The Major Mitchell, also called the Leadbeater's, is widely held to be the most beautiful cockatoo there is - soft pink and white with a crest that opens into red and yellow bands. It is also a difficult bird, and the difficulty is specific rather than general.
Cocks can kill hens
This is well known to breeders and almost never said to pet buyers. Major Mitchell cocks can turn on their mates violently and without much warning, particularly in breeding condition, and hens are killed or badly injured in aviaries every year. Anybody thinking of keeping a pair needs to understand this before they buy, plan the housing so a hen can escape, and take advice from somebody who has bred them. For a single pet bird it does not arise - but the same temperament shows up as hormonal aggression towards people.
Hormonal aggression
Mature Major Mitchells, cocks especially, become territorial and unpredictable seasonally. The bird that has been gentle for four years can lunge and mean it. Twelve hours of dark sleep, handling away from the cage, no petting down the body, and realistic expectations for a few weeks a year.
They are not a family bird
Major Mitchells tend to bond to one person narrowly and tolerate the rest. Combined with the hormonal seasons, that makes them a poor choice for a busy household with children, and a good choice for a single experienced keeper who can be consistent.
Noise
Loud, with a distinctive wavering screech, though generally less relentless than an Umbrella or a Moluccan. Still not a flat bird.
Powder down
Cockatoo levels. A health question for anybody with asthma or dust allergy rather than a cleaning problem.
Forty to sixty years
Plan for the bird to outlive you and write the arrangement down.
Why people keep them
Because nothing else looks like one, and because a well-matched Major Mitchell and keeper is a remarkably close partnership. They are intelligent, playful, less needy than the white cockatoos, and they hold their beauty for decades. For the right single keeper they are superb. For a first cockatoo in a family house they are the wrong bird.
Buying one
Ask the breeder directly about hormonal behaviour in their line and about pair aggression if you intend to breed. Ask when the bird weaned and about disease testing. The breeders listed on this page raise Major Mitchell Cockatoos and can be contacted directly through the site.