Spring is when the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos create merry hell in the trees.

When we first moved here, we’d awake startled to their raucous screeches and we were astounded by the size of flocks that flew over at sunset. It’s quite a sight: dozens of white birds, the setting sun illuminating their bodies and wings with gold.

A couple have been chattering noisily to each other high in the eucalypts, stripping off bark and dropping it onto the ground below. I love watching them have so much fun, although it’s given me a bit of a cricked neck.

Cockatoos mate for life, which could be one reason for their crazy capers. Another is that with the harvest of the pine forest, they’re now denied a less conspicuous place to tear strips off trees.  

We’re fortunate that they stay in the trees and don’t try to eat the house.

In Daylesford a few years ago, Cockatoos ‘attacked’ a number of houses, stripping wood off window frames and weatherboards and causing quite a bit of damage.

According to the ABC science website, Cockatoos are most destructive in Spring, when they’re building nests, and in late Summer when the babies leave the nest to explore the world, taking things apart as they go. It’s also believed that Cockatoos chew on things to keep their beaks in good shape.

Birding Aus says that cockies like to chew on softwoods, such as Western Red Cedar, because those woods are, well, soft.

So if you’re planning to build a house in a Cockatoo-prone area, make sure that vulnerable softwoods aren’t used externally.

If the house has already been built and comes under attack from cockies, try hanging out pieces of softwood that they can happily tear strips off without damaging your property.

Alternatively, cover vulnerable areas with wire mesh or metal flashing.

A dog or cat in the garden helps keep birds away but part of the joy of living in the bush is watching visiting birds so I wouldn’t recommend it.

There are all sorts of other deterrents suggested on the ABC website but, really, the best way to stop Cockatoos from being a nuisance is to refrain from feeding them and tell everyone else in the neighbourhood to do the same.

Then they won’t mistake your house and those of your neighbours for places where they can party.