My Umbrealla Cockatoo has been whining and crying lately. What has happened? He has a healthy diet.?

Answer 1

Have you been paying less attention to him? Or maybe you've been unconsciously rewarding the whining and crying by giving him attention when he does it. It is possible that he is simply vocalizing in a new way, but if he acts ina ny way like he is in pain or if his behavior changes, take him to the vet.

Most likely, it's just the sound du jour, but keep an eye on him. (:

Answer 2

Are you sure it's actually whinning? My U2 around this time of year will sit and make a quite(for a cockatoo LOL) little groan, and keep doing it for awhile. They are very vocal birds and make noise all the time. After a while you will get to learn what each own birds particular squak and squeel and scream means. How is his body posture? A healthy bird when sitting on his perch will have one leg raised up and the feathers around his(her) beak up half covering it.

Without seeing in person can be very hard to tell what ya mean.

Here is a site that specializes in cockatoo's. They are very informative. http://www.mytoos.com

Answer 3

A lot of times people have the same complaint and it is because something is new in the house such as another animal, the bird's cage has been moved, new or re-situated furniture, or a change in habit. I have worked for exotic veterinarians for five years and that seems to be common. If the parrot was sick you would know because the bird would be fluffed up and not making much noise. If the bird is young then it could defiantly be a weaning issue. Just for your sanity I would recommend finding an exotic very close to you and taking the bird in, they are too fragile to ignore.

Answer 4

There are many reasons. First of all if your U2 is less than 9 months old, he could have regressed in his weaning, so you might want to comfort it by giving it food by hand or spoon.

Other reasons are:

Not paying enough attention as you did in the past. Only give it as much attention as you can, 3 years down the line. Don't pamper it, you need to make it learn to play on it's own.

Maybe sick.

Not enough sleep. My triton needs about 12 to 13 hours of sleep a night or it is ultra cranky in the evening. You need to cover the cage, and leave it where it does not get disturbed by dogs barking, tv blaring, etc etc.

Bad nutrition. Too much carbohydrate makes any bird hyper. Too much seed, make it addicted to seeds. Too much sugar is just plain horrible. You say you are feeding it a good diet, but does this mean you are giving it pellets? I am a firm believer that certain pellets are better than giving it scraps of home made cooking or vegetable that you have in your fridge. It is way too difficult to calculate the amount of vitamin A just by giving it scraps of table food or veggies you eat for dinner. Pellets are not just more convenient but have a lot more ingredients and nutrition than any ordinary person can manage to cook for their birds. But be warned not all pellets are created equal. I personally like TOPS because it is organic. Hagens because it has a fattier content than others so the bird is likely to eat it than Harrisons. Harrisons is good but many birds do not like it. Pellets I don't really think that are good are: colored ones and ones loaded with anything that says OSE at the end of the the word. IE. sucrose , dextrose. etc. I personally grind different types of pellents in a mill, add water and feed it to my bird, along with cooked foods like Beak Appetite, Bean Cuisine.

Anyway if you U2 is less than 9 to 12 months, it could be regressing . If not, you need to make sure you are paying attention or less attention. If none apply, go to the vet and get a check up. And last but not least, sleep and food are essential.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

First of all. Cover him at night with a small blanket or cover. If during the day it bothers you, put a mirror in right beside his perch so he can snuggle up to it, he will think it is his girlfriend. Just let him have it for a few hours a day. If he has a mate, they may not pay as much attention to you. The mirror will keep him quiet for a little time. They need fresh water too! How about a nice refreshing bath?

Answer 6

Are you sure he isn't sick? Maybe you should take him to the vet first to rule out any illnesses. If he is not sick all I can say is that Cockatoos are notorious attention-seekers. And it is breeding season...Please e-mail [e-mail] and enter your question for the bird behaviorist,Liz Wilson(her column is Parrot Psychology) to answer.


My Amazon started being a whiny cluck-fest two years ago;luckily I knew she was a girl so I was only mildly appalled when she started egg-laying.I took her to the vet to make sure she was okay and started reading up on mating season behaviors... if your bird gets a clean-bill of health from the vet,you probably just have a case of parrot-puberty on your hands.(I can only pat my parrot on her head,otherwise she starts to act a little "frisky."
And by healthy diet you do mean seed,pellets,fruits,veggies...and added vitiamins?

Answer 7

most do that when you dont play w/ them. bird could be depressed. dont have any open windws on the 3rd floor.