Cockatoo Available Parrots

The two species we work with

• Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, also called the Pink Cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri, formerly Cacatua leadbeateri) - 35-40 cm, 300-450 g, from arid and semi-arid inland Australia. Spectacular red-and-yellow banded crest. CITES Appendix I. Listed as Endangered under Australia's EPBC Act in 2023. Australia has prohibited the export of native wildlife for decades, so every bird outside Australia is a captive-bred descendant.
• Goffin's Cockatoo, also called the Tanimbar Corella (Cacatua goffiniana) - about 31 cm, 250-350 g, endemic to the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia. CITES Appendix I, IUCN Near Threatened. Famous in cognitive science: Goffin's cockatoos in Vienna spontaneously manufactured and used tools to retrieve out-of-reach food, one of the clearest demonstrations of innovative tool-making outside primates and corvids.

Noise, honestly

Cockatoo screaming is the reason most cockatoos change homes. Both species produce a piercing, sustained screech, and Goffin's in particular will scream persistently when they want attention - a behaviour that is trivially easy to reinforce accidentally and very hard to extinguish afterwards. A cockatoo is unsuitable for an apartment, a semi-detached house, or any home where daytime noise is constrained. Please do not enquire about one if noise is a constraint you cannot absorb.

Space, destruction and escape

Minimum indoor enclosure for either species is 91 x 61 x 122 cm (36 x 24 x 48 in), with a full-height aviary strongly preferred for Major Mitchell's, which is a bird of open country and covers real distance in flight. Bar spacing 1.9-2.5 cm, stainless steel or heavy powder-coated iron.

Goffin's Cockatoos are notorious escape artists. The same problem-solving that produced their tool-use results is applied daily to latches, and a simple slide bolt will not hold one. Use padlocks or captive-pin bolts. Both species chew constantly and require a steady supply of destructible untreated softwood, palm leaf, cardboard and paper - this is a consumable running cost, not a one-off purchase.

Powder down and human health

Cockatoos produce more powder down than almost any other parrot. This fine keratin dust coats surfaces, circulates in the air and is a documented cause of hypersensitivity pneumonitis - bird fancier's lung - in susceptible people. If anyone in the household has asthma or another chronic respiratory condition, a cockatoo is a poor choice, and good air filtration plus frequent bathing of the bird are necessary rather than optional.

Health and behaviour

• Feather-destructive behaviour and self-mutilation - cockatoos are the species most likely to progress from plucking to chest mutilation requiring veterinary intervention.
• Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) - cockatoos are a classic host; testing new birds and quarantining for 30-45 days is essential.
• Obesity and fatty liver disease on seed-heavy diets. Build the ration on formulated pellet plus vegetables; Major Mitchell's in particular do well with sprouted seed and native-style dry seed in measured amounts.
• Chronic reproductive behaviour in hens, including chronic egg laying, when photoperiod and diet are not controlled.

Legal status

Both Lophochroa leadbeateri and Cacatua goffiniana are on CITES Appendix I, which places them in Annex A of EU Regulation (EC) No 338/97. A commercial transaction inside the EU therefore requires a bird-specific Article 10 certificate and a closed ring or microchip matching the paperwork; any movement across an international border requires CITES export and import permits obtained in advance. Verify requirements with your national CITES management authority before you commit to a bird.