Male: General plumage dusky black. Feathers narrowly edged with off-white, with those on the underparts having wider off-white edges. Small dull greyish-white cheek patch. Wings, dusky. Broad band near end of tail, white. Central tail feathers all black. Eye, dark brown with pink surround. Bill, grey-black, very slender with prolonged tapered tip to maxilla. Feet and toes, dark grey-brown. Claws, dusky.
Female: As male but cheek patch larger and purer white. Bare skin surrounding eye is dark grey. Bill, bone, with grey tip to upper mandible. Feet and toes, flesh-buff.
Immatures: Similar to adult female, but young males may have smaller, duller white cheek patch like adult male.
Downy Young: Long, cream downed, pale-billed.
Other Names (World)
Long-billed Black-Cockatoo, Baudin's Cockatoo, White-tailed Cockatoo, Black Cockatoo, Baudin's Black-Cockatoo, White-tailed Black-Cockatoo,, Baudin's Black Cockatoo
Derivation
Cal-˙pt-o-rhynch'-us - Gk, calyptos, hidden; Gk, rhynchos, beak: baudinii - Nicholas Baudin, leader of a French scientific expedition in Autralian waters in 1802 - 3
South-western Australia, north to the Murchison River and east to Esperance.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 1,000 - 2,499 (2010) and decreasing.
Status EN
Desctruction of habitat for agriculture is the main threat. Competition for nesting sites by Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata) as they increase in numbers may also be a future threat.
Food
Feeds mainly on the kernels of proteaceous plants such as Hakea, Grevillea, Dryandra and Banksia. Also on fallen marri nuts or pine cones.
Voice
Contact call in flight, and sometimes while perched, a high-pitched, drawn-out, wailing whistle, 'whee-la', lasting about half of a second, the last syllable rather prolonged. A single-syllabled harsh call in alarm. Fledged young wheeze and rasp harshly and continuously.
Nest
In a hollow of a tree, usually karri or jarrah, from about 20 - 30 meters above the ground. The entrance is about 180 - 200 mm in diameter, widening to at least 350 mm at the floor, with a depth of at least 150 mm. The female selects and prepares the hollow, lining the floor with wood chips cut from the sides.
Eggs (Guide)
2; white; oval; about 48 x 35 mm. Incubation: probably about 4 weeks; by female.
Young
Usually only one of the two young survives to fledging.
Subspecies
Forms superspecies with Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Zanda funerea) and Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris). Long considered conspecific with latter, but currently treated as separate species because ecology quite different, and bill significantly longer than that of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris). Difficulty in field identification, compounded by long history of conspecific treatment, have led to uncertainty regarding limits of range in area of overlap, and to publication of some inaccurate maps. Present species has also, on occasion, been lumped in Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Zanda funerea). Confusion over bill size of bird used in original description led to proposal of subspecies tenuirostris, but this name has now been shown to be synonymous with baudinii.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet