Cockatoo Aggression

Well, it's that time of year! Earlier than usual but definitely "that time." My male Umbrella Cockatoo, Josey Wales, has begun exhibiting his seasonal aggression. Unfortunately, it manifested itself first towards my "nanny in training" Shelley. I have been showing Shelley the ins and outs of caring for my house full of parrots in the event that I get sick or have some other emergency. She is wonderful and quite comfortable with all of the birds. She, herself, is a macaw person and cockatoos are definitely different from macaws. Josey nailed her. I am so sorry! (Usually this begins in late December or January.) I removed the cardboard box from his cage to ease his territorial sense. He is still full of himself. His outdoor play cage has a box in it too. Today he was very difficult to manage. That box is now history. If it keeps up...I will trim his wings. He is fully flighted now and I can't trust him to not get away from me when we're transferring to the outdoor cage. Also, the wing and nail trim will subdue some of his ego. There's something about jumping up and down and flapping fully feathered wings that spurs him into wild "attacks." I'll let you know how things go. Luckily this only last a few weeks.