In the wild, cockatoos eat various kinds of fruit, seeds and insects. Their diet at the zoo includes vegetables, fruit, and commercial parrot pellets. Sexual maturity is reached between 2 and 4 years of age. Clutches usually consist of two white eggs. The parents incubate the eggs for about three weeks.
Cockatoos usually nest in holes in the limbs or trunks of trees.
Both parents play an equal role in caring for the young. Many species are on the brink of extinction. Another major threat is the voracious pet trade. Most birds you see in zoos today are donations from people who have tired of their pets. Although the international trade in parrots has been slowed, illegal importation of many species continues.