By bird club member (and cockatoo slave) Lin Westgard

Please meet Casper Englesmith Westgard! Casper is a male Umbrella Cockatoo aka the Cacatua Alba. He is 8 years old and lives with a Lesser Sulphur Crested cockatoo named Elliot, a cockatiel named Peter and a human slave named Lin Westgard. He was born in California by a breeder that used to believe in hand feeding chicks. He now believes in parent-raised chicks and has stopped breeding birds all together. Like the Mullocan cockatoo, breeding of this particular species is highly discouraged as there are so many ending up in sanctuaries. They are probably the most difficult species to house properly in our living rooms. They need so much more.

Umbrella Cockatoos, like many other parrots require a lot of toys to keep them mentally stimulated and busy. I often sit for hours on any given weekend and make my own toys. Because they forage for food in the wild, I must come up with creative ideas to “hide” food, such as wrapping a nut up in a tamale skins or boxes and make him “find” the treat and they chew through a lot of the heavier wooden toys. Psychologically, it is important for them to be stimulated and challenged. It takes a strong commitment from an owner to keep up the diligence it takes to keep them busy. The reward is a healthy and happy bird that plays with you and becomes your companion for life! If not kept up, this species is prone to feather plucking and screaming. Casper enjoys going on outings and showing off for his mom’s friends. Here are his stats:

The Alaska Bird Club • P.O. Box 101825 • Anchorage AK 99510
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