Admittedly, bare eyed cockatoos don’t look as big as other parrots. However, what they lack in size, they adequately make up for with their intelligence and warmth. Bare eyed cockatoos are remarkably friendly, savoring the attention of their owner. Yes, they make excellent pets, especially as they aren’t as loud as other parrots.
The bare eyed cockatoo is also commonly referred to as the short-billed corellas or, rather, the little corella. These parrots share a striking resemblance to the Goffin cockatoo. It is so easy to mistake one for the other. Typically, bare eyed cockatoos have a length of 14-17 inches. Their crest is white, but not that pronounced, as it appears to be lying down. These parrots have a small patch of pink occurring between their nares and eyes. The underneath the bare eyed cockatoo’s flight feathers is covered in yellow.
There are some pretty exciting facts you don’t want to miss about the bare eyed cockatoo. In this exposition, we will be introducing you to the unraveling world of this parrot, learning 17 cool facts about this unique parrot. Ready for it?
1. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Don’t Thrive in Thick Forests
Bare eyed cockatoos in the wild don’t favor living in thick forests. Instead, they prefer living in the eastern coastal plains and the arid deserts spread across the Alice Springs Region in the Northern Territory of Australia.
There are sizable populations of these parrots in Australian urban areas like Brisbane, Sydney, and Canberra. There is also a significant population of bare eyed cockatoos in farmlands scattered across Queensland and New South Wales.
Sadly, this population of little corellas has built a reputation of notoriety as destructive pests, plaguing the trees (which these parrots perch) and feasting on the twigs’ bark.
2. Bare Eyed Cockatoo’s Feathers are Spiritually Symbolic
Do you know the feathers of these parrots are highly coveted for their spiritual value? Yes, the people of Yindjibarndi people in western and central Pilbara covet little corellas, which are traditionally known as birdirra.
Their feathers have high spiritual and cultural significance and are heavily used in cultural dances and traditional ceremonies. In these ceremonies, the Yindjibarndi people use this parrot’s feathers to create armbands and headbands.
3. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Gain Weight too Quickly
Little corellas are prone to quick and excessive weight gain. This explains why you have to be mindful of the food you give it – preferably go with a low-fat diet. While trying to suppress its food intake, ensure your bare eyed corellas don’t suffer nutritional deficiencies.
This is pretty common with these birds, but you can reasonably prevent that by supplementing their diet with vitamins like vegetables and fruits.
4. A Flock of Bare Eyed Cockatoos Can Number up to Tens of Thousands
While other parrots are relatively segregate, occurring in flocks of 10-20, the bare eyed cockatoo can be found in massive flocks, sometimes numbering up to 20,000 birds. Now, this parrot is not very selective of its company.
These flocks of tens of thousands can contain multitudes of birds, even cutting across other parrots like red-tailed black cockatoos, sulfur-crested cockatoos, and galahs. These massive congregations of birds – typical of the non-breeding season – roost together in the trees across the night and fly relatively long distances to fetch their food in the wee hours of the morning. They would fly back to roost late in the evening.
The flocks in the desert areas can be seen flying fly to a waterhole at least two times daily to satiate their thirst. The flocks in the coastal areas wouldn’t need to undergo this labor as they can readily fetch water.
Sadly, these huge flocks of bare eyed cockatoos (and their cohorts) can be quite a nuisance to farmers, wrecking severe devastation across cultivated areas and destroying crops. Consequently, a substantial fraction of these flocks are killed as crop pests.
5. Bare Eyed Cockatoos are Native to New Guinea and Australia
The little corellas are basically native to New Guinea and Australia. The biggest populations of bare eyed cockatoos in the wild are found in the Australian continent, precisely the deserts inhabited by the Aboriginal tribes of Australia.
6. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Will Tire You with Play
The bare eyed cockatoo is highly energetic, with a keen appetite for play. If you are not ready to dedicate substantial amount of time stimulating this bird – whether mentally or physically – it is best you don’t get it at all. They have an extraordinary appetite for human company, and would barely leave you alone.
7. Bare Eyed Cockatoos are Very Smart
These parrots are famed for their intelligence. While they may appear clownish at time, bare eyed cockatoos have a special penchant for picking up tricks. Particularly, this bird enjoys hanging upside down to incite your curiosity, drawing you closer to spend time with it.
8. You Can’t Keep Bare Eyed Cockatoos in Their Cage All Day
The bare eyed cockatoo is a very social bird. This is the least of birds to keep permanently stationed in their cage. Once lacking adequate social interaction (with you or its caretaker), expect the bare eyed cockatoo to start learning destructive habits like plucking its feathers.
Also, when providing its cage, ensure it is sizable enough for it to satiate its need for mobility while inside the cage. The cage should be fairly spacious. A minimum width of 2 feet, minimum height of 4 feet, and minimum length of 3 feet would do.
9. Female and Male Bare Eyed Cockatoos Look Terribly Alike
You will struggle to differentiate a female bare eyed cockatoo from its male counterpart. Both genders share basically the same appearance, boasting a splashes of salmon pink on the face with a body predominantly covered in white.
Their beaks have this characteristic horn color while their eyes are surrounded with a patch of gray blue. Commonly, you need some surgical sexing to tell female little corellas from the male. A keener eye would be able to tell the male from the female in that the male is slightly more prominent in size with the patch around its eyes bigger.
10. Bare Eye Cockatoos Clean Themselves with Powder
Bare eyed cockatoos have a keen sense of self hygiene. They energetically look out for their sanitary wellbeing. Frequently, you would see your little corella emitting powder which it uses to preen itself. This exercise is crucial in helping the bare eyed corella clean its plumage, reposition its feathers, and basically keep off ectoparasites.
While this preening tends to be done individually most times, if you have two or more bare eyed cockatoos, they could preen themselves mutually. In such case, it becomes more of a social exercise termed as allopreening.
11. Bare Eyed Cockatoos in Captivity Terribly Love Pellets
If you have got the bare eyed cockatoo, prepare for a steady provision of pellets if you want a happy pet. Preferably, go with a formulated pellet mix of premium quality.
Here the pellets can be taken with other supplementary foods like fresh fruits and nuts (like walnuts and almonds), as well as fresh veggies (like root vegetables and leafy greens). However, the pellet must account for a minimum 50% of the diet. Considering the significant fat content of nuts, they shouldn’t form a consistent or high part of your little corella’s diet.
12. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Can Weigh up to a Pound
The bare eyed corella appears small (compared to its bigger cockatoo siblings) but it can pretty weigh up to 1lb. This parrot can grow up to a length of 14-16 inches as adults. Their wingspan is admirable as well, necessitating spacious cage accomodations.
13. Bare Eyed Cockatoos in the Wild are Mostly Ground Feeders
Bare eyed cockatoos in the wild are predominantly ground feeders. While they sporadically eat at the tree tops, they prefer feeding on ground on seeds, nectar, and fruits. Yes, they occasionally venture into nearby agricultural establishments to feed on barley, corn, and wheat.
14. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Live up to 60 Years
These parrots have an unbelievable lifespan. Your parrot can live up to 60 years if appropriately taken care of and it doesn’t fall fatally ill. Commonly, bare eyed cockatoos have a lifespan somewhere between 40-60 years.
15. Bare Eyed Cockatoos Will Need at Least 3 3ours of Your Time Everyday
Bare eyed cockatoos have an intense need for social interaction. If you have this parrot, you should be willing to give it at least 3 hours of your day daily. This would be spent outside its cage where you keenly monitor its playtime or playing with it.
If you can’t, then you will have to hire a dedicated caretaker who can assuage this parrot’s need for a constant companion. As said, once the parrot notices rejection, it resorts to self-destructive habits.
While in the cage, still strive to physically and mentally stimulate your bare eyed cockatoo by furnishing its cage with possibly a play gym and lots of toys. These toys could be made of plastic rope, leather, or wooden.
16. Bare Eyed Cockatoos are Often Mistaken for Goffin’s Cockatoo
The Goffin’s cockatoo shares a spectacular resemblance with the bare eyed cockatoo. Goffin’s cockatoos also have their body majorly colored in white, just like the bare eyed. Both the Goffin’s cockatoo and the bare eyed cockatoo belong to the smaller size category of parrots.
The two parrots are pretty close in size, just that the Goffins slightly smaller at 12 inches. Just like the bare eyed cockatoo, the underneath of the Goffin’s tail feathers is covered in yellow.
17. Bare Eyed Cockatoos are High Pitched
When you get the bare eyed cockatoo, be prepared for its piercing shrieks. This is a bird with a remarkable high pitch that you can clearly hear even kilometers away.
It shares that typical high pitch with the sulfur-crested cockatoo, another parrot notorious for its deafening vocalization. Bare eyed cockatoos excel at replicating the human speech, quickly picking vocabularies from its caretaker. However, the bare eyed cockatoo is not a talkative compared to its peers.
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