Tony Silva Aggression on the part of male cockatoos is a problem that has had many hypothesis. I find that the problem is worst around a full moon, when most cockatoos call loudly, when a female rejects a male wanting to breed, or when a change in the aviary occurs, including the movement of a bird nearby (within sight or sound). Interestingly Deng in Thailand bred cockatoos in a colony and there was never any problem. A very successful French breeder allows male Red-vented Cockatoos, a particularly aggressive species, to challenge each other and thus direct their aggression towards each other and not their mates. This is exactly what happened in Deng´s case. The males would spar but not physically injure each other, all the while ignoring the females. The solutions to the problem range from clipping the wings on the male and placing solid partitions on the sides of the enclosure, forcing the male to walk around to climb towards the female, to injecting the male with Suprelorin, which reduces his aggression but at least for a short time also deters breeding. Placing the male in an all male flight cage for a few months also helps. Finally there is beak bisecting surgery, which splits the lower mandible of the male, causing it to loose strength. This technique is controversial but when used has reduced mate killing to almost zero.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:02:01 +0000
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