Most people think of cockatoos as white birds with yellow crest, but there are also black cockatoos. These black species are rare and expensive, and most specimens are kept as exhibit in wildlife parks, zoos or other public attractions. The umbrella or white-crested cockatoo is beginning to win popularity as a pet because of its relatively low price and its gentle nature. Goffin s cockatoo has recently beome more available because of the destruction of its natural habitat in Indonesia, due to development for commercial interests. The red-vented cockatoo, native to the Philippines, is also seasonally available, mostly because of its propensity for destroying cultivated fields.
All cockatoos are fond of feeding on farmland crops, especially corn.
For this reason the Autralian government has an open huting season on its native cockatoo species, but it is stubborn in refusing to export them for the pet trade. The future may show this to be a wise attitude, for the Australian birds may be the only spceis to escape devastation due to the high monetary value of the birds in the pet trade. All cockatoos have strong bills that are made of hardened keratin and colored either beige or black, depending on the species. The feet of most cockatoos are black. All have a conspicuous periophthalmic ring, which may be white, blue or purple.