VALENTINE'S PAL, TARA...HIS STORY

Tara is a moluccan cockatoo, in his late 40's. His is a happy-sad-happy tale, because his owner died of cancer and he wound up in a small pet shop, in the condition you see in this video. Sadly, once a plucking habit becomes entrenched in a cockatoo, it is almost impossible for it to stop. Tara did this for so long, his follicles were damaged to the point that they stopped producing feathers. Some go past that point, to mutilation of their chest. Many cockatoos ae pluckers, or mutilators,or worse. In my opinion, (and others much more professional than me) cockatoos are best left in the wild, or in VERY experienced hands. Any large bird for a pet is a lifetime commitment, and an expensive one! Please consider all that is involved in large parrot/cockatoo ownership before you adopt one. Some can be sweet, as Tara and Valentine are, but many become very hard to handle once they reach maturity, at about age 9-11 or so. These are the birds that wind up in rescue organizations...many for the rest of their long life.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Cockatoo
• plucker
• happy bird
• parrot
• noise
• feather
• feathers
• Valentine
• tara
• bird
• adoption
• bird rescue
• shelter

[Sarahmoluccan]

What a lovely bird!!! I love how he preens your hand. It is so nice that he's in a good home now. There are so many horror stories of unwanted and abused parrots. It's nice to see one with a happy ending and with owner who loves and cares for him. Best of luck to you and your family.

[MissPickletoes]

@Sarahmoluccan Thank you so much for your kind words. He is indeed a gentle bird. As you know, muluccans are listed as one of the most difficult birds to keep. Usually the males can get very aggressive, and they are often given up for that reason. Tara has been, from day one, the sweetest happiest(and noisiest!) birds I have ever had the honor to know.

[MrMaxendiesel]

how old is he i have recpecht for you

[MissPickletoes]

@MrMaxendiesel Tara is about 47 now as far as my vet can determine. Since they can live as long as a human...he is only middle aged now! ;-)

Since we live in a colder climate, I bought a special panel heater made for bird cages, that provides gentle radiant heat downwards, to help him stay comfortable. Thanks again for stopping by.

[MrMaxendiesel]

danm ppoor bird man

[MissPickletoes]

@MrMaxendiesel Yes. He had a hard time of it, but is in a warm happy loving home now, and I love to spoil him. When we moved into out present home I even had the builder put in a special bird room for my guys.  :-)

[MrMaxendiesel]

i am go later buy macaw

[MrMaxendiesel]

idd they can live up the age 60 or 80 some do make up to age up 100 year old

[MissPickletoes]

@TravellerFellow Peaches is so lucky to have such a caring owner! According to my vet, Tara has done so much damage to the follicles that he no longer even grows any feathers to pluck out of his bald areas. Poor guy. I really feel sorry for him when we get this frigid weather here in Illinois. I bought a heat panel to keep him warm and set it on top of his cage. That way it radiates down, and he can move in and out of the warm spot as he needs to. But he will be forever my little Chicken!

[TravellerFellow]

with Peaches, I began to put bacitrin (sp?) on those spots where she let a feather grow in then plucked it. I also lick & kiss her bald belly-chest spots. believe it or not, by showing her attention to those bald spots, she has allowed feathers grow in. especially her downy feathers. I should have someone video her now so ppl can see the difference. this Fall past marked five yrs we've had Peaches.