Tropic Zone Exotic Birds - Orlando

Orlando, the Greater Sulfur Crested Cockatoo

Meet Orlando, the Greater Sulfur Crested Cockatoo

Orlando, Lando, or Baby Bird as he calls himself, is a 5 year old greater sulfur crested cockatoo, specifically the “galerita” subspecies - more on that later. Lando is Dawn’s personal pet, but he lives at Tropic Zone. He used to go home with her every night. Even though the ride home was quick, sharing the car with that evil cockatoo, Kiwi, was stressing him out. Dawn decided to leave him at the store overnight and the next day he was a happy boy. He’s been living at the store ever since. We’ll let you in on a secret. Lando owns Tropic Zone, and we all work for him. At least that’s what he wants us to think.

Lando’s favorite things are pulling the pins out of the food doors on his cage, trashing his cage so it looks like he hosted a rave in it, and begging customers to scratch his head because he feels neglected and no one ever pays attention to him. Lando loves to fly, so in the evenings before the store closes we let him out and he flies around the store for an hour or so. This is when he takes over the store and lets us know that he’s in charge. It’s not uncommon for Lando to take offense to something and throw it on the floor. He’s also been known to dive bomb customers and try to snatch their hair as he flies by. He’s not out to hurt anyone, but he loves the reaction when someone screams and dives out of his way. He also delights in pestering Kiwi. Even though Kiwi hates feet and small children, he’s terrified of Lando. When Lando comes out to fly, Kiwi takes refuge in Lando’s cage and takes the opportunity to mess with his toys.

Lando’s favorite foods are - pretty much anything. He’s not that picky and he eats anything we give him. He loves his chopped veggies each day, and he really enjoys cheese crackers. His true guilty pleasure is small pieces of fried chicken and French fries, but that’s a rare treat for him. The idea of a bird liking fried chicken is just weird, but he’s the boss.

Many people ask where Lando got his name. Was he named after the Star Wars character Lando Calrissian? No, but that’s a great name for a bird. Our Lando is a wild and crazy bird who traveled the world. Tropic Zone doesn’t ship birds, and the one time we did it was a disaster. Orlando is a Greater Sulfur Crested Cockatoo, specifically the Galerita subspecies. When Lando arrived at his destination the buyer insisted he was the Triton subspecies and sent him back. He spent the night at the Orlando International Airport on his way home to Phoenix so Orlando became his name.

Lando is an amazing representation of his species. He’s a big beautiful bird, and he knows it. Lando is such a strong bird that even with a show clip he can still fly. He’s also very sweet to those he loves, and there is no one he loves more than Chelsea. When he’s out flying around the store, throwing things off the counters and dive bombing customers, all Chelsea has to do is hold up her hand and call his name. He goes running like a lovesick puppy.

Many of our customers ask how they can get a Lando of their own. Lando originally came from our friend Jack at Sonoran Sun Aviaries. Unfortunately Jack passed away in the spring of 2021 and no one in Arizona seems to be breeding this amazing species of bird.

Stop by and say Hi to Lando. If you’re lucky, he might invite you to scratch his head.

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Page last updated: 7/6/23