Cockatoo | Medium-to-large sized Parrots recognizable by Showy Crests and Curved Bills

Cockatoo belongs to the bird family “Cacatuidae” and the only family from the family group “Cacatuoidea”. It has 21 species in the family. Together with “Psittacoidea” (the true parrots) and “Strigopoidea” (the largest New Zealand parrots), they make and structure the order “Psittaciformes”. The family has a mostly Australasian distribution, reaching from the Philippines and eastern Indonesian islands to New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Australia.

Size and Weight

Cockatoos are normally medium-to-large, solid, and sturdy sized parrots which range from 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 inches) long. They are weighing about 0.66 to 2.65 lb (300 to 1200 gram) in weight. However, one breed of Cockatiel is significantly smaller and thinner than other breeds. This breed is 32 cm (13 inches) long in size (including long-pointed tail feathers) and weighing about 2.8 to 3.5 oz (80 to 100 gram) in weight.

Cockatoo Appearance

Cockatoos are familiar with the attractive crests and curved beaks. Their plumage is usually less interesting than other parrots. Normally they are bigger than other parrot species but the Cockatiel (the smallest Cockatoos), is a small bird.

Cockatoos are common birds in aviculture, but their requirements are hard to meet, whereas, the cockatiel is the easiest Cockatoo species to uphold and kept in imprisonment. The white-Cockatoos are usually seen in captivity than the black-Cockatoos. The unlawful trade in wild-caught birds causes a decrease of some “Cockatoo” species in the wild.

Vocalization

The Cockatoos are very vocal as they can make a loud and harsh call. They perform various functions comprising letting individuals identify one another, warning others of predators, demonstrating different dispositions, and maintaining the unity of the flock for defending their nests. Carnaby's Black Cockatoo can make more than 15 different calls. Some Cockatoos such as the Gang-Gang, are moderately silent birds but do have weaker growling calls while feeding. Cockatoo parrots also make a specific hissing sound when vulnerable.

Distribution and Habitat

The Cockatoos have a very limited variety than that of “True Parrots”. They are normally found in Australasia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Out of 21 species, 11 exists in the wild only in Australia whereas 7 species are found only in the islands of Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon. The remaining 3 species are found in New Guinea and Australia.

Some species of Cockatoos have extensive distributions, with the galah, for instance, most are found in Australia, while other breeds have small distributions, for example, the Baudin's Black Cockatoos of Western Australia or to the minor island-group like Tanimbar Corella, which is constrained to Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia. Some Cockatoos have been familiarized unintentionally to the zones outside their natural range including New Zealand, Singapore, and Palau, whereas, two Australian Corella breeds have also been familiarized to the regions of the continent where they are not innate.

The Cockatoos live in various kinds of habitats from forests in Subalpine areas to Mangroves. Though, no breed is seen in all the habitats. The most common breeds (galah and cockatiel) are open-country experts that feed on grass-seeds. They are frequently extremely moveable fast flyers and are itinerant. The flocks of these parrots move across large parts of the island for searching their foods such as seeds and other foods.

Breeding

The Cockatoos are exclusive breeders, with couples they make great relationships that can last several years. Numerous birds pair-up in the group prior to reaching sexual maturity age but delay the breeding process at least for one year. The females breed initially from 3 to 7 years of age and males are then mostly older. The Cockatoos can also show site loyalty, returning to same nesting-sites in following years. Dating is usually simple, mostly for recognized couples, with black-cockatoos alone engaging in dating feeding. The known pairs engage themselves in grooming each other, but all the engagement culminates after incubation starts, perhaps because of the strength of pair-bond.

The clutch size differs within the breed, with the palm Cockatoo and some other bigger Cockatoos producing only one egg, whereas some smaller breeds lay 2 to 8 eggs. About 20% of the laid eggs are infertile. The females of black-cockatoos are provisioned by males numerous times in a day. The incubation period of Cockatoos is dependent on the species size.

Diet and Feeding

The Cockatoos are multipurpose feeders and they eat a variety of foods including vegetable items. The seeds are also a great diet for all parrot species. The galahs, corellas and some black-cockatoos feed mostly on the ground while others mostly feed in the trees. The western and long-billed Corellas have lengthened beaks to excavate tubers and roots. Many breeds of Cockatoo feed on the canopy of the trees.

Relationship with Humans

The human activities can affect positively on some breeds of Cockatoo and also affect negatively on other species. Numerous breeds of an open-country have promoted significantly from anthropogenic variations to the landscape, with the excessive increase in reliable seed-food sources, existing water and have also improved well to a diet comprising foreign products. This advantage seems to be constrained to Australian breeds, as Cockatoos preferring open-country outside Australia have not become more plentiful. Mostly forest-dwelling breeds have suffered seriously from habitat demolition; in the main, they seem to have a more particular food and have not been able to include unusual food into their diet.

Agricultural Pests

Some breeds of Cockatoos are grave agricultural pests. They are occasionally controlled by shelling, poisoning or imprisonment followed by gassing. They can be an irritation in city regions due to the demolition of the property. They keep their beaks in the wild by mastication on wood but, in an urban area, they may chew outside furniture, door and window frames; soft ornamental lumbers, for instance, western red cedar is readily destroyed. Outside Australia, Tanimbar Corella is a pest on “Yamdena Island” where it attacks the maize crops.

Intelligence

A team of experts from Oxford University, the University of Vienna and the Max Planck Institute conducted experiments on 10 untrained Tanimbar Corellas and found that they were talented to solve difficult mechanical puzzles.