The last few times I went to a zoo (different ones), the Cockatoo at these zoos loved me and ignored other visitors. At one zoo, I bonded with one for about an hour while my wife watched in amazement. It reached through the cage and stroked my shirt and fingers, cooing at me the whole time :)

Well, it happened again today. Same experience with a different cockatoo.

My wife suggest that we get one for me when the kids are out of highschool. She loved watching the interaction.

How strange! I joked that the cockatoo must be my power-animal like in Fight Club.

Anyone else have experiences like this?

One bump for a last stand...lol

Every once in a while my threads suck but it's to be expected.

Perhaps I was just too excited about a bird :)

(my orgasm thread did good. Hehe)

Yes, stick to sex! ;-)

I have a bond with bears but only in my dreams - I have had recurring dreams about bears my whole life. I freaking love them!

In real life it's usually horses that like me. People say I'm good with them (???) and that they like me (???). But I don't know anything about them and they scare the shit out of me! So there's my deep thoughts about that! ;-)

Lol!

My son has a fascination with bears too!

I guess we can never go wrong with sex threads...lol

Hahaha that's kinda cool! It's weird how sometimes you feel such a strong attraction to something- like maybe you were a cockatoo in another life?! lol I've had a couple things like that happen to me...there's a criminal case (The West Memphis 3...I'm sure lot's of people on here have heard about it) But I felt sooooo weirdly drawn to it a couple years ago, and I followed it until all the boys were released from prison last summer and it honestly effected my life like nothing else ever has...I know it's completely different than your horse whisperer bird relationship haha but I'm always fascinated by unexplained bonds and attractions

I haven't had an experience like that, but I think it's pretty cool. Once I saw a lady in a pet store talking to a bird and petting it, but when I tried to do the same, the bird almost bit me. Some people just have that connection, I guess. I love animals, but birds are a little more tricky to make friends with.

Hehe. That reminds me of a story involving my ex-wife.

One of my friends had the calmest albino king snake. It took an act of congress to get the thing to move! It loved to be held and would sit coiled around your hand in the same position for hours if you didn't force him to move. I think he was just lazy.

Anyway, he never bit anyone. My ex refused to hold him because she was so afraid of snakes. We convinced her one day, and she just held out her hands. We placed the snake in her hands so he could choose how to get comfy. He bit her within 15 seconds...lol

Actually, I had another bird love me too. Lol

My friend has an African Grey. It would bite the crap out of anyone but him. I wasn't afraid and asked to hold the bird. It let me lay it down on its back in the palm of my hand and rub its belly.

My friend got really upset at me due to this bird. He had been trying for months to get it to say "aflack". The bird never did.

I joked around and said "(friends name) sucks".

The bird said it often from that day on...hahaha!!

I love snakes! I have a pet garter snake, but I don't want to keep anything bigger because I'd have to feed them mice, and I like the mice too much.

I used to have a Mynah bird named crackers. I loved that bird!

When I got him he had been taught a quite extensive vocabulary of swear words.
He swore like a sailor, sang jesus christ super star, was always screaming "I'm crackers! I'm horny!" Then he would let out a big long wolf whistle and start laughing. He was great.

I had to give him away when I had kids because the F word was his favorite most used word. Please don't teach birds that stuff. It makes it hard to find them good homes. It broke my heart to give him away. He was amazing.

Hahahahaha!!!!

That's great!!!

(not that you had to find him a new home, but the things he would say)

You would have liked him.

Whenever someone rang the door bell he would either say "go away fucker!" or cheerfully say "come in! That caused a few problems.

Thanks for a great laugh. I'm afraid I'm going to start doing that when there's a knock at the door.

It's too bad you can't adopt the birds who like you. (or can you? it's worth finding out!)

@ Mia- That is peeing-your-pants hilarious about your Myna bird.

They can make WONDERFUL companions. Many are very smart and bond. Do your homework. Do your homework. Do your homework. Spend a LOT of time finding a breeder that will mentor you. How long do you have till the kids are gone? Also, will your house accommodate a large bird? African Greys are said to be the smartest and from my own experience they tend to be calm and people centered. Also, some can do a LOT of serious damage to your house and to your SELF. Again, do your homework and find a mentor. And big birds are sensitive due to their intelligence. If they FEEL neglected they will make you PAY. There are also health issues that need to be considered. Many people feel you need to raise them from very young to condition them. Timmy is a bit of an expert and I would suggest that you talk to him off board about it.

As for me, I am a dog person. Always have been, always will be :)

Speaking as a person sharing my home with three large birds (Moluccan cockatoo, blue-and-good macaw and yellow-naped parrot), I always give the same advice to folks contemplating a large bird - don't!

Yes, they're beautiful and personable and there's something almost mystical about an animal who communicates in our language, but ..... They're expensive, messy, demanding of time and attention, loud and more destructive than you can ever imagine (the cockatoo escaped from his cage one day while I was at work and chewed the corner off the piano). As Susan mentioned, they are extremely long lived; they also have been said to have the intellectual/emotional level of a five-year old human child. Do you want to deal with that for 50 years?

I volunteer with a bird rescue group and we see first-hand and often the aftermath of people getting a large bird because they are fascinated with it, only to become disinterested and/or frustrated with it and surrendering it. We then deal with a bird with a whole lot of emotional problems that may never find a forever home. That's why many of us bird rescue folks have so many.

Yes, they're beautiful to look at and fascinating, but please, please, please think twice before adding one to your family.