tyabblemons Said:

Photographed at Tyabb Victoria, Australia

by Brad & Rose Lemon

     We've had one of the best days ever at the feeders today. Tyabb, a semi-rural suburb south-east of Melbourne, is home to flock of around 100-150 Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. They live in the tall pine trees along the railway line, which have lots of hollows for protection and nesting. These birds don't have to forage for food - they are fed by numerous human residents of the area. Our feeders would be busy at all times of the day, but we limit the amount of food available each day to discourage them from visiting us early in the morning!

Surprisingly, the flock doesn't visit all at once. They usually visit in small groups - a maximum of twenty birds. Today was out of the ordinary, and Rose counted 40 birds at one stage. Today was the first day we've tried porridge for the weaker birds. It proved to be a big success, not just with the sick birds but also with the very young cockies.

This first cocky in the above pic is just brand-new. He's got a tiny beak and his feathers just don't seem to fit properly yet lol. I think he's still getting good at preening. All these birds are juniors.

The young cockies are supervised by a couple of aunts. We assume they're aunts. It's hard to tell the gender of these birds without careful examination. There is a slight difference in the pigment of the eye, but it's almost impossible to see on a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. The main flocks will feed at morning and late afternoon and rest during the day. Only the sick and young feed during the middle of the day. There is always at least two aunts supervising and they will take turns at being on lookout duty, perched on the highest vantage point available. This practice is so remarkable that the lookout posted for an illegal two-up game is called the 'Cocky'.

There is a disease that affects all parrots, but particularly the white parrots like these cockatoos. It's called Psitticine Beak and Feather Disease, or PBFD. It is the AIDS of the parrot world, caused by a virus. Birds often catch it while still in the egg. Those that catch it in their first year of life have extremely high mortality - nearly 100%. Some birds catch it later or build up a resistance of sorts. They can go on to live with the disease for years, but they will always remain contagious. PBFD was first researched by Dr Ross Perry in 1972. He is still practising, helping people with domestic birds live with the disease. We are planning a consultation with him very shortly to discuss the Tyabb Cockatoos. We have counted four birds out of the entire flock that appear to be affected by chronic PBFD. If this is the naturally occurring rate, then we will likely do nothing. If it is higher, then we will fight the disease, but this will mean euthanasing our favourite birds. Yes, we love lame ducks. The cocky pictured above we have named 'Baldy'. It is amazing that he or she is still alive - only the wings have saved her. We say 'her' because she feeds with the young. She only has flight feathers and tail feathers left. If we take her to the vet she will be euthanased and there is nothing else we can do - except feed her food that will keep her alive while she can still fly. We think she's got a good hollow in a pine tree and that's how she's surviving the weather.

As you can see, Baldy has got a broken flight feather. This leaves her open to secondary infections which is what usually kills birds with chronic PBFD. We are so worried about Baldy that we will ask the Vet's opinion shortly.

This is one of the other birds with PBFD. We call him 'Big Mouth'. Notice the way the disease is eating away at his beak? It will likely break off soon, and then we worry about whether he will be able to eat seed. We'll see, and there's always the porridge. We are most fond of this bird as he is tamer than any other bird. He may have been captive at one stage - we don't know. A flight feather he dropped looked like it had been clipped at some stage. Could have been a fluke. Big Mouth is never gonna win a beauty contest, but he is our favourite. He arrives every day at 11.30am.

Mostly though, the cockies are in terrific health. This old one melts my heart.

Their diet is great, and if the weather is kind we expect a good breeding season come September. We think the Tyabb Cockatoos will do well again this year. The farmers curse us, as cockatoos can destroy a crop in minutes flat. However, these cockies are so well fed that they're too lazy to be bothered with crops. Far more numerous are the Corellas, who we call the flying monkeys. They arrive in flocks of about 100 and clean the feeders out completely when it happens. They are somewhat nomadic - and you just don't know when a flock will arrive. The Tyabb Cockies tolerate the Corellas, but the flying monkeys bite hard so that the cockies generally give way to them. We take lots of notes, and try to identify individual birds. We note when they visit in a diary. I'm building a special feeder that will double as a trap so we can catch any birds that need to see a vet if we are lucky. Hope to release them back into their own flock after treatment.

It has been an extraordinary experience studying these birds, day after day. We never miss it. It's not boring to watch them as young cockies are quite stupid. And our old favourites just keep coming around for Rose's cooking.

As you've read this far, thank you very much for taking an interest in the Tyabb Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, and for reading my post.

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