Had a cockatoo fall in love with me today...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

He reached through the cage and grabbed my finger so I asked and they let me take him out.

You haven't lived until you have a bird snuggle into you as you pet it like a cat..

[elleng]

1. SWEET!

[shenmue]

2. Awesome!

I like birdees.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I used to have a macaw......

I have lived.

Birds are much more affectionate than you would expect....but you now know that.

So is your next post "bought a cockatoo"????

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. We already have a sun conure....

He's a cuddle bug too.

It was quite a shock for my fiancee. She always loved birds and owned a string of parakeets. They would come out on a finger and recognize you but about the time you really got to think of them as members of the family you would find them dead in the bottom of the cage.

A sun conure can live 30 years.

She's been a bird lover all of her life but was never able to PET them,...much less have one close it's eyes in total bliss as you pet it.

This one talks too. Clearly.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. It definitely is better than a parakeet

who is not really that bright. It is great to be able to pet them....and preen them and have them preen you, and give kisses and get kisses. I know that I was amazed at the intelligence of some birds.

And I see why the cockatoo loved on you---you knew how to handle it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. You should see me with horses....

....seem to rub Right Wingers the wrong way though...

[X_Digger]

7. I lived with a friend who rescued cockatoos.

One of them came from an abused home- he wasn't abused, but the couple who owned him fought constantly, and Dusty developed a bit of a neurosis over it. Plucked himself almost bald.

The first time I saw him, he waddled over to the bars and goes, "Dusty birrrrrrd, Dusty birrrrrrrd!" and starts doing the typical cockatoo chicken dance. My host's jaw hit the floor. He went from being a terrified, neurotic, pitiful thing to the most warm and cuddly bird you ever saw.

If I was at home, he had to be up on my lap, or on my shoulder, or cuddled in next to me on the couch under a blanket. Heck, if I took a shower, he wanted to be in there getting his shower, too.

His big thing was tickles. He would sidle up to your ear, nip it gently, then run away going 'tickletickletickle!' What he wanted was you to chase him down and tickle under his wings, and around his neck. He'd laugh so loud it would hurt your ears.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. People have no idea how affectionate birds can be or how demanding for attention....

Right now our conure is having his nightly "bye bye" time where he gets to come out of the cage and snuggle and play on the bed.

[X_Digger]

9. They are amazing critters.

Another bird that my friend was keeping was a daredevil.

She (the macaw) would take a play rope in her beak, drag it over to your feet, and let out that ear-piercing macaw squawk. The idea was to grab the end of the rope, let her dangle from it, then swing around in a circle. When she came up for air, you'd see the happy 'ping-ping-ping' of her pupils dilating and contracting.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. Obviously an adrenaline junkie.

[X_Digger]

11. Yup, that's another thing that most folks don't get about big birds.. personality.

You can't peg personality to species as easily as you can with smaller birds (generally speaking, of course). Their personalities are almost as varied as people.

My friend had another macaw that only she was allowed to touch. Otherwise you'd pull back a bloody stump.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

12. Seen that with a red macaw....

The thing let the owner swing it by the feet head down and it did all kinds of tricks but would instantly go into full attack mode if anyone got close enough. She finally had to get rid of it because it attacked HER for letting someone get too close. WAY too aggressive.