We have several Cockatoos in our house. They can be sweet, incorrigible and oh so loving! What would we ever do without them. Although we have several Cockatoos, many of them were abused or neglected birds and will be listed on my Special Birds page.

MANDY [25 years of age] is a Rose Breasted Cockatoo [or Galah] and was one of the first Cockatoos that we brought into our home, at approximately 1 year of age. Mandy is actually a male, but had already been named and was too pretty to have a boy's name anyway, so Mandy it is. He is very entertaining, both with us and with any stranger who comes into the house. A genuine ham as long as there is an audience. He will dance and be silly as long as someone will stand and watch. Usually he has people laughing that they have tears rolling down their faces. A natural born clown.

Mandy has an extensive vocabulary. And he has the sweetiest voice. Almost sounds like someone who has laringitis. The first thing you hear when you come into the house is Mandy saying "hi sweetie". If you ask him if he's funny, he laughs and laughs. So there has to be some understanding on what you are saying to him. He loves to dance and carry on, yelling "dance Mandy" or "dance baby". When the dogs bark, they receive a severe scolding and told in no uncertain terms that that is enough! Mandy has the smallest beak in the house besides the Cockatiels, but he can chew through anything you put in his cage. He can chew up hardwood right along with the best of them. It may take awhile, but certainly has a very persistent little beak. Most people are taken by Mandy's beauty, but he has a personality that even overpowers his beauty!

CRICKET [15 years of age] is actually a cross between a Citron and a Lesser Sulfer Crested Cockatoo. She came into our lives on Christmas Eve, 1992 at the age of 7 weeks. My husband brought her home as a Christmas present for me, and was I surprised! I had wanted a Lesser ever since we had lost our first Lesser about 2 years before. Cricket is a real treasure. She is the cuddliest, sweetest bird you could ever want to meet. She has the best temperment and is usually very good natured. Although, she does have her days - but don't we all. She is much more placid than our true Lessers, seems to have the more quiet disposition of the Citron. She does talk, but does not have a large vocabulary. But when she says "I Love You" in that scratchy little voice, she just melts your heart.

Cricket is one very intelligent bird. When she sets her mind to doing something, she is very methodical about it. She will sit and think about it and then proceed in getting the task done. One night I was stringing beads for toys and she was watching me. She then picked up a shoe lace and started stringing her own beads onto it. She even had the common sense to push the beads down onto the string so she could put more on. When she is covered at night, she will open the front of her cover slightly and peek out and watch you with just one eye. She seems to think that once she has gone to bed something might happen that she should be included in. Cricket holds a very special spot in our hearts.

GEORGE, SR. [approximately 28 years old] came into our lives when his previous owner just could not deal with him any longer. He was a real character. He could charm anyone, anywhere, anytime. When he came to us the only way you could handle him was with a glove. After about a month, he panicked and screamed when he saw the glove. He was a real cuddler, had personality plus and talked a mile a minute. He had a very extensive vocabulary, and spoke very clearly, clarity almost like a Grey. He lived with us for 4 years and the longer he was here, the more upset he got when any other bird got any attention. He would scream from morning to night unless he was being handled or petted. I guess he had so little attention for so many years, now he wanted it all. We finally contacted an aviary and put him into a breeding program. He settled there very well.

GEORGE, JR. [15 years of age] is the son of George, Sr. When we placed Sr., the deal we made with the aviary was to take one of George's babies. We brought George home when he was 9 weeks of age. He was still so homely he was cute. But it didn't take long for him to develop into a beautiful M2. He is sweet, very affectionate and a real love sponge. His favorite thing to do is run on the rock in our backyard in the summer sunshine. The rock has been named "George's rock". He even loves to run through the sprinkler. There is an apartment building directly behind the house, and a lot of the people there say they are bored when George isn't outside. He has almost become the neighborhood pet. Here is a picture of George guarding his backyard. Sure looks tough, doesn't he! Too bad nobody knows what a pussycat he really is.

More Pages to be added soon.