Bare-eyes
are an uncommon cockatoo in Canada; in fact, we
know of only one other person breeding them in
this country. They are a small cockatoo, about
the same size as a Canadian crow, or as the 
more
familiar Goffin Cockatoo, and are basically white
in colour with a dash of yellow on the underside
of the wings and tail, and a dash of pink around
the beak. They are often overlooked by prospective
parrot owners because of their lack of the flashy
colours of some of the other cockatoos or of a
macaw or amazon. However, what these little guys
may lack in colouration they more than make up
for in personality! They are very high energy
birds and should have a large cage and lots of
toys. A bare-eye is a perpetual motion machine,
constantly curious about his surroundings, constantly
fiddling with something. He will roll over on
his back and foot wrestle with another bird, or
with a ball point pen, or the cardboard tube from
a roll of paper towels. He will stuff bits of
food, newspaper, or 
interesting
objects in the feathers of his back or under the
wings. He will swing upside down by one toe and,
if flighted, occasionally fly upside down ! Bare-eyes
are highly social birds who in their native habitats
in Australia and New Guinea hang out in flocks
of over one thousand individuals. This means that
a hand-raised bird in captivity craves a lot of
social interaction and readily bonds to those
humans who form part of his human "flock". He
will expect to be scratched on the head and body
at regular intervals, and will want to puff out
his bare cheek patch and rub it against your cheek.
A "Bare-Buddy" is very loyal and affectionate
for life ! Although the cockatoo family as a whole
is not known for its talking ability, the Bare-eye
and a closely related species, the Slender bill,
are exceptions. Many Bare-eyes make attempts to
talk by the time they are weaned. Although talking
ability varies widely with the individual bird,
as it does in any parrot species, with some individuals
never 
saying
a word, it is not uncommon for a Bare-eye to imitate
the phone ringing, the cat's meow, plus 30 or
40 words of human speech in different voices.
Many words are used appropriately in context (for
example, calling out "Hello" when the telephone
rings). Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that
the Bare-eye and Slender bill are generally considered
to be the most intelligent of all the cockatoo
species. They are also the most quiet of the cockatoos,
their natural sounds being melodious and trumpet-like,
rather than the raucous screech typical of a Moluccan,
Umbrella or Sulfur-crested. We invite you to visit
the Bare-eye through the pictures on our website
and to check out the chat group at YahooGroups.
Buy yourself a Bare-Buddy, you'll be glad you
did!
