No headphones, but he did eat the Internet once (chomped through the coax for my cable modem).
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For 22 years, I would never be able to stop singing the Baretta theme music.
Itās not about watching birds per se, itās more about watching life. Birds have a very defined circle for their life, they go about it pretty much like clockwork. Watching a robin struggle with a thread of a dead branch pulling off fiber to use as nesting material.
Some similar thrills from the perspective of cockatoo ownership:
#1 has got to be the crest. It both looks and functions like an exclamation mark over his head. Whenever anything exciting is going on, heāll let me know. Sometimes Iāll put my hand on top of my head and mimic my own ācrestā going up, to which he responds with his. Like āwhazzzzuuuuup!ā
Pulling fiber off the branch reminded me of the rule of peeling food. Powder loves grapes and apples, but scoops the fruit out and discards the skin.
Speaking of which, heās particular about getting sticky feet or beak, so after a bit of fresh fruit, Iāll give him a piece of damp paper towel, which he uses like a napkin, wiping down the sides of his beak, then chews to bits to clean his upper beak.
Wet beak is also not desirable, so after a shower itās a dry paper towel bit and similar ritual.
Finally, the preening. Cockatoos in the wild preen one another. Our bonding time consists of my picking the ends off his pin feathers. Iām not as fun or easy to preen, though. He likes to try to pick the freckles off my arms, which doesnāt work so well, lol.
It would be interesting to see how wild cockatoos behave differently from the suburban variety, lol. My only interaction with wild parrots was a pair of too-friendly-for-comfort keas (which are about knee-high) who walked up to me in New Zealand.
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I looked it up and apparently they can live up to 60 years? Thatās really cool. RIP all my pets that died 12 years in.
Yeah I grew up with goldfish and was scarred by mortality, so opted for a more permanent companion. 
Itās amazing how well weāve gotten to know one another over 20+ years.
When/if you travel, who takes care of the bird? I ask for 2 reasons: 1) Iāve heard that birds rather agressively attach themselves to one person and frequently have bad attitudes toward everyone else, and 2) my family has discussed getting a tortoise, and those can live upwards of 80 years. Given our age, that means we would have to will the tortoise to someone after we tip over AND spend the rest of our adult lives figuring out who takes care of the tortoise when we go on vacations and to conferences and the like (assuming those are human activities that someday resume ;p )
Currently my next door neighbor looks after Powder when I travel. If heās not available, I have a couple other local friends who can check in on him daily.
With such a long-lived pet, I also need to worry about who could look after him should something befall my wife and me. Iāve got a good friend who has done bird rescue, and thus already has a head start on parrot needs & behavior.
While itās true that birds tend to bond with their owner, cockatoos in general and umbrellas in particular tend to be very social and friendly. Powder loves meeting people and showing off for them. Heās even good with kids, though I stick to older kids (who wonāt act nervous around him) and limit interactions to under my supervision.
Birds have an innate need to establish āpecking order,ā and even friendly cockatoos will try to assert their dominance. If you act scared of him, youāre broadcasting to him that heās dominant, and he might just get an idea in his head. I can see those wheels spinning and know when itās time to put him up. Ironically, if you stick to having fun and being fun around him, heād much rather clown around with you than take a piece out of your finger.
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OK. I knew someone who owned a parrot and that bird only liked him. He had to put a blanket over the birdās cage every time he had company. If someone stuck their finger in the cage, the bird would try to remove said finger. But even that is probably an extreme example. Animals tend to be as tempermentally varied as humans (because weāre animals too, it turns out).
Right now weāre happy with 2 geckos and a dog. Although, the dog is less thrilled with the geckos than we areā¦
I think it depends somewhat on bird species, too. Cockatoos are a standout in terms of friendliness.
I get birds, but Iām still wary around other peoplesā birds. I met a really nice couple in San Diego who were out walking their Moluccan cockatoo, and that bird let me pet it for a good 15 minutes, then all of a sudden bit the shit out of my finger for no apparent reason.
It was a friendly bird, but I wasnāt part of its flock. Maybe it got tired of being held by a stranger for so long, or maybe it just got an idea in its head to test me. Knowing birds, I think that was anything but personal. And I know how to take a bite. Not that big a deal since birds donāt have saliva (i.e., bird bites are not particularly prone to infection, though they do tend to be puncture wounds, which need to be cleaned carefully).
Parrots are highly intelligent, and Iām sure they can be taught / acclimate to deal well with people, but thereās still instinct, their own nature, and their own individual predisposition to take into account.
FWIW, the blanket over the cage is a comfort factor for the bird. Too much activity will stress Powder out, too. One or two people is great, but a house full of people and noise can get overwhelming. Sometimes a quiet calm surrounding is more for the bird than the people.
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watching nature is pure awesome. we lived with my wifeās parents for about a year and their back yard is where a lot of the local eagles roost. there is also a couple small herds of island deer in town. theyāre much smaller than they used to beā¦but their back yard used to fill up with 20+ napping. my MiL would walk over them to take the compost out, LoL!
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thats one aspect I miss living in a small town by a forest. deer, coyote, foxes, rabbits, ground hogs, snakes would show up all time and just chill in my backyard. See some rare birds. or insects while chilling and read on a hammock. sadly I moved to a cmall city near by and the most nature watching I do is people watching at the nearby timmies when Im out on a icecap run
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I dabble in a lot of thingsā¦ so many interestsā¦ I love gadgets and technology. I have always been into computersā¦I have built many. In my younger years, I was heavily into gaming, mostly FPS, but in the last ten years not so much. Of course music and the equipment behind it, guns and shooting, archery (recurves), golf, fitness, RC cars and drones. Bicycling and Fishing are big onesā¦ this is where I unplug and take in nature. Some of these hobbies can also be very expensiveā¦ I have to really be good and not go too crazy with any of them. I do build custom bicycles from time to time tooā¦
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I had a Senegal Parrot for yearsā¦Definitely would love to get another
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Mine would be
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Main hobby / passion: cycling, racing Roadbike (can be as expensive as audio but I was lucky and got sponsored for a while = more money for audio).
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Technology in generalā¦
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Owning and researching Backpacks (thatās a weird one I know)
ahhhā¦mountain biking. I remember it wellā¦until I crashed. had a helmet on, hence why Iām alive, but the damage caused by the 80kph dismount was significant. lucky to be alive as the type of head trauma I survived, diffuse axonal shearing, has a fatality rate surplus 90%. you have any crashes Knale?
not sure if youāll have any input Benā¦but Iām looking for a duffel bag that has pack straps so it can be carried by handles or packed. know of anything?
Hey sure, here are some of my favorites. Some of them are available in different sizes depending on your need. Hope I was able to help. If you have any other questions feel freeā¦
Boundary Supply
Aegis Duffel Pack
YouTube:
Peak Designās
TRAVEL DUFFEL 35L
YouTube:
Black Amber
FORGE
YouTube:
Wandrd
HEXAD CARRYALL/Access DUFFEL BACKPACK
YouTube:
Honorable mention:
Baboon
Go-Bag
https://baboontothemoon.com/products/go-bag-small-duffle#variant=grey
YouTube:
Edit:
Helly Hansen has some nice and cheaper options as well
https://www.hhworkwear.com/en_us_ww/hh-duffel-bag-50l-79572?color=290002
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With that violent of a crash, injury and prognosis, I am happy you are here to enjoy this hobby together 
Mountain biking, I have had small crashes. Most of the riding I do is canyon single trail, nothing crazy and usually not a lot of speed involvedā¦ I also road bike for fitness and pleasureā¦ I was a commuter for ten yearsā¦ I have storiesā¦ This is where my most scary moment was. Morning commute, one section of my route is a long sweeping downhill lined with Eucalyptus treesā¦ this was the morning after a windy nightā¦ Usually I know to get out of the bike lane and into the road after a night like that, but this morning, maybe I didnāt have enough coffeeā¦ I usually got up to speeds around 40 MPH on this hillā¦ still darkā¦ next thing in know I am launched over the handlebars, still clipped into the pedals bringing the bike with meā¦ face plant as well as front of helmet. Ended going over twice, the bike breaking away from clips on second one. I was very luckyā¦ no traffic early in the morning, I ended up in the middle of the road. Injury wiseā¦ I was definitely dazed , broken collar bone and lots of road rash everywhereā¦ feeling very fortunate. Hemet saved me most likely. When I got my wits about me, I walked the bike back homeā¦ on the way back I saw what it was I hitā¦ It was about a 2 to 3 inch diameter Eucalyptus tree branch laying across the bike lane.
I didnāt break anything in my crashā¦well, mebe my nose, but itās not crooked, just easy to get nosebleeds since the accident. I had a lot of soft tissue damage, my back and shoulder muscles / tendonās are all sorts of messed up, but Iām fully mobile, no balance / equilibrium issues that often follow something like this. I was quite the sight immediately following though. the swelling was so bad that I was unrecognizable. mum couldnāt bring herself to take any photoās, but everyone said my head was purple and the size of a basketball. you couldnāt see my eyes, ears or nose.
I did ride againā¦but after catching myself flying down a hill at 90kph and barely making a red light stop where I had hundreds of meters to slow down, I quit. first thought when I see a hill is āhow fast can I goā thoughā¦that hasnāt changed! 
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Hobbies are extremely limited since Iām in a non free country (currently in Japan).
US State side was all mixed between the following
Firearms - target - trap- skeet - reloading - collecting
Computers - gaming - optimizing / building
Networking - switches - routers - access points
Automobile - rebuilding engines- trans - diffs - electrical - body
Motorcycle - MSF certified instructor - repair - rebuild - rider. Also have a ok collection of different motorcycles (sold a couple before putting the rest in storage)
Welding - Tig - mig - stick
Electronics - yes. Been a maintainer, certified project engineer and project manger for combined 20 yearsā¦
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