Long/Slender Billed Corellas

[NatWatson]

Hi guys

I'm back after FOREVER, and was hoping to learn about these fascinating Cockatoos. I am very interested in a girl that a friend is hoping to find a forever home for (a very snuggly stray), and want to arm myself with facts and other people's experiences before I agree.

The good, the bad and the ugly pleasums <3

(also, I am curious to know the noise/loud comparison to Sun Conures)

 

[RavensGryf]

Hi, I had an Eastern Slender Billed Corella!

There were many ways in which she was NOT a typical Cockatoo. She was very independent from me touching her (although she like being petted) I think she was too ACTIVE most of the time to sit still for long. She was playful, very clownish and silly, highly intelligent. Think of a feathered monkey. Literally. Did I mention she was ACTIVE?! These birds absolutely NEED a high level of mental stimulation! They're NOT a Velcro Too, but are high maintenance in OTHER ways. Can you keep a monkey in your home?

The voice was DIFFERENT than you'd think for a Cockatoo. She usually would make a multi-note sort of chirp. Impossible to explain. It was not a loud noise, but it was an irritating noise. She was also a line of sight caller. Only when playing with her toys would I hear a more typical roaring sound. I never once heard her voice as loud. Certainly not Cockatoo level loud.

I will have to post pics sometime. I don't have them digital unfortunately, so I'll have to try later.

They're beautiful, and so adorably goofy looking. They're rare here in the US. I know more people have them in Australia.

Any other questions, feel free to ask

 

[NatWatson]

I would love to see photos!!

We have a flock of Short Billed Corella's that live in the park near my house, and I live under their flight-route hahaha. There are about 50 and a few Galahs so I can absolutely imagine the sounds you are describing. They sit on our street's lights and pick them apart, evil buggers

I think I have the capacity to entertain and stimulate this girl. I am confident, but how can one ever be confident with such an intelligent creature like parrots are.

We have a quaker who is a pro forager (he has to work for every scrap of his food), so in that respect I am no novice. I'm really lucky that the person who has her at the moment has swapped her diet to fresh & pellets already, and has introduced many foraging toys. She described her as totally goofy and silly- not street smart hahaha. She doesn't fly despite best efforts to encourage, and is a massive snuggle-butt.

I am totally in love (I have yet to meet her in person), and it really sounds like she could click with my CRAZY household.

I don't know what I am looking for out of this thread, but everything you wrote was PERFECT! I just want to know everything and hear ALLTHESTORIES!

 

[RavensGryf]

Sounds like you have an ideal home and bird experience, if you're up to juggling another major addition!

Another thing, have you seen how much white powder dust comes off a white Too? I "personally" don't like the sticky white dust from powder down birds. I'm not sure if you noticed at your friends house that it could get pretty bad even with regular cleaning. There are a lot of owners out there with powder birds who don't mind a little extra mess though

A funny thing Starion loved to do was (starting on the back of a chair or couch behind me) do rolling end over end somersaults down over my shoulder, down my body, and end up in my lap! It was hilarious. She loved to play on her back also. I think the clowniness is just in their nature.

I am planning to make a thread of some past birds pretty soon, so when I do, I will definitely have her on there

 

[NatWatson]

Hahaha, a clown parrot personality definitely appeals to me. You are definitely making me think this will work. I used to have 2 cockatiels, so I don't know if that means more or less dust, but I have toddlers and inside border collies so what's a little more mess, right?

I'm not sure if my house is Too proof though. How does one go about proofing a house from the waist down? Not that I am ever going to leave a working chainsaw unattended at lib of course

 

[RavensGryf]

An acquaintance that I GAVE Starion to has aviaries, and the whole inside of the house is dedicated to large birds and Toos!!

To bird proof your house, just make sure things like - toilet seat down, ceiling fans off, no pot of boiling water on stove when the bird is out (or when cooking anything) you surely don't want BBQ parrot . Antique or otherwise valued furniture or even the structure of the house itself, well... Expect some damage unless your eye is CONSTANTLY on her (you're good at that if you have toddlers)!! Watch out for any tiny non-food objects on a table or counter that can be ingested (parrots DO do this! Good way to get lead poisining), or for that matter any larger non-bird-toy objects that can be chewed on. Watch corners of walls even. If an older house it can have lead paint under the layers. There are plastic 'edge protectors' you can buy at home improvement stores. Conceal electrical cords. Those are just some things off the top of my head. Go around the house and look top to bottom and use common sense. You'll be okay