Male: General plumage grey, including wings and tail. Feathers edged with pale grey or white. Crest and head bright red. Wing-coverts on outer webs strongly washed with dull green. Feathers of belly and under tail-coverts edged with faint orange-yellow. Eye, dark browm. Bill, horn. Feet and toes, grey.
Female: Crest and head grey. Wings and tail coarsely marked with pale grey or white bars. Feathers of underparts broadly edged with orange and green-yellow.
Immatures: Resemble adult female. Underparts heavily barred with grey or white. Young males have crest tipped with red. Red markings appear on forehead and crown by the end of the first year. Bill, dark grey.
Common in southern NSW and north-eastern Vic, but becoming rare where habitat is being lost.
Habitat
Wetter forests and woodlands, from sea-level to over 2000 m on the Divide. Timbered foothills and valleys. Timbered watercourses, coastal scrubs, farmlands, suburban gardens.
Eastern Australia, from near Muswellbrook, NSW south to Victoria and King Island, Bass Strait. In SA, rarely seen in the extreme South-east (?Vagrants) and Western Kangaroo Island (introduced 1947). SA AFL 04/04
Food
Seeds of native shrubs and trees, including eucalyptus, acacias and cypress pine, but have also taken to seeds of introduced species such as Hawthorn and conifers.
Voice
Like a cork in a whiskey bottle! A rather peculiar squeaking sound. SA AFL 04/04
Nest
Hole in the trunk or a dead branch of a eucalypt, far above the ground. The nest site is chosen by the female. The nest hole is hollowed out by chewing at the sides and scrapping out the chips.
Eggs (Guide)
2 raerly 3; white; oval; 36 x 28 mm. Incubation: about 30 days; by both sexes.
Young
Fledge in about seven weeks and are fed for four - six more weeks.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
None. Other dark (black) cockatoos are much larger, and have different calls. SA AFL 04/04.
Compare Images
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