illegally but bird smugglers do still operate throughout Australia and as you will be aware with the cost of this girl, it is quite a lucrative trade.


Not sure where the bit about bird smuggling came from, BigDaddyAdo seems to be doing things by the book by getting the correct class 1 license to keep such a bird.

I am aware of the black market bird trade and if you frequent places like petlink you often see ads posted about stolen blue/gold macaws (up to 5k per bird) etc.

I've seen some major mitchels in the wild in qld but yes they are rare.

What I find facinating is that here in sydney (on botany bay) there is a resident flock of Sulpher Crested Cockatoos but there are about 6 yellow tailed black cockatoos that flock with them. I've see what I think is the same 6 black cockies with this large flock of sulphers for about 3-4yrs now.

There are several flocks of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos around here as there are a lot of creeks, native trees, etc. The ones around here don't appear to be as destructive as some.

Here are a few pics before we brought her home.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh264/BigDaddyAdo/IMG_8221.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh264/BigDaddyAdo/IMG_8222.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh264/BigDaddyAdo/IMG_8226.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh264/BigDaddyAdo/IMG_8223.jpg

She is all settled in. I will post some pics of her at home over the nest few days.

[pfeff]

Yeh big miss understanding, I posted a random pic of an MM for those who did not know what an MM looked it.

BigDaddyAdo, she looks beautiful! I love the crest of the MM just stunning in a subtle way.

[ivo]

Hey BigdaddyAdo, stunning bird she is. Which bird shop did you buy her from?

[BigDaddyAdo]

I bought her from kellyville Pets. We dropped in there as I wanted to take a gander at the new Discus display tank. Nothing special and I was unimpressed with the livestock although they did have some very decent fish for sale.

The last time I went to Kellyville Pets I bought another puppy. I am beginning to see a trend. ;)

[pignoselover]

hi guys, iv got a hand raised pair i have had them for 5 years know so there just reach the age where they can breed now his hoping, and our friends just bought a farm in young and they get a few down there in the wild.

[Squid]

I already know about the SF seeds but they make a great training treat.

MM Cockatoos also love chillis. You just need to make sure they don't give you a big kiss after eating one.

I need a license for my MM so I can't take her home yet but we visit her and spend a bit of time with her when we can.

She is a great bird and very affectionate. She is housed next to a bird that talks so is already speaking quite well.


Cockies often eat chilis to help with digestive tract worms

[Squid]

I already know about the SF seeds but they make a great training treat.

MM Cockatoos also love chillis. You just need to make sure they don't give you a big kiss after eating one.

I need a license for my MM so I can't take her home yet but we visit her and spend a bit of time with her when we can.

She is a great bird and very affectionate. She is housed next to a bird that talks so is already speaking quite well.


Cockies often eat chilis to help with digestive tract worms

[sanoptic]

We had a Galah when i was a young child [I'm now 56] .
My mother got it in the late 1950's from a lady she used to work for & the bird was about 20 years old at the time.
Cockie held a grudge too as i used to tease it as a boy & it never forgot.
Let it out of it's gage & it would single me out & attack ,never any one else just me,& it did this for over 50 years,bloody bird never forgave me...LOL
Last year cockie passed away & i cried over this bird.
Enjoy your Cockie Bigdaddy your going to have it for a very long time.

Cheers
.