Parrot pink cockatoo

One of the legends of Oceania tells how a bird with a straight beak, nicknamed for its unattractive appearance as a parrot, courageously rescued from the imprisonment of the God of good, tirelessly pecking the bars with its beak. The cage broke, but the straight beak of the bird became bent, and the liberated God of good awarded the bird with bright plumage. According to the legend, this is how the cockatoo appeared, one of the most beautiful and intelligent representatives of the parrot squad. In nature, there are several varieties of this amazing bird. In this article we will focus on the representatives of the most numerous species — pink cockatoo.

Pink cockatoos, like all members of the family, are endemic birds and are found only in the wild in Australia. On the Green continent pink cockatoo known as" Galah", which translated from the local dialect means" clown","fool"... But we should not take for granted this is a pretty offensive nickname that was given to the pink cockatoo, the English settlers in the late XVIII century. Further story about our hero will show that he has a remarkable intelligence and is one of the smartest representatives of the bird Kingdom. However, everything in order.

As already mentioned, the pink cockatoo is the most numerous species of the family cockatoo. Representatives of this species can be found throughout Australia, with the exception of the coast and the driest areas of the continent. The most numerous populations "clowns" dwell in States Queensland, New South Wales and on the East state Victoria. The habitat of these birds is almost any area with sufficient drinking water. Galah can be found in fields, eucalyptus forests, grass and shrub thickets, parks, gardens, cities...

Having presented to the reader " scenery "in which action under the name" difficult life of the clown "is developed, it is time" to draw " a portrait of our hero. So! Largest pink cockatoo can be attributed to the parrots of medium size, as the length of adult birds does not exceed 37 cm They belong to svetlakova cockatoos, their beak is of ivory color. Color of birds-pale gray back and wings, pink chest and neck, pale pink top of the head. The crown is decorated with pink crest, which is a kind of communication tool. In the lowered position of the comb are almost invisible. The raised crest can be a sign of protection of the territory, excitement, excitement, curiosity, fear. The lowered crest is an expression of calmness, friendliness, readiness for communication.

The pink cockatoo is almost completely absent sexual dimorphism. Even from a short distance it is impossible to determine where the female and the males. And only in the second or third year of life these birds have differences in the color of the iris. Therefore, to understand who is in front of you, will have to literally look into the eyes of the bird.

Pink cockatoos are monogamous birds, but, nevertheless, the withdrawal of one of the partners in "the world of eternal hunting" does not become a pretext for perpetual solitude of the other. After a while widowed individual finds a new love in "House-2 for parrots".

Everything about the construction of the nest and caring for offspring, — a private affair of a particular pair of Galah. In these questions to them nobody the decree. The pair independently decides at what height to make a hollow (the first floor-4 meters from the ground, the last-20 meters), after which eggs to begin hatching (usually after the 2nd or 3rd egg), than to feed the offspring and when to say goodbye to it. Perhaps it is due to the fact that these issues in the population is not strictly regulated, among pink cockatoo, a very large percentage of mortality of young animals. No more than 9% of birds live to Mature age. But if they do make it — beware all!

The fact is that in the wild all the active time of the day birds spend large (from 20 to 1000 individuals), noisy and voracious companies. I understand that it is a great pleasure for ornithologists and visitors to Australia to follow the flight of a flock of several hundred individuals. I'm just afraid Australian farmers don't share this affection. In Australia, due to devastating raids on the fields of crops of pink cockatoos have long been classified as harmful birds and destroyed in large quantities by all available means. The total dislike of farmers was joined by gardeners, who, to put it mildly, do not like that birds spoil the fruits of fruit trees.

In this place it's time to turn to the question of ingenuity (read: intelligence) pink cockatoo. To "combat" a flock of Galah prepared is not worse than the special forces. Before " to land "on the territory of the enemy, the field and the garden flies around the"intelligence group". When feeding several birds "stand guard" and give an alarm at the first danger. This is about the skills that birds demonstrate in the wild. What they are capable of at home-the story will go below.

Two years ago, indoor bird lovers celebrated the 170th anniversary of the emergence of pink cockatoos in Europe on a large scale. In 1843, the first representatives of the species appeared in the cells of the aristocratic salons of England. Since the mid-nineteenth century pink cockatoo became one of the most popular pet birds. These are calm, quiet, very affectionate to the owners of the bird. Friendly and affectionate bird is able to learn human speech and various tricks.

In comparison with other members of the squad the ability to imitate human speech, cockatoos are severely limited, which, however, does not interfere with the pet and owner to understand each other. But these birds are well able to remember and reproduce musical sounds.

Loud and obnoxious the screaming pink cockatoo does not always mean dissatisfaction — sometimes it is a sign of boredom, loneliness and lack of affection. However, the cry may be an expression of satisfaction, joy or gratitude, and understand the difference between emotions poultry timbre of her voice is almost impossible, is to rely only on their own intuition.

If you take a chick at an early age (3-4 months), he quickly gets used to the person and the house in which he lives. In the" private sector "pink cockatoos can be safely released to fly "free". Far from home they do not fly away and always come back.

For content Galah need a very sturdy cage, many owners prefer to lock it on the padlock, as with a weaker constipation bird copes easily and quickly. In addition, the cage should be spacious — ideally three times larger than the wingspan. You should provide the pet lots of toys, and even better to have two birds of different sexes, in this case, they will engage each other and not require constant presence and attention of the owner.

The life expectancy of pink cockatoos in captivity for more than 50 years. Therefore, you should think carefully before taking such a bird home. After all, "we are responsible for those who tamed."