ID CHALLENGE: 24 July 2020 Kindy by Janine Duffy
Who are these two lovely birds? They were seen in the You Yangs, near Melbourne VIC but could be seen almost anywhere in eastern Australia, from TAS to Top End NT & WA.
Size: large. Behaviour: in a tree in the middle of the day, cuddling up to each other, in an open woodland near farmland.
Please give us the name you know them by. I’ve heard many names from Aussies (most of them not birders)!
Solution:
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita
Of course, our well known, much-loved noisy, social neighbours!
Did you know they also live in New Guinea? And did you know they have four ‘cousins’ – closely-related white cockatoos living in the islands to our North? Here they are. Google them, or click the links below, you’ll be amazed:
Yellow-crested Cockatoo C. sulphurea
https://ebird.org/species/yeccoc1
Similar to the Sulphur-crested but a little smaller, with a deeper yellow or orange crest, yellow cheeks (often yellow spots almost like a cockatiel), and pale blue skin around the eye.
Lives in Timor L’este, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas islands of Indonesia.
Status: Critically Endangered. Declines due to pet trade.
Salmon-crested (Moluccan) Cockatoo C. moluccensis
https://ebird.org/species/saccoc
A glorious, pale pink cockatoo with a crest that lays flat until aroused – but when raised it is a stunning deep coral pink.
Lives on islands of Seram in the Banda Sea, eastern Indonesia near New Guinea
Status: Vulnerable. Declines mostly due to pet trade.
White (Umbrella) Cockatoo C. alba
https://ebird.org/species/whicoc1
A stunning all white cockatoo with the most extraordinary crest that fans out around the head like an umbrella.
Lives on islands of north Maluku Indonesia
Status: Endangered. Declines mostly due to pet trade and habitat loss.
Blue-eyed Cockatoo C. opthalmica
https://ebird.org/species/blecoc1?siteLanguage=en_AU
A beautiful white cockatoo with pale blue eyeing, almost like a corella. Their crest is backswept, mostly white on top but shows the yellow when raised.
Lives in New Britain, PNG
Status: Vulnerable. Population is declining due to clearing of lowland rainforest for palm oil. This species seems to rely on primary (unlogged) forest to breed and thrive.
Women Birders Australia 