Since Lemon had been raised in a way that made him think he was this person's mate, he was understandably upset by the intrusion of someone else into his household who acted as though she was his mate's mate! What about Lemon?
Lemon responded by attacking this interloper, and who can blame him? Sadly for Lemon, this resulted in him being locked in his cage for years, in order to protect the humans from his bites.
Here he is the day he was surrendered to CARE. One of our volunteers was drinking water from a bottle. Lemon begged for some. Who knows if it reminded him of being syringe-fed as a baby, or whether his previous companion shared his water bottle? In any case, Lemon was starved for attention!
Lemon found his home this week, with a family that understands that cockatoos need to be treated as part of the family and not as decorations.
Lemon is yet another example of why it's important to not treat companion parrots as though they are mates. This just sends mixed signals to the parrot, and often results in aggressive behaviors towards the human's actual mate. That, in turn, often leads to birds being passed from home to home, or locked in their cages for months or years. Additionally, in females, this can lead to egg-binding or other potentially fatal conditions.
Some ways humans encourage this mate bond include petting their parrots on their backs or under their tails, and allowing regurgitation, vent-rubbing, or tail-lifting while the bird is perched on the human. Instead, confine your petting to the neck and higher. If your parrot begins to show breeding behavior, don't reinforce it. Just set the parrot down and walk away giving him time to cool down.
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