Although it is always advised to call a wildlife shelter when a young or injured cockatoo is found, some people do choose to take care of it themselves. This action can result in legal penalties and should only be undertaken for short periods before handing the cockatoo into the proper authorities, which can provide better facilities and care.
Make sure the parents are gone
When removing a baby cockatoo from the wild, it is extremely important that you are completely certain that the parents have abandoned it before doing so. When a baby cockatoo is separated from its parents when it is too young it will most likely die within a few days with a slim chance of survival, so the best chances for the bird is with its parents.
Keep an eye out for adult cockatoos that seem to be searching the area and try releasing the young cockatoo into an open area and watch from a distance for a while to see if the parents come back to collect it.
Check for injuries
In many cases captured birds are easy to catch for a reason and are either sick or injured, although cockatoos that are too young to fly or run fast may also be easy to capture.
It may be difficult to check for injuries depending on how old the cockatoo is due to biting and clawing, and so careful observation may be necessary instead of physical contact to avoid human injury. The most common injuries on captured cockatoos are usually found on both wings and legs, so it is especially important to check these areas taking note of limping (not to be confused with standard waddling) or a low hanging wing.
Blood is usually easily visible on the white feathers of a cockatoo, but may be hidden underneath the wing or thicker patches of feathers.
If you do discover that the bird does have any injuries, you can take it to your nearest veterinarian clinic which will treat the bird and then send it to a wildlife shelter where it can be cared for and rehabilitated.
Determine the birds general age
In order to determine what care needs to be provided to a cockatoo it is important to be aware of its age, and taking note of the birds feathers is a simple way to guess what age the cockatoo may be. Baby cockatoos are born without any feathers, and slowly develop soft downy feathers as they get older. As time goes on, adult feathers will develop and begin popping up amongst the downy ones.
If a cockatoo is around the same size as an adult with only a few soft downy feathers amongst its adult feathers, it could be six months old or more, but if the bird is almost completely covered in downy feathers, small and scruffy , then it could be significantly younger.
Feeding
Depending on the age of the cockatoo, it may be able to eat without human help. If the bird is old enough to fly, then it is most likely able to eat solid foods such as grasses, fruit, nuts and seeds provided to it in a small saucer. Fresh water in a bowl or saucer should always be available.
If the bird is however too young to eat on its own (up to 2 months old), in can be fed formula purchased from pet stores 3 times a day through an eye dripper.
If the baby cockatoo does happen to survive and mature, solid foods should be offered regularly to encourage it to feed on its own.
Enclosure
Cockatoos that are extremely young are best placed in a dark ventilated box with soft bedding, placed in a cool quiet location for the first day or two to help avoid shock and keep the bird calm and relaxed. After this time has passed and the bird has survived, it can be relocated to a cage or aviary with a perch of some sort on offer.
Older baby cockatoos do not require the cardboard box treatment and can be placed directly into a cage or aviary. Smaller cages may be preferred for younger cockatoos that require hand feeding as they allow the carer to capture the bird easily at feeding time.
Eucalyptus leaves can be added to the enclosure to give the baby cockatoo something to chew on and play with, and a steady water supply is essential.
What next?
If the baby cockatoo survives its first few days in captivity, it will most likely continue to do so.
Even though sulphur crested cockatoos can be purchased from pet stores legally, it is illegal to capture one from the wild and raise it as your own. This means that those who wish to obey the law should hand the bird in to a shelter or vet so that it can be rehabilitated and eventually released into the wild.
