Most cockatoos have a long lifespan of almost 45 years. They can be hard to identify as young or old because they all look similar. However, with close observation, you can identify the age of a cockatoo. Let’s discuss how you can do it.
The appearance of cockatoos slightly changes with age. Their eye rings, feathers, beak, feet, and claws get discolored, wrinkly, and rough. Their behavior also gets less playful. Besides, if a cockatoo is leg-banded, its band carries information about its age.
Physical transformations of cockatoos with age
You can estimate the age of a cockatoo to some extent with its physical appearance, but you cannot identify its exact age. Their physical transformations also depend on the environment and diet.
If a cockatoo has been raised in great care, he may not show many signs of aging, even in old age similarly, a young cockatoo raised in poor care might show signs of aging.
Anyways, the physical appearance and behavioral differences can still help identify its age to some extent.
Wrinkles around eyerings
At a young age, the eyes of cockatoos are fresh and have no wrinkles, but as they start aging beyond 4th year, wrinkles start developing. These wrinkles become rough and deep with age. When they age beyond 15 years, their eyes start swelling from the underside area.
Iris color
They have dark-colored iris at a young age (below 1 year), but their iris color becomes lighter as they age (beyond 4 years). With the increase in age, their iris color becomes lighter and lighter.
Fuzzy legs and feet
Young cockatoos have very smooth feet and legs, but as they age, their legs and feet become rough and fuzzy (beyond 6 years). Their feet get darker and more uneven, and their toenails also overgrow.
The skin of their legs gets flaky; the color also becomes darker with age. At very old age, they start losing feathers on their legs (beyond 25 years).
Roughness of beak
With time the beaks of cockatoos get rough, and the color also gets darker (beyond 6 years). The roughness of the beak also looks slightly whitish. In some cases, the edges of the beak also damage.
Weakness and discoloration of feathers
Young cockatoos have very shiny and colorful feathers. They have complete feathers, and their feathers are also strong. But as they age, they lose the shiness and color in their feathers (beyond 15 years).
Their feathers also get weak, and at very old age, they permanently lose some feathers (beyond 25 years).
Change in cockatoos’ behavior with age
Cockatoos’ behavior changes with their age. They are usually very silly, joyful, and active at a young age. They like to check out everyone and everything around them all the time. As they age beyond 6th year, they start showing a lack of interest in most things they once played with all day.
Some cockatoos become quite serious, and some also get a bit aggressive. Unfortunately, they also frequently get sick in old age, which is another reason they get slightly serious. However, they look active even in old age if raised in good care and given lots of love.
Cockatoos’ age estimation by their leg bands
Professional breeders and pet stores place a band on their legs. Usually, a code is carved on these leg bands, which tells the exact year of the cockatoo’s birth. In some cases, there is detail about the breeder and a specific code for the bird.
You can go to the breeder’s website, enter the bird’s code, and find more details about the bird. These details include the month of birth, gender, and breeding history.
Age estimation of cockatoos with leg bands is the most accurate way. Leg bands can only be put in cockatoos’ legs in the first few days. Once the cockatoo gets a few days old, leg bands cannot be put in their legs, and only clip-on rings can be put.
So most likely, the date of birth mentioned on their leg rings is accurate.
Final thoughts
By appearance or behavior, you cannot tell exactly how old a cockatoo is, but the above signs help approximate the age to some extent. However, if your cockatoo has a leg band, hopefully, it will help determine the exact age.
