Black Palm Cockatoos

The nutritional needs of Palm Cockatoos are a very controversial topic. I have been told so many different ways to feed them that I decided to research it and find it out for myself. The proof is in the health of the birds and the blood chemistries. In 1992 when we purchased our first Palm she came to us on a basic seed diet with fruits, vegetables and nuts. I had been caring for birds for a decade or so and had been using formulated diets for about half as long. I tried converting her over being very careful as not to stress her. She was one of the most stubborn birds that I have ever converted. She is just now beginning to eat pellets well. She is one of the main reasons that contributed to my development of Breeder's Blend Bird Food. After reviewing all of the complicated diets that others were feeding these birds, most of which were not substantiated, I have put her on a very basic diet similar to the foundation diet that all of my birds eat. She is fed 50% pellets, 25% vegetables and the rest is comprised of mixed nuts, a small portion of a seed mix, some fruits, bird bread and treats. She is basically a picky eater and really doesn't want anything else. Currently she is in the best health that she has ever been. It does appear that Palms need more fat in their diets than the other cockatoos. She doesn't do well on a low fat diet.

The male that we recently acquired was on a hugely varied diet. Don't get me wrong I am not putting down the efforts of the previous owner, I just believe that simplicity goes a long way when it comes to regulating the intake of a specific bird. His blood was lipemic and his cholesterol was above 3000. We do not know the effects of high cholesterol on parrots. It was initially considered that he may have just had a high fat meal before the sample was taken. After bringing him home and giving him some time to adjust he was observed carefully to see just what portion of the cafeteria style diet he was eating. The items that he was eating were all very high in fat. Then over time modifications were made. Six to eight weeks later his blood was less lipemic and although still high at 900 his cholesterol was dramatically lower. We have learned 2 things here. First, most likely the initial problems with the blood work were not caused by just eating a high fat meal before the sample was taken, but were probably due to the diet as a whole, we took the second sample before he was fed and he was still somewhat lipemic. Secondly, the simpler more controlled diet seemed to be making improvements over time. After 8 months on the simplified diet his blood work was almost normal. He has actually gained weight after being put on the simpler diet and seems to be generally in excellent health. We look forward to the possibility of raising some Palm babies in the near future and hopefully finding a good diet to raise them on.

Most authors speak of the male Palm Cockatoo as being the gentleman of cockatoos and I had never heard of any indication of male aggression in Palms. When I was at the IV International Parrot Convention at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, September 1998, I asked as many Palm breeders about this condition as I could find. The answer was almost unanimous that there exists a reasonable amount of male aggression in this species as in the other cockatoos, therefore extreme care should be taken when mating these birds. I also ask them about hand rearing techniques and formulas. My poll revealed that there is still much controversy about this subject. One breeder stated that hand rearing was almost impossible and should only be done as a last resort, whereas I met others that had good results raising them from eggs as well as when taken from the parents at a few weeks. It was stated by several breeder's that there seems to be a difficult period between 2 and 4 weeks of age where there crop does not empty well and the total solids in their formula needs to be carefully monitored. A breeder from South Africa stated that he had experienced this problem but by simply not feeding the neonate until the crop had almost totally emptied reducing feeding frequency to 2 feedings a day in some cases worked for him. Obviously you would have to monitor weight gains very carefully with this method as with any other. Dr. Susan Clubb made the statement that Palm Cockatoos should be hand reared as the large macaws, using a high fat, high protein formula containing about 26% fat and 20% protein. Once the baby begins growing pin feathers ground macadamia nuts or sunflower seeds should be added to the formula.

As a whole I don't think that I have ever had a bird that would make a better pet than a Black Palm Cockatoo. Not to mention their stunning beauty they have an incredible personality, relatively low noise level compared to other parrots and seem to be very hardy unlike I had been led to believe. They are known for not biting, but we are finding that to be slightly wrong when they are being protective or jealous. They are definitely worth the price that they bring.