Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
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creative commons
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Species
- lathami
- Genus
- Calyptorhynchus
- Family
- Cacatuidae
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Class
- Aves
- Phylum
- Chordata
-
- Size Range
- Up to 48 cm
Large dull black body, bulbous bill, red tail panels.
Identification
Brown-black head, neck and underparts, with red or orange-red tail panels and a dull black body. Crest is small and inconspicuous; the bill is broad and bulbous. Females have yellow patches on the head and neck and tail panels are more orange-red with black bars. Male tail panels tend to be bright red. Young birds have yellow spotted or streaked breasts, bellies and flanks, with some yellow spots on the cheeks and sides of the head.
Habitat
Woodland dominated by Allocasuarina and in open forests. Often confined to remnant Allocasuarina patches surrounded by cleared farmlands.
Distribution
Eastern Australia
Feeding and diet
Diet is almost exclusively Allocasuarina seeds.
Breeding behaviours
Quieter and less raucous than other black-cockatoos, they can be detected by the clicking of their bills and the falling debris of casuarina cones and twigs. These birds mate for life, with pairs maintaining their bond all year round. The female prepares the nest hollow and incubates the eggs, only leaving the nest to feed after the newly-hatched nestlings are a week old. Males feed the female and nestlings throughout the incubation and brooding period.
Economic impacts
Populations have declined due to land clearing practices that have removed food sources and nesting sites, leading to local extinctions and range contractions. More frequent and intense fires in south-eastern Australia since European settlement have also reduced suitable habitat.
