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The only other birds in my life I have been around decided they did not like me so they harassed me and threatened me LOL.

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When I was a kid, the big school trip thing to do, was get on the school bus and head to the huge and reasonably famous Toronto Zoo.

I was a little kid and like animals a lot so had my fingers in the cage and this bird bit me, cut me open and traumatized me for the next 35 years LOL.

Birds can be real jerks.

So it was with nervous apprehension I approached Cookie the Cockatoo here. I dated a girl named Joanne a couple times from my public school days (yes, I called it dating LOL) - into my early 20's and sold her house and found her another home awhile back, so we were together more than usual.

She had donated her Cockatoo to a local zoo, since she did not have the ability with her small kids in the past to pay proper attention to Cookie. The bird is in a more natural environment, great food and keepers and life and is well behaved.

Cookie is out in the open like this, not even caged. It was a really nice place for a well behaved bird!

Some of them are not LOL.

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Well it turned out right away within seconds, Cookie really liked me.

Joanne has had lots of people around this bird, and Cookie does not like everyone, she was honestly a little shocked this bird walked right up to me, climbed on my arm and laid her head on my chest and start cooing.

The bird was super friendly and affectionate!

Cookie climbed all over me, kept nuzzling me and would not leave me. Perhaps she liked my Save The Bees! - T-shirt.

This was a great experience for me given my past bird related traumas in my life LOL!

I can honestly say, this experience has really stuck with me ever since, I think about it fondly, and how loving and friendly this animal was to me. I would say it was:

I did not even have food. It was natural and unconditional and really spoke to me as a life lesson.

I can truly say this was a fun, and beautiful experience and the only feathers ruffled that day were Cookie's, when I was petting and massaging her, and when I stopped, she poked me and looked at me like

"Why are you stopping, bro?"

I give this birding life moment a solid 5 beaks out of 5.

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It was so nice a bird finally liked me. LOL

Yes, Joanne was really stunned by how much her bird took me

Under her wing...

LOL

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I found this article/blog post today by someone who has written a lot and focused on birds, if you want to learn a little more about them.

Cockatoos as Pets

By Shelly Bohannon

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Cockatoo’s make exceptional companion birds, if their needs and requirements are adaquately met. They are affectionate, funny, comical, mischievious and generally easy to get along with. Their requirements, however, are rather complex and many.

The key to a great Cockatoo as a companion bird is a great beginning. Cockatoo’s are known for becoming phobic and developing behavioral issues such as plucking and/or screaming. A study was done a few years ago by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM and associates that indicated that many of these phobic issues may be caused by the early weaning that is practiced by many breeders.³ In the wild, and also in captivitiy, if left alone, Cockatoo babies stay with their parents until the next breeding season. Thus, a year or slightly less. While the babies are certainly eating on their own a few weeks after fledging, they have also been observed being fed by their parents up until the next clutch is laid.

A properly raised, socialized and trained Cockatoo makes a wonderful companion. Cockatoo’s are noted for being very sweet, affectionate birds, with a voice that sounds a lot like "Cousin It". They are also known for being exceptionally cuddly birds that want to be “on” their people as much as possible. They have rightly earned their title of “Velcro Birds”. They love attention and affection and will generally like just about anybody that will pet them.

...and there is more in the article found here

Img Sources: Giphy.com, and other photos taken on my Samsung phone by Joanne with her kids that day on our zoo outing!

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.