Mobrella Toos

[mamalynne]

From what I understand our Moluccan (Baby) is actually a "Mobrella". She's larger than an U2 and considered small for a M2. She has the salmon crest and the pink hue. Her salmon colored crest feathers have some that are completely salmon colored and some that have a little mixed in pink hue feathers around the edges. And she won't eat nuts. At all.

We were told this by the guy we got her from initially but really didn't understand much back then. We talked to a breeder some time later who looked her over who is really into M2's and he noted her size and told us that the salmon-colored feathers on a true Moluccan's crest were all the way orange, with no mixture into lighter colors. (I hope I explained that well enough...)

We took in a M2 (Dutch) for some friends and he was considerably larger than Baby and the pink hue was much more noticeable on him. The mandible was also slightly different and of course the color of the crest feathers were not variant. Dutch also loved eating nuts and destroying wood toys like a buzzsaw! Baby won't touch either. She prefers preening toys.

I'm not sure what percentage of M2 & U2 Baby is. Apparently there is both somewhere in her lineage, but I don't believe she is the direct result of M2/U2 breeding. I think one of her parent birds may have been a mix because her traits lean more toward M2 than U2.

Baby definitely has the pink hue of a M2, although not as pronounced as, for instance, Dutch is. She's definitely not U2 white though. She has the yellow under her wings & tail, and the orange crest feathers of a M2. Her size is noticeably bigger than an U2, but still small for a M2. There was a noticeable difference between her mandible and Dutch's but I'm not sure if that may have been because Dutch is a male (Baby's female), or perhaps simply because he is a bit larger than her.

I'm including a link here to a pic of Baby and Dutch together. Baby is on the left and Dutch is on the right. You can see the difference in the size of their heads/beaks, as well as Dutch's more noticeable pink hue.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/.../babydutch.jpg

[cgrite]

both are beauties!!!!!!

[MsSmurfy]

OOOhhh my indeed.....MammaLynne I have had one opportunity to have a bird like you are sharing with us now!!!! Babay is awesome...so is your M2!! What I REALLY would like to know about...is their specific behavioral difference....
I have ALWAYS adored and wanted a M2.....BUT because of there bodacious screams...I have held back from attaining one...BUT, I have been to bird shows where one individual cross_bred the Malloucan & Umberella cockatoo.....They were adorable...BUT I felt an extreme hesistance to purchase one....mainly because I have NO INFO...as to how these birds develop and into WHAT!!????
Would you be kind enough to share ...defining beahiors & etc...compared to having a U_2 or a M2....?? I am extremely curious as to which way there behaviors and actual being leans towards...which breed?? If any??? I would definitely purchase such cross_bred IF indeed the issues are reduced as far as me & my situation is concerned.... I can NOY have a SCREAMER as loud as a Malloucan ~Nor do I wish that such size of bird...SOOO??? Is the bird smaller....which I kinda of see in your photos that it is....BUT...can you describe the behaviors this MIX has taken ??? I am VERY VERY interested...if you will PLZ share with me...you can email me separately if you choose....>>>sandy54@adelphia.net... Thanx ....I hope to hear from you!!

[Monica]

Interesting to hear, and I too can see what they mean by a mobrella.... Though, I am thinking more than likely it is possible that Baby is a first generation hybrid... I remember reading somewhere, that if you breed a blue and gold, with a greenwing macaw, and they produce 3 chicks, then one (or two) will look exactly like one of their parents, while the other(s) will be a mix of colors. Hybrids are also said to be larger than both parents, though is not always true...

My guess is that Baby is quite possibly a first generation hybrid, and takes after his umbrella parent slightly by size, though takes after the moluccan mostly by color... I really can't say for sure as I haven't heard much about cockatoo hybridization, and well, this is the first case that I have heard about... It would be interesting to know more a bout Baby's past!

[mamalynne]

Thank you for your compliments! I agree, tee-hee! Baby has been with us about 7 years now. Dutch is not with us anymore, as we had him for only about 8 months. Dutch's owners are friends of ours and were trying to sell their house so they could move out onto some property in Arizona. During the 8 months they had their home on the market, we took Dutch in and I'll explain why.

Aside from Dutch, our friends had 2 macaws. They kept the birds out in the enclosed pool/patio area under the patio (covered) during the day. At night they were kept in their bird room. Sure, you could hear all the birds VERY well during the day if you were a neighbor, but Dutch was a particularly bad problem and neighbors had called the police several times about Dutch in particular. Luckily the lady of the house is an attorney, so there wasn't much the police could do but to tell them to try to control things.

However, Dutch was a real bad problem when they tried to show the house, which was why we agreed to take him in until they had done so. Now that they live out on some property, Dutch can make all thenoise she wants and there are no problems. But for some people with Moluccans it's not that easy. I have to tell you that if noise is a concern for you, generally speaking, a Moluccan isn't a bird to consider having in your home. I can't speak for Umbrellas because I've never lived with one, but have heard that they can be pretty noisy as well. I can speak for Baby, and she IS noisy, no matter which traits she may lean toward (U2 or M2).

I don't see a huge difference in having a Mobrella vs. M2 (or U2) unless it's for breeding purposes. To be honest, I dont like the idea of breeding more large Toos because there is already such a huge problem with 'unwanted' ones in need of homes. That's an issue that I don't limit only to large toos, or just cockatoos, but is not really the discussion here. In any case, these are still the larger of the cockatoos and will still be loud and are still widely known to be particularly sensitive to the amount of attention they receive and having enough to keep them busy physically and mentally.

Baby's characteristics seem to lean more toward M2. As I mentioned above, I think one of her parent birds may have been a mix and the other all M2. I can't really be sure, but it seems that way to me. I'm no expert though. So, considering the amount of U2/M2 in a mixed Too, I guess the way they 'lean' toward one or the other could depend on the strength of the mix. I hope I'm making sense. I think that no matter how much U2 or M2 you have, you run a good chance of having a loud bird.

On the subject of loudness, I found an interesting quote:

A 747 Jumbo Jet produces as much as 140 decibels of noise. Peacocks have been registered at 115 db. Moluccans hold the record as the loudest bird on earth at 135db (average = 120db)" - San Diego Zoo

I also have to say that loudness and noise are 2 different issues. Loudness is loudness. Noisiness seems to be the amount of loudness. I had a link saved that you may or may not want to try out. (It's where I found that quote...) It gives an approximate idea of what a M2 sounds like if you turn your computer speakers all the way up, lol! If you dont want your ears to ring, adjust your speakers accordingly or skip the link altogether, lol:
http://www.mytoos.com/noise/noise.html

Regarding size, Baby was noticeably smaller than Dutch, as you can see in the picture. BUT, Baby is considerably larger than an Umbrella. I found a pic, albeit not an excellent one (but the only one I found quickly), of a M2 & U2 sitting side by side so you can see the size difference:
http://www.thebirdbrain.com/images/tabitha_henry.jpg

It's hard for me to tell which traits Baby has that are closer to either M2 or U2 since I don't have an U2 to compare. With only 1 other M2 to compare Baby to it's also difficult. Dutch & Baby are hard to compare with Baby being flighted and Dutch being non-flighted. It does make a difference in their personalities. Interestingly enough, those 2 tried their best to completely ignore one another.

In any case, I can't really offer you much of a comparison, but I can tell you that the likelihood of having a M2, U2 or Mobrella that isn't going to be loud/noisy is ... well... not likely. Each bird is an individual, so some are lucky to have Toos who make 15 minutes or a half-hour of noise once or twice during a day. There's no guarantee that you will find a bird like that, or that a bird like that will STAY like that.

I know Toos are absolutely adorable. We love our Baby so much!!! However, we didn't know what I was getting into when we brought her home. For the first 3 years she was great! Cuddly and full of personality... not too noisy although she could be loud at times. At about age 3 her hormones kicked in and our lives have now changed drastically. We had to completely rearrange our lives to accomodate her. At one point we even had to consider giving her up.

I know some would think giving her up would be a horrible thing to do to her, and they would be right. But... she had started screeching so badly (for long periods of time) that she contribulted to my husband having 3 trips to ER in less than 2 weeks. Anxiety attacks... She wasn't the root of the problem, but her screeching certainly did make matters worse. At the time we didn't live in FL (where we are now), but when my husband couldn't take it anymore, he moved back there without us. Once he found us a home that could accomodate all of us (including Baby) we moved there.

She behaved MUCH better without hubby around. He bonded with her when she first came to us at 5 months old. At first she would sit on his lap and peeeeeeeeep like a little baby bird for hours and he would let her. I'm convinced that the level of attention he gave her back then contributed to her behavior today. He is the ONLY one she will not bite, male or female. My sweet cuddly little Too that I could trust is no more and I have the scars to prove it!

I've tried every imaginable thing to make her as 'normal' as possible, but what it really comes down to is ME being on my toes around her at all times and being able to read her body language. I can tell the instant she looks at me with the 'evil eye' look and know to watch out. We obviously changed living arrangements. We changed her diet for the better and had her checked out by her vets for recommendations. We give her plenty of toys and on top of that she's flighted so she gets plenty of exercise each day. There are other things, but too many to list. I think you get the picture.

Her behavior is year-round, which becomes worse than usual at certain times of the year. It seems that some people are lucky enough to have a relatively 'normal' Too most of the year, with them becoming nippy and noisy during certain seasonal times. Some are fortunate enough to never see any behavioral differences at all. I realize that hormonal behavior isn't something specific to just Toos, but I'm just giving you my recount. We don't have any troubles like that with our Greenwing. (Maybe we're just lucky with him, lol!)

[MsSmurfy]

WOW.....I was reading ALL you posted...and I was feeling like I was right there with exactly what you were expressing....my D2 has been acting strangely since this was TIKI'S first hormonal Spring!! OOOhh, let me tell you...TIKI is not just physically obvious.....TIKI speaks well in long pertinent sentences!! YUP....TIKI has for the first time EVER, become quite BOLD & AGGRESSIVE...we at first determined that maybe TIKI is now indeed a MALE(we never DNA'd TIKI), cause we didn't care if TIKI was male or female...HOWEVER....this being TIKI's first hormonal experience...OOooohhhh let me tell ya..... My hubby, will NOT even Go anywhere's near TIKI anymore....!! TIKI actually will verbalize>>>
"Come here...come on...aww, come now...hehe he.....Come here...clik_clik the sound of TIKI calling & then a whistle or two followed by, the same 'tempting' sentences! Well, IF you come to TIKI's domain when TIKI is in such a verbalized agressive attitude...well, YOU are in for a HUGE attack!!! Sooooo, Tiki has not only body language/behaviour...BUT also SPEAKS in a tempting/tormenting_DARING way!!!!! LOOK out when TIKI speaks & acts this way.....VERY aggressive!!! Hmmmmmm, how does one deal with that?? I simply have tried to ignore TIKI during such calls...BUT also speak back to TIKI as if I were speaking to a naughty toddler....sometimes TIKI will bend down the head to be pet during such aggressive moments...at which time I RISK a GOOD BITING!! I do not know if TIKI will indeed BITE & mean such BITE....or TIKI is merely challenging & daring...in fact feeling aggressively in control....because I am NOT leaving my hand there for TIKI to maul while I ask TIKI to step up....I can read TIKI's behavior, just can't figure out why OR how to STOP it yet! This is the first ever, TIKI has behaved so ugly in several years! (I raised TIKI from 6mths til now). We now believe that TIKI may indeed be male....dark eyes & such behavior (hormonal) has kinda convinced us TIKI may be male! haha..... Now with having a new Goffin AND the new puppy....TIKI is totally horrendous these past few months with only a few days in between ...TIKI acts like her/his old self for a lil bit! I think I need someone like the "Horse_Whisperer" huh????

[Gaye]

Hi! I'm new to this board and am so glad I found this topic! We got a new Too two weeks ago who is supposedly a Moluccan. He really doesn't look Molccuan to me, more of a cross between a M2 and a U2, but people I have asked about it have told me that it's not possible. Angel (the Too), is smaller than the normal M2, has a very light peach crest and yellow under the wings and tail. When he raises his crest it is the shape of a U2 crest, not an M2. I really think he's a cross between the two. I'll try to get a picture of him to show what I mean.....

Thanks!

Gaye