Cockatoo Goes Biking

Sam the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo takes a ride

Cocky rider still eyeing the birds

SAM might be blind in one eye, but he can still spot a pretty bird walking along the street.

When he does, the 46 year old cockatoo lets them know with his best wolf whistle.

'He wolf-whistles at the sheilas from the motorbike' said owner Jade Sharkey.

Sam does his best bird watching from his perch on the visor of Mr Sharkey's 750cc Suzuki motorbike.

'I get awful looks from people when he whistles, they think it's me, but I can't whistle through the helmet' Mr Sharkey said.

Sam might be 46, but cruising around town on a motorbike is not his mid-life crisis.

The affable middle-aged cocky has been hitching rides with Mr Sharkey for years.

As a child, Mr Sharkey had Sam ride on the handlebars of his pushbike. 'We'd take the dog for a walk with the bike and he had to come too' Mr Sharkey said.

Now 24, Mr Sharkey's two wheel transport has an engine, but Sam still loves the feeling of the wind in his feathers.

Riding around Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula on the powerful motorbike, Sam turns heads wherever he goes.

Once he drew the attention of police who warned Mr Sharkey about his unrestrained passenger, but he was not booked.

Sam, who also lets fly with the odd profanity, has been a much loved member of the Sharkey family, from Grovedale Australia, for more than 40 years.

Although he started life as the pet of Mr Sharkey's mum, Joy, Sam has decided Jade is his favourite family member.

When not riding on the motorbike, Sam digs holes in the back yard, guards the family home, annoys the other animals in the Sharkey menagerie and chatters away to anyone who will talk back.

Sam has also played an important role in helping break the ice with foster children who have come through the Sharkey home.