Hi Tweeters,

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to get to know a Citroen Cockatoo
named Sophie. Sophie is a wonderful creature and the first bird I've ever
really gotten to know personally. As a beginning birder, observer of wild
birds, getting to know this very people oriented bird is quite enlightening.

I have learned to "speak" cockatoo. Sophie greets you by bobbing her head
or her entire body. I return the bobs and coo at her. We exchange bobs and
coos and then with much skill and dexterity she's on my shoulder making eye
contact. I then begin to stroke her feathered back and neck. I am
surprised how this bird is both soft and "crisp" to the touch. She really
enjoys having her neck gently "massaged" and she expresses her pleasure by
PURRING! Yes, purring. Just like when I "massage" my cat's neck and under
the chin, Sophie the cockatoo will burst into purr. She even had me
"massage" her wings for her. First one wing, then the other. I really
appreciated this mini lesson in bird physiognomy. Oh, in addition to her
purring she fluffs her crest as high as possible. She also licked me with
her rubbery tongue and gently checked out my earrings with her mouth.
Sophie is a very gentle bird.

Now, on to a wild bird comparison......I have seen crows, bob their heads
and bodies in what seems to be greetings to other crows, and of course have
heard all sorts of sounds coming from them. One afternoon when NOBODY was
around, I tried talking to a crow. I made crow like noises and the crow
just stared at me. Was I speaking crow with a human accent?

Are the parrots and cockatoos one finds in pet shops domesticated birds like
white geese and chickens? Or are they still considered wild? Housebroken?
Socialized?

Will a hand raised crow become as people oriented as Sophie the Citroen
Cockatoo?

I am not one who only wants to sit back and observe other species, I enjoy
interacting with other life forms. It's been well over a year, and I'm still
marveling over my "first contact" with the litter of baby long tailed
weasels.

Lydia In Kent, WA
Lydia Gaebe
lgaebe at msn.com

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