My umbrella cockatoo finally let me pet their head!!!

I literally cried. After about a month of patient work, Captain finally learned to wave today. I know it sounds small but if you've been through the bonding process with a nervous bird you know how HUGE this is. Never give up, it's so worth it.

Lol my cockatiel does the exact same thing. I've just accepted that the bird runs the house now. I'm just the food delivery service.

Couldn't agree more. This has been my experience as well.

Dealt with this for months. What finally worked was changing how I approach the cage and just being really patient. They come around eventually.

I've tried a bunch of brands and Zupreem is hands down the best value. My Noodle devours it.

Totally agree with this! My umbrella cockatoo is exactly the same way.

One thing that really helped was using a stainless steel cage with proper bar spacing for the species. Give it a try — can't hurt!