Sexing cockatoos

Question
There is a cockatoo I am friendly with named Winter. No one knows whether Winter is male or female, and it is driving me NUTS. I heard the way you tell has something to do with the eyes- does that mean that pupils, or the skin around the eye? (In Winter, they are black and light blue, respectively). Also, I know pretty much nothing about avian behavior. What do birds like people to do? Winter seems to like me whistling at him/her, but how in general should I act around him/her?
Thanks,
S

Answer
Hi,

Sexing a cockatoo visually is not a guarantee, but can sometimes be an educated guess. The cockatoo must also be mature (at least 4 years old), because their eye color can change color with maturity. Visual Sexing of cockatoos also depends on the species. Only with some cockatoos can you try to visually sex them. Other species have to be DNA or surgically sexed (because the males and females of that species look identical).

Here is an article that will help you with visually sexing Winter:

http://www.birdsnways.com/cockatoo/sexing.htm

And as far as learning more about Winter's behavior and how to interact with him/her... here are some great articles that should help you:

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww41eii.htm

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf12.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf3.html

I hope this helps.

-Maggie