maxiewawa

Aika and I were in the Botanical Gardens today. Aika had picked a pretty little flower, and was considering putting it in her hair, or on her jacket, when we came across a flock of large white birds. Cockatoos.

I hadn’t seen cockatoos for a long time. I don’t think Aika had ever seen them. They are usually tame, and will allow you to come right up to them.

I got as close as I could, and Aika tried to get one’s attention with her flower.

It waddled over, clamped its beak on it, and pulled hard. Aika was a little surprised by this, and pulled back. It kept pulling though, and eventually got it out of Aika’s hand. It promptly tore it to shreds.

Cockatoos are notoriously loud, and aggressive. As we stood there, a few kept swooping at my head. I had a light coloured hood, and they kept trying to get at it for some reason. You’d suddenly feel a tug on your shoe, and you’d look down to see a cockatoo gnawing on it. They’re quite tame, tame enough that you can hand feed them, but if you’re not careful you’ll get a painful bite.

In the first house that I ever lived at we had a cockatoo problem. As I said they’re quite noisy, and have a bad habit of tearing to pieces anything they can get their hands on, whether or not it’s edible. Apparently my first complete sentence was “Go away cockie! Go away!” (a “cockie” is slang for “cockatoo”). I guess mum and dad used to yell that out a lot, and I picked it up. I have faint memories being a toddler, picking up a shoe and throwing it at a flock of cockatoos.