Male Cockatoo Screaming/Mating

Question
I rescued a 5 year old male cockatoo 2 months ago. He was slated to be put down due to the fact he would not mate. He has decided to hate everyone in the house but myself. We have worked around this,giving the bird ample time out of his cage, with everyone giving wide birth around the cage. He also gets 2 or more hours of "quiet time" with just me,mom. The past 2 weeks have turned into a nightmare. All he does is scream for me. I will not respond until he calms down. When it is time for quiet time he will try to perch on both of my hands when this happens he will rub his hind quarters on my hands, if I pull one of the hands away he will bite. I tell him no bite and he looks at me as if I am insane and says "baby no bite mom" None of my other birds, male or female, show this behavior. Oh they will scream, the usual morning wake up streach and the night time good night scream. None have ever done the displaying and screaming all day and trying to mate with me. Thank you for your help.

Answer
Hi, Brandi,

Whomever was going to put this bird down for not mating, didn't know what they were doing.  Large parrots don't even reach sexual maturity until about the age your bird is now, if not later, depending on if they are domestic birds or if they were imported.  Your bird has just reached sexual maturity and his hormones are running rampant.  He is masterbating when he rubs his bum on your hand or things in his cage, etc.  This is perfectly normal behavior for a bird that does not have a mate and is experiencing hormonal overload.  YOU are your bird's mate and this is why he is behaving as he is doing.  This is also why the bird is mean to others...he is protecting the bond he thinks he has with you, his mate.  He perceives others as a threat to the relationship he has with you.  The bird is bonded to you and only you.

You can do as you are doing and completely ignore his screaming.  If you react in any way, shape, or form, including telling the bird to be quiet, looking at the bird, covering the cage, etc., you will be giving the bird exactly what he wants....your attention!  Your bird has to learn or re-learn that screaming gets him no where.  I recommend you reward your bird immediately when he does/doesn't do what you want, and never reward your bird for bad behavior.  I don't consider masterbating bad behavior for a bird....it's normal behavior.  When he does this, get his attention on something else instead of scolding him for doing something natural.  You may not want to hold him at this point in order to avoid the situation completely.  The hormonal overload will pass with time.  You need to decide whether you want this bird to be friendly with others or just with you.  If you want the bird to be social with other people, you will need to socialize the bird better to other people.  It won't be easy because proper socialization should occur when a parrot is still a baby bird.  It is normal for a parrot to bond to one person, too, so this is not abnormal.  You may also want to temporarily suspend the 2 hours you spend with your bird alone during this hormonal period.  Still spend the time with your bird, but do so in the presence of other people.  You may have to put up with the screaming for a while until the bird is retrained that screaming gets him no where.  But also realize your Too will still have the occasional daily screaming periods like most parrots do.  This is perfectly normal, too.  It may also help to change the cage location, get your bird some new, different toys, and try other changes to get your bird's mind off things.  Once the hormones settle down some, the bird will most likely get back to his normal personality.  Also think about the fact that this bird is fairly new to you, he may still be stressing out some from being moved and getting used to his new environment in your home, etc.  A lot has happened to this intelligent bird in a short period of time, so don't be too hard on him!  

Chrys