This is our Jake, the Umbrella Cockatoo, otherwise known as the
Air Shark, or U2. Jakey is bird-czar of our household, and he is well aware of
it. He talks quite a bit - but a lot of it makes sense only to Jake. He doesn't
really know that he's a bird, which is true of a lot of Cockatoos. Jake likes
all the dogs' toys, and occasionally plays tug-of-war with one of the dogs.
(Which really looks more like Jake getting towed around the floor by a dog, but
as long as he has fun...) Jake LOVES boxes. He has a "blankie," and if you give
him a box, he goes into the box and snorts. He likes his blankie to be in the
box, too. Jake's favorite treat is nuts, especially peanuts, but he only gets
them as occasional treats. His main diet consists of Lafeber's Pellets, with
Avicakes, Nutriberries, Kaytee Puffs, and some mixed nuts. Jake doesn't usually touch people-food,
though we try. Sometimes he'll tease you, and stick his tongue out like he's
going to try it, but then he gets goofy, and teases.
Hear Jake say something here and here.
Jake's been with us since February of 1996. He is about 12 years old. He came to us from a friend. His tollbooth (cage) used to be by the door, and he collected his toll as people come in the door - he got lots of attention that way. What REALLY makes him mad is when we have a visitor, he collects the worship that is due and everyone walks away from him after a few minutes. What an outrage! I mean, really - they couldn't have come for any reason other than to pay homage to him, so when anyone has the nerve to forget who is the master and who is the slave, he has to remind us all. He likes to be included. We do include him in a lot of our activities - mealtimes sometimes, but sometimes it's already chaotic enough at the table without adding him to the equation! We have also spent a lot of time socializing him and teaching him which behaviors are acceptable and which are not. He has learned well, and is very trustworthy. But when he is bad, he knows he was bad, and usually scurries away to his cage, looking disgraced.
Jake's a popular guy - he gets invitations occasionally to attend corporate
parties, to "mingle" with the crowd as entertainment. He attended a party given
by Sienna Restaurant in Wilmington, and a Lucent Technologies bash up in North
Jersey. He usually takes Debbie with him, as he hasn't yet mastered driving - he can't reach the gas pedal.
